Carters Lake Fishing Report July 2016

Carters: Level: 1.4 feet below full pool. Temp: 80-82 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Spotted Bass: Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “Fishing has been good not great. Numbers are down, but quality is great. As is typical with the summer bite, most of my bass are coming from 20 to 35 feet of water. I’m still catching a few fish early each morning on topwater walking baits and poppers, but my best bite has been with Big Bite finesse worms on 3/16-oz. SpotSticker jig heads fished slowly on breaklines. The steeper contour lines are producing best for me right now. The more vertical the drop, the better. As we move into July, the bite will not change. Keep your eyes open early for schoolers, but if you’re coming here in the next couple of months, pack your finesse gear.  Drop shots, SpotSticker jig heads, and a lot of Big Bite Shaking Squirrels or finesse worms will be your best weapons.” Guide Eric Crowley reports, “The spotted bass are deep. We are catching fish suspended over trees and in the creek mouths all over the upper end of the lake, and 30 to 40 feet seems to be the depth the bigger fish are at. Also, the topwater bite at dawn has been great for the last few weeks as the fish are taking advantage to feed on the small bait schooled up near the surface.”

Linesides: Guide Eric Crowley reports, “It’s summertime on Carters, and that means the fish are deep and feeding mainly at night and early morning. We don’t fish the stripers deep due to a high mortality rate and prefer to catch the fish when the sun goes down and they come up to feed on bait. I typically fish downlines at 30 feet and no deeper, and I up the size of my gear a bit to get the fish in the boat faster. Big baits and matching circle hooks paired with 20-lb. leader attached to a stout rod is the key to successfully catching and releasing these fish. I also recommend the use of a deflation device or deep-water release device as well as learning how to use it.”

Walleye: Guide Eric Crowley reports, “July is a great month to target walleye on Carters. Nighttime is the time to be on the water. Most of the points and shoals on the lake with have a few eyes on them all month with the full moon drawing them up even more. Live baits on light leader and a small split-shot is our go to rig for pitching baits on the weary eyes. We have been catching a steady stream of walleye in the 5- to 7-lb. range, and the 8-pounders are becoming more plentiful. The biggest difference in fishing walleye versus other species is mainly the speed. An almost still presentation with no drag on the bait seems to be best.”