Carters Lake Fishing Report June 2012

Carters: Level: 1.8 feet above full pool. Temp: 75-80 degrees. Clarity: Great; 5-7 feet visibility.

Linesides: Guide Eric Crowley reports, “Linesides have moved into the summer pattern and are starting to school up. Look for fish schools to gather on humps, points or any structure from 25 to 60 feet of water, depending on time of day. Sometimes you will have big schools of fish, and sometimes just five or 10 per school. Don’t overlook these small pods of linesides, as they sometimes are more willing to eat than the big schools. Big alewives still seem to be the bait of choice by the big stripes. All the bigger fish we have caught this month (30-lb. range) have all come on 8-inch and larger herring. Catching these fish under a Hydro Glow is about your only option to obtain these baits. The flatline bite early in the morning is still an option around shallow spots or feeding flats on the main lake, but it is pretty much over by 8:30 a.m., and the fish will move deeper to escape the hot summer sun. The hybrids have spread out over the lower end of the lake and are moving in and out of the creeks at daybreak and dusk feeding on schools of threadfin and alewive. The best bite has been pulling planer boards with a 1/4-oz. weight about 40-50 feet behind the boards with smaller baits in the 3- to 5-inch range. A good set of boards will really help out with keeping lines untangled and releasing properly when these fish hit. I like the boards from Cast Away Bait and Tackle, as they track straight and release correctly. I normally don’t hook the line to the board. I just let it pop off the line and float until I can recover it. Lots of fish in the 10- to 14-lb. range are in these schools, so adjust tackle accordingly.”

Spots: Eric reports, “The spot bite has been off the charts and will continue to be for the month of June. We have had several 30-plus fish days, catching spots with some upward of 6 pounds. The spots are holding on drop-offs and timber from 6 to 40 feet of water and are eating just about anything that swims within range. Shad and artificials have boated lots of magnum spots in the last week, and I don’t see that pattern changing anytime soon. As the days warm, chase the shade. Most days the fish haven’t been in the shade but just on the edge of it. Look around Doll Mountain and the surrounding area for steep banks with shade as well as the area around the main beach, and you should increase your odds of finding some Carters Lake monster spots.”