Carters Lake Fishing Report June 2014

Carters: Level: Full pool. Temp: Low 68-74 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Spotted Bass: Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “The bite has been great. It’s easy to catch fish on a SpotSticker jig head or a drop shot tipped with a Big Bite Baits Shaking Squirrel. Toss it around gravel banks, sandy pockets or any decent composition change like rock to clay. Tons of males are up guarding fry, and they’re very aggressive. As we get into June, the spawn will finish up, and the fish will transition onto deeper breaklines from 18 to 30 feet. Focus on fishing these breaklines with the same gear. I use my LakeMaster chart to highlight my target depth and try to make every cast in this particular range. I really feel this helps maximize my chances of getting bit during the summer months.” Eric reports, “The spots seem to be everywhere. Most are in the 2- to 3-lb. range, but we have seen some fish in the 5-lb. range as well. When the sun is shining, they are on almost every tree or rock structure on most shorelines early in the morning. As the day warms up, the shaded points seem to be holding good numbers of fish as well. On the overcast or windy days, the fish are moving out on the points and secondary points looking for baitfish.”

Linesides: Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “The striper bite has been very slow for May. This is usually one of the better times of the year to fish for stripers here. I believe the reason for this is the alewife and herring spawns. Stripers are very keyed in on the herring right now, and with their spawn coming to a close, the larger herring are pulling out, and the stripers are following. As June approaches, the best bite will be main-lake treelines 35 to 50 feet deep fished with large herring or bream.” Guide Eric Crowley reports, “The stripers and hybrids have been on the move. One day they are in the backs of the creeks in 10 feet, and the next day they are out in 60 to 70 feet of water on the main-lake points. This has us chasing fish from the time we get there until we leave having fished everything from planer boards, downlines, flatlines and throwing artificials and pitching live baits. Stripers are not really schooling, and they are moving around keying on the bait. Small pods of fish have been found in the area around Doll Mountain, the mouth of the river and the front of Worley Creek. Hopefully we are done with the cold snaps now, and the temps will stabilize. This will get the fish schooling and in a more typical summer-type pattern. When this happens, look for the stripers to congregate on humps, fish attractors, main-lake points or any other structures near deep water. The hybrids are going to be near creek mouths and submerged trees or on secondary points near the backs of the creeks with bait in them. As it usually goes, the fish like big alewives or threadfins this time of year. Match that up with a long fluorocarbon leader and a small strong circle hook, and you’re on your way. The linesides we have caught this year have looked really good, and the cool temps has them swimming off well. We are practicing catch and release on all the stripers in the lake this year and hope you will, too. If we can get more and more people to participate, maybe we can see some real monsters in this lake in the future.”