Carters Lake Fishing Report March 2016

Carters: Level: 6 feet below full pool. Temp: 47 degrees. Clarity: Good in the lake. The river has been stained most of the month.

Spotted Bass: Great. Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “This has been the best February I’ve had since 2011. My guys have caught a ton of big fish recently on SpotSticker Underspins (white) tipped with Big Bite Baits Jointed Jerk Minnows in alewife color and SpotSticker jig heads tipped with Big Bite Baits Shaking Squirrels in bold gill and green pumpkin. As we get into March, look for more prespawn fish to move up higher in the water. The SpotSticker Mini Me bite will be a big-time player in the always windy month of March. I’m already catching a few fish on the new 1-oz. model spinnerbait on very windy days. During March, regardless of water temperature, a lot of our big prespawn fish move high in the water and get warm. This makes them susceptible to jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and other baits that are fished high in the water. Pick the windy, sunny days, and put the Minn Kota in the water and cover water. Covering water is the best recipe for March. There will be fish deep and shallow. It’s a great month to hit the water.”

Striper: Improving Louie reports, “Stripers are starting to show back up after an extremely slow winter. I’m finding a lot of smaller schools scattered from Doll Mountain up to Ridgeway Creek. I’ve caught fish on Capt. Mack’s u-rigs pulled from 2.5-3.0 mph 100 feet back throughout the river. As normal for Carters, a good day has been a few stripers. I’ve also caught some big fish on downlined trout, fishing breaklines from 35 to 45 feet, downlining the baits in the 22- to 28-foot range. March will be a month to find more fish shallower than normal. Add flatlines and planer boards to your spread, and cover water. The March winds make for good drifting speed with planers. I’m a big fan of Castaway Baits planer boards. Castaway Bait Co. is on the banks of Lake Lanier and also make fantastic bucktail jigs that we use a lot here.”