Carters Lake Fishing Report – March 2024

Carters: Level: 2.6 feet below 1074. Temp: 52 degrees. Clarity: 4 feet.

Bass: Guide Robbie Linginfelter with Carters Lake Guide Service reports, “Fish are slowly making their seasonal transition to the bank. March is possibly the best month to catch your spotted bass of a lifetime. Look for prespawn fish on transition banks leading into spawning pockets. They will hit jerkbaits, crankbaits and worms. On windy days, the old standby spinnerbait will catch fish on wind-blown banks. You can still catch deep fish. Use your electronics to find bait and fish around it with drop-shot worms and jigging spoons or any other vertical bait you like. This is the time of year you can catch fish pretty much any way you like.”

Stripers: Guide Eric Crowley of Lake And Stream Guide Service reports, “The striper bite has been good and will continue to improve as the water warms and the bait starts to move into prespawn schools and head shallow. Freshly caught alewives are always your best bet for bait. Remember bluebacks are not allowed on Carters. Flatlines and planers are the way to go early. After that, the fish go as deep as 50 feet. Work from the backs of the creeks out and hit points and shoreline structure. When the water temps creep above 50, I always keep a Captain Mack’s umbrella rig or two ready to throw out as the fish tend to get frisky.”

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Walleye: Guide Eric Crowley reports of Lake And Stream Guide Service reports, “I can’t believe I’m going to miss February. What a great month it turned out to be for anyone walleye fishing on Carters. We have seen some real quality fish in the last few weeks. Some were in the 27- to 28-inch class. The fish are working the cold fronts moving up and down the shorelines staying in comfortable water. They move up shallow on warm, cloudy days and slide back off deeper on sunny days. The fish are pulling offshore a bit after the sun is up. They are following the bait and then moving back in the afternoon but staying tight to the bottom. The spoon bite has been good when the fish are active but hitting a jig and minnow when they are not chasing the spoon. Fish 1/4- and 1/2-oz.  Krocodile spoons while the waters are still in the 50s. The full moon will cause a good night bite, and the jerkbait shines here. This is when you can fish some of the more off-the-wall walleye colors on rocky shorelines, backs of creeks and anywhere you see bait. If the fish are holding a bit deeper, switch to crankbaits, and as always, try to hit them in the face.”