Carters Lake Fishing Report May 2014

Carters: Level: 0.4 feet above full pool. Temp: Low 60s. Clarity: Clear.

Linesides: Guide Eric Crowley reports, “The striper bite on Carters has been extremely good on most days, with fish up to 25 pounds being caught on all kinds off tackle from light spinning gear to fly gear. Live alewives and big threadfins are the go-to bait as usual. This is the month to break out the Hydroglow and start catching bait. The 60-degree mark is like a switch on Carters for the baitfish to be on the move. The big hybrids have started to move on the lower end of the lake, and we have been seeing some nice 10-lb. fish on a regular basis. We are expecting a new lake record in the near future as the resident fish pack on the pounds this spring.”

Walleye: “The walleye bite on both lakes (Blue Ridge and Carters) has been better than in the past couple years with some nice stringers of fish being caught on both bodies of water,” Wes said. “The fish have moved up in the water column looking for that postspawn smorgasbord of baitfish, and now’s the time to cash in on these tasty fish. Small jigs tipped with shad, minnows, nightcrawlers or power bait can all be successful options. I like yellow or chartreuse jigs in 1/4- or 3/8-oz., and I like the ones with eyes on them. Tip the jigs, and cast into the rocky areas, shallow brush or any transition area that goes from mud to gravel or stone. Work them out to about 20 feet, and work the area pretty good with a slow twitch retrieve. Small threadfin shad work great for this as they get pretty erratic when pinned to the bottom. Walleye up to 6 pounds have been caught recently fishing like this.”