Carters Lake Fishing Report November 2012

Carters: Level: 1.7 feet below full pool. Temp: 65-70 degrees. Clarity: Clear.

Spots: Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “The bite is improving. Turnover has come and gone through most of the lake. With it out of the way, it’s up hill from here on. My guys and I have been focusing on the main lake outside of creek points and bluffs with wind. We are using Davis XWire Underspins, topwater, Spro crankbaits, spinnerbaits and small swimbaits. Cover a lot of water with the moving baits, and you’ll run across a good area. When you do, make sure to make multiple casts with different baits from different angles to work the area over good. Fish are grouped in big bunches right now, and if you find them, it’s not uncommon to boat multiple good fish in one small area. If there’s little wind or cloud cover, the best deal is Spotsticker jig heads rigged with Big Bite Shaking Squirrels in any natural color. I’m keying on breaklines from 20 to 60 feet deep. Also, keep your eyes on your side imaging and sonar. There are schools of bass roaming the creeks right now. If you happen across one, be armed with a drop-shot rig or jigging spoon. This will become consistent as we move into November with cooler weather. The drop shot and underspin bite will be very consistent for numbers by the end of November.”

Linesides: Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “The cool weather will bring more stripers near the surface and easier to locate and catch. I’m trolling 1/2-oz. Cast Away’s Sea Horse spinners and 3/4-oz. Capt Mack’s bucktails 100 feet back at approximately 2 mph around main-lake breaklines from 25 to 50 feet deep. We’ve averaged a fish or two each morning. The livebait bite has been all but dead, but this will change as we approach mid to late November. Look for freeline and planer boards to be players by the end of the month. Timber edges and main-lake breaklines are great places to pull boards and freelines. If you’re looking for a good planer board, check out Cast Away Bait & Tackle on Lake Lanier. He makes the best on the market.” Guide Eric Crowley reports, “Carters is gearing up for a great fall season. There is lots of bait on the main lake and in the creeks, and the fish are pretty spread out. The stripers will pull up shallower over the next few weeks, and this means planer boards. I like the Cast Away boards with big trout or big alewife pulled 30 to 60 feet behind the board with little or no weight. I like trout from 9 to 12 inches and the alewife more than 6 inches for sure. I have switched to 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu inline circle hooks and have noticed an increase in hook-ups on stripers. Look for the fish to start moving to the backs of the creek arms, and the ones that are holding bait specifically. We have caught fish in Worley Creek and the Doll Mountain area. I pull six boards this time of year and still run my downlines under the boat. As the day moves on, look for the linesides to do one of two things: move to the edge of the river channel or head for the trees. After they make that move, the bite will taper off.”