Carters Lake Fishing Report – September 2010

Carters: Level: 0.1 feet above below pool. Temp: High 80s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Fish should begin pulling into the creek mouths and working their way back into the creeks. Look for the big move once water temperatures fall into the 70s. September is a good month to throw small crankbaits, like a Bandit 100 in chartreuse/blue. Also try burning a 1/2-oz. spinnerbait in a shad color. Use small willowleaf blades to match the hatch. On bright, sunny days use green worms on a Texas rig, drop shot or shaky head. You’ll often find the fish buried up in brush on these days. On cloudy days the fish will be scattered along their migration routes. On windy days, there should be a good topwater bite throughout the day. Throw a Zara Puppy, Pop-R or a Tiny Torpedo. Look for an early topwater bite to develop as night temperatures drop off.

Linesides: Eric Crowley reports, “The striped fish have been playing hard to get, but when it’s on, it’s on. Look for schoolie-sized fish from 4 to 10 pounds on shallow humps and flats near deep water. The fish are moving around from 18 to 36 feet in the morning and then hitting the deep trees after about 9 a.m. The shallow fish can be caught on small gizzards, threadfins or even 2- to 4-inch bream downlined right on their heads. Being quiet is key when they are schooled up shallow, and you may have to turn off your electronics to get a bite. After boating four fish around 5 pounds the other day, we boated a really nice 25-lb. stripe. Watch the pumping schedule, as the bite seems to be better on the lower end of the lake when they are moving water. Look for the trees with bait nearby, or just above the treetops around 50 to 60 feet. These fish won’t be as fast to hit, but be patient — they will eat if you leave it in the strike zone. The long point by the main beach is holding lots of bait after sun up, and it can be netted quite easily. Remember, these fish don’t release in the hot water, so catch your limit, and go look for some monster Carters spots.” Robert Eidson said the bite at Carters is very good, and there are some solid stripers in the 30-lb. range being caught. The fish are schooled up in the 28- to 34-foot range on humps and DNR fish attractors within eyesight of the dam. The bite only gets better when the pumpback starts. Downline either threadfins or gizzards. Bait is no problem to catch in any of the creeks right now before daylight when you have lights.