Carters Lake Fishing Report September 2016

Carters: Level: 6 feet low. Temp: 85 degrees. Clarity: Pea green.

Spotted Bass: Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “Spotted Bass are biting, regardless of the heat. There are lots of fish around the 20- to 30-foot range around brush and steep breaklines. I’m seeing a lot more 4-lb.-plus fish this year than in 2015, which is very encouraging. Fishing 1/8-oz. SpotSticker jig heads and 3/16-oz. drop shots tipped with Big Bite plastics, like Shaking Squirrels, have been my best producers. Tilapia and bold gill chartreuse have been my choice colors. I’m making long casts with my jig head and short pitches with the drop shots, and using 7-lb. Sunline fluorocarbon leaders and 12-lb. Sunline FX braid as the main line.”

Linesides: Louie reports, “As typical for late summer, we’re not seeing great numbers, but quality is good. There’s lots of 20-lb. class fish. I’m using live herring and threadfin on downlines fished 50 to 80 feet over 80-foot-plus bottoms. Also, I’m using a new release system I found called the Seaqualizer. I have no relationships with this company, but the product works fantastic, and any striper fisherman should look into this system for releasing deep-caught fish in summer.” Capt. Eric Crowley reports, “The summer pattern is holding strong with the stripers holding deep and near trees. Moving slow and using quality sonar will help you find these fish. Getting them to eat is another story. Some days they will eat right away, and the next day they are just window shopping. There are a couple ways to target the deep fish. One is moving from place to place looking for feeding fish or fish willing to feed, just covering water and picking off a fish here and there. The other way is to find the fish and sit on them. They are mainly moving at night, so if you locate a school in the daytime, they are going to be there pretty much all day, not traveling more than maybe 100 yards all day. Just keeping the baits down in their faces until they decide to eat can be productive. Remember if you’re fishing below about 50 feet, your baits will need to be changed about every 10 to 15 minutes to keep them frisky. Also, if you’re going to fish deep, please get a deflation device and learn how to use it. If you have any questions or need a deflation needle, please let me know, and I will gladly give you one and show you how to use it properly. The hybrids are schooled up on main-lake points, and they can be found busting bait early in the morning and again at dusk. Topwater lures, pitched live bait and jigging spoons are the way to go if you want to boat these hybrids.”

Walleye: Eric reports, “Walleye are still being caught before dawn while fishing under the Hydro Glow lights. Light leaders and small hooks with 3- to 4-inch baits has been the key. We have seen a bunch of eyes this year, and the average size is up from last year.”