Carters Lake Fishing Report March 2018

Carters: Level: Full pool. Temp: 54-60 degrees. Clarity: Heavily stained.

Spotted Bass: Guide Louie Bartenfield reports, “The lake is high and dirty at the time of this report.  Fish are following bait shallow in the stained water, and we’re catching most of our fish on crankbaits and SpotSticker Hand-Tied jigs in green pumpkin and green pumpkin/blue. Most of these fish are scattered from 5 to 15 feet in the stained-water areas. The stain has made its way to the dam, and the river is starting to clean up finally. As we get into March, look for more fish to start their push shallow. Target prespawn areas, like secondary points and shallow flats near pockets and the back ends of the major creeks. Jerkbaits, crankbaits and SpotSticker jig heads tipped with finesse worms will be my primary weapons in March. There will still be deep schools of spotted bass scattered from 30 to 50 feet. These stubborn fish will stay out and be hard to catch until the herring start their spawn sometime in late March to mid April.”

Linesides: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “It’s good for big fish. Flatlines and planer boards are in all the creeks. No creek is fishing better than another right now. Start in the back of a creek and pull bait out all the way to the mouth. Gizzard shad are working great, and alewife are working great, but they are deep and hard to catch. Flatlines and planer boards are working all day. The best bite has been around 9:30 to 10 a.m. They’ll break on top, too. Keep a fluke ready, or a Chug Bug or Spook will work.” Guide Eric Crowley reports, “March is here, and that’s the beginning to a lot of good things on Carters. The stripes are still scattered, but the bait is starting to gather in larger schools as they move into prespawn. The best striper bite has been up river from the island to Ridgeway. Look for the fish in 30 to 60 feet on the edge of the channel. Spoons, jigs, Fish Head Spins and live bait have all been productive in the past few weeks. As the water warms up in March, just follow the bait, and they will lead you to the fish. We target the biggest schools of bait we can find. Cover the water thoroughly. The backs of the creeks are getting worked over by some nice hybrids at first light. We have seen several nice schools busting on shad for about an hour each morning. Look for this action to improve as we move through March. The walleye are moving up river for their spawning run and can be found in the shallower water getting ready to spawn. Live shad, minnows and jigs tipped with either are great choices for fooling the eager-to-eat walleye. The best bite will be just after they spawn as they move back down river to refuel by heavily feeding on the baitfish in the area.”

Walleye: Guide Robert Eidson reports, “The Carters walleye are staging right now. They make the spawn run up the Coosawattee in March.”