by Eric Crowley
Water temperature: 83 degrees, lake level: full, clarity: 6 feet.
Summer time has arrived on Carters Lake. Warm water, hot days and a crowded lake signify that summer is officially here. This is the reason we like to get an early start in July. We are concentrating our efforts between 4 and 9am and are starting most trips fishing over the Hydro Glow lights. This does a few things. First it brings the bait in, and secondly, it brings the fish up from the deep water.
We are fishing the upper part of the water column with live alewife and threadfins, pitching them outside the green glow and letting them swim on a piece of fluorocarbon with a circle hook. The hybrid bite has been good using this method with fish up to 12-pounds being caught in the last few weeks.
The stripers usually aren’t far behind the hybrids and have been showing up and feeding from dawn till about 9am. The rest of the day the stripers go deep and stay there till the following evening. If you’re going to catch these fish deep, please get some sort of relief device with a deflator needle or deep water release device and learn how to use it properly.
The walleye bite has picked up considerably after the bait spawn, and we have been catching more and more on our night trips. Light line and small hooks with just enough weight to feel the bottom is the key. Any of the rocky points on the main lake are a good place to start.
Spot fishing in the summertime can be like shooting fish in a barrel at times. Schooled up fish are eager to eat, and when you find them stacked, up it’s ON!
Enjoy the lake this summer and be safe on the water.