Carters Lake

by Eric Crowley

 

Water temperature: low 60s, lake level: full +/- 6 feet, clarity: 6 feet.

Carters has been fishing great. All the fish being caught are fat and healthy and seem to be in great shape. The striper bite has been awesome early in the morning, and we have been catching fish on planers and flat lines fished on the banks with big baits. As the morning turns to mid-day, the fish are pulling out to the main lake points and creek mouths always near the schools of bait and suspended about 35 feet down. These fish seem to prefer the smaller baits in the 3-5″ range.

The hybrid bite is best either on the edge of or actually in the trees. The submerged timber all over the lake has been holding hybrids from 5 to 10 pounds all month. We have seen lots of smaller hybrids this year, and I think that’s due to the change in stocking by DNR. Hopefully, we will see more and more numbers in the next few years and have a great hybrid fishery again.

We have been catching spots on pitched live baits all along the shoreline from one end of the lake to the other. Our best day this spring was 41 fish in 4 hours, and that included some real quality fish. If you’re looking for a day of catching, this can be a lot of fun.

The walleye we have been catching are mainly at night under the Hydro Glow lights. We are fishing live baits on the bottom directly under the boat. Small hooks and fluorocarbon with a big split shot is the simple rig we use, and it works well. We have seen some big fish this year, and we are just waiting to see a real giant. No doubt there’s double digit walleye in Carters. It’s only a matter of time. We have good results fishing the walleye like this until about August when they go deep again. If you would like to get in on the action, we run night trips all summer long.