Carter's Lake Fishing Report

[Okuma]

Date: 10/19/2013

Water Temp: 71 degrees

Went to Carter's this morning with my buddy Zach and did a little striper fishing. Caught a total of 6 fish but only 2 that were any good. They both came back-to-back right at 8:00 AM back in a creek. One was 10 ft. deep on a downline and the other on a flatline about 50 feet behind the boat.

Searched the lake and couldn't find any schooled up fish, I suspect that is because of the cold front that moved through but I really don't know for sure.

Here are the pics of the two good'uns, both weighing around 18 or so if I had to guess.

 

[fatrap]

WOW!!!!!

 

[rbstern]

Nice fish!

 

[Bypass]

Nice fish man. :thumb: Going to hit Carters tomorrow and see if I can land a few of those.

 

[cq]

@Steve
I will have to check on striper fishing on my lower lake, Lake Ouachita you can easily get guides, but I would love to nail a nice one on my own. Next month they will lower all three lakes by 5 feet. The lake I am on is long and skinny, average depth 20 to 60 feet (some deeper areas) with one area with a steam plant outlet. I guess my question is do you always troll or do you cast? My lakes have a constant water movement due to being hydroelectric lakes. And that brings me to my next type of fishing that I want to try and that is drifting a worm harness for walleye. Very few fish for walleye and the ones that do, jig on or near 20 to 30 foot drops.

cq

 

[Okuma]

@Steve
I will have to check on striper fishing on my lower lake, Lake Ouachita you can easily get guides, but I would love to nail a nice one on my own. Next month they will lower all three lakes by 5 feet. The lake I am on is long and skinny, average depth 20 to 60 feet (some deeper areas) with one area with a steam plant outlet. I guess my question is do you always troll or do you cast? My lakes have a constant water movement due to being hydroelectric lakes. And that brings me to my next type of fishing that I want to try and that is drifting a worm harness for walleye. Very few fish for walleye and the ones that do, jig on or near 20 to 30 foot drops.

cq

The only time I cast for stripers is when I'm on a river or if I see them busting, otherwise I use flatlines & downlines primarily. I'd definitely take a guide trip first, it'll give you some confidence in a few spots and show the tactics that are working on your particular lake. Whenever I take a trip I spend most of my time examining the tackle and trying to pick up on what the guides are looking for in particular spots.

 

[cq]

Thanks, I will try one of the services that the locals recommend. My thought process is if I go during the slow time I might learn more. They run 23 foot center console Rangers and most rates are about the same from guide to guide. You might recognize the guides' father name, George Cochran.

cq

 

[BASS AKWARDS]

What kind of bait do you use in lake Ouachita?

 

[cq]

I do not know, I am trying to learn and apply to the smaller lake. I do know that the guides run the middle lake as well. This link and few others gives some information. I will be rehab until Jan. (major back surgery last week)
http://www.lakeouachita.org/lake_ouachita_striped_bass_patterns.htm

cq

 

[BASS AKWARDS]

I would assume the live bait you could net would be either shad or herring. One of the most important things about striper fishing is great looking bait. Everything above your sinker really dose not matter, what matters most is what the fish see. The fish could careless what rods you use or what boat you have etc. You want to run the lightest tackle you can. We use 6-10ft 10lb fluorocarbon leader 1.5 oz inline sinker and small red circle or octopus hooks. We have caught many fish in the upper 20's with this set up. Next is a happy frisky bait. A nice quality bait tank is KEY to frisky bait. We use "super bait tanks" they keep the water temp stable, produce a lot of oxygen, filter the water and the main highlight of Super Bait Tanks are that they are WHITE inside. Never ever buy a tank that is not white inside.
Next is the water recipe, most common tanks are 20-30 gal you want a cup of Ice cream salt per 10 gallons, and we sprinkle in a small amount of shad keeper to help balance the water. Your bait should always hit the water running. Once you locate a school of stripers with this set up. they will not resist your bait and you will hook up!

 

[Okuma]

I would assume the live bait you could net would be either shad or herring. One of the most important things about striper fishing is great looking bait. Everything above your sinker really dose not matter, what matters most is what the fish see. The fish could careless what rods you use or what boat you have etc. You want to run the lightest tackle you can. We use 6-10ft 10lb fluorocarbon leader 1.5 oz inline sinker and small red circle or octopus hooks. We have caught many fish in the upper 20's with this set up. Next is a happy frisky bait. A nice quality bait tank is KEY to frisky bait. We use "super bait tanks" they keep the water temp stable, produce a lot of oxygen, filter the water and the main highlight of Super Bait Tanks are that they are WHITE inside. Never ever buy a tank that is not white inside.
Next is the water recipe, most common tanks are 20-30 gal you want a cup of Ice cream salt per 10 gallons, and we sprinkle in a small amount of shad keeper to help balance the water. Your bait should always hit the water running. Once you locate a school of stripers with this set up. they will not resist your bait and you will hook up!

What he said

But I will add that your rod should be medium light action, and I prefer standard color hooks to the red ones and use circle hooks exclusively instead of octopus hooks. The octopus hooks work but in my experience you tend to gut hook a lot more fish wish them.