Carters Lake Exploration
Though my family now resides in Ellijay, I have spent hardly any time on the nearby reservoir, Carters Lake. I grew up fishing rivulets, creeks and streams with the occasional neighborhood pond and trout river thrown in for good measure so lakes with their depth and lack of bank access have always held a lot of mystery for me. With the recent inheritance of an old jon boat from my uncle, I finally have the means to push my limits and explore some new fisheries.
The girlfriend and I went out to Carters Lake to explore some creek mouths and just take in some new water. Despite distant thunder, we enjoyed a pleasant evening putting around and taking in the wildlife. We watched a beaver enjoying his nighttime meal, saw myriad birds in their pursuit of fish and even saw some striper pushing wakes in the top of the water column. Unlike other north Georgia lakes, Carters was pleasingly devoid of much human activity.
Needing to squeeze some fishing into our afternoon, I hopped out and pulled us up to the lower rapids of the Coosawattee. The water had some cloudiness to it so visibility was only about 18 inches or so. I fished my trusty green Boogle Bug and worked my way upstream while prospecting with my popper. Not long into my foray I made a cast into relatively slow, shallow water and watched as a green log dropped back into current and slurped down my fly. I consciously paused about 1/2 second allowing the fish to take and turn on the fly so that I could get a perfect hook set. Game on! I have never had a bass fight me the way this big girl did. For a moment she stayed upstream of me and took a little line out. After she realized the futility of this though, she abandoned the slower water and fled downstream. As the fish dove into fast water I knew that I needed to follow her downstream so I picked up my feet and floated downstream with her while fighting the whole way. Every time I had her close to hand she managed to get just out of my reach and take off again into the quick water. Eventually I had her beat and landed my new personal best Spotted bass. This amazing fish measured right under 20 inches and had some great shoulders to boot. Fantastic fish and I imagine it will be quite some time before I tie into a Spot larger than this one.
Fisherman: Jacob Eanes
Species: Spotted bass
Methods: Topwater
Gear: Arctic Silver 10 foot 7 weight, 2X tippet
Fly: Green Boogle Bug
