December 2013

It has been a great year!

Turnover was B-R-U-T-A-L this year. I can’t remember a longer, more painful turnover. It seemed fish were shut down for 5 weeks straight. I can’t tell you how glad I am that fish are up and biting again. Striper are getting active, spots are getting fatter, Christmas is coming, Anchorman 2 is hitting theaters… Life is good.

Rick Shoup joined Carters Lake Guide Service this year and is now running trips on Lake Allatoona.

Despite the tough turnover, I've had my best guide year to date. I will have completed nearly 250 trips by year's end and added one of my over-flow guides as a regular guide: long time good friend Rick Shoup. Rick is running mostly striper/hybrid trips on his home lake of Allatoona and doubles up here on Carter's when I'm over-booked. So we've added a new lake and new guide. Glad to have you aboard, Rick!

Joe Thomas is coming back!

We are really excited to have Joe Thomas coming back to Carters this month to shoot a fourth episode of Stihl’s Reel in the Outdoors with us. It seems every show gets better and better, and his upcoming visit is going to be in the peak of giant spot fishing. Last December, we took Joe out for float-n-fly fishing and right out of the gate Joe bagged his career best spotted bass: a 5.5 lb monster. Then he came back in May for what I think was our best show yet. We’re really looking forward to his visit, and after our shoot, he will be headed down to Lake Lanier to shoot another episode with lake Lanier Guide Ryan Coleman. Ryan is a full time guide, owner of SpotSticker Baits, and has been a good friend for a long time. Check out his web site here.

Give a Fishing Trip

People love fishing, and you can give the gift of fishing this holiday season with a Carters Lake Guide Service gift certificate. We make it easy by allowing you to purchase gift certificates here online. You can download and print them yourself or we can mail you one. We sell many of these each year and it makes a great gift!

You can have your recipient claim the trip around the holiday too if you like. Many of you will have a couple weeks off during the holiday, and I thoroughly enjoy running trips with families during this time. We typically catch 2 to 6 big stripers each day with a good mix of spots all around for 20-30 fish per day on average. Rent a cabin at Carter's Lake Marina and come fishing with me. I guarantee you'll have a ball.

Gearing Up on December

If you’re out there just fishing for numbers, a spoon and dropshot are going to be hard to beat. You can literally catch 30+ a day if you keep on top of the bait and stick with it. A St.Croix Rage spinning rod in 6’10” medium is a great choice for dropshot or jighead worm. For spoon, I like a little more backbone, and the 6’8” medium or medium heavy casting rods will get the job done. For those float-n-fly enthusiasts, check out the new Triumph Salmon/Steelhead line is becoming hugely popular. Try the 9’ light action and you won’t be disappointed.

Speaking of St.Croix, they are running a promo right now through April for a free long-sleeve performance t-shirt when you buy any rod over $100. Buy two rods and get a shirt and cap. Click the link at right for more details, or visit their web site at stcroixrods.com.

Good luck out there,