Carter doesn’t believe in over thinking a tournament or being overwhelmed by information overload; he just believes in going fishing and doing what it takes to find his spot among the leaders at the weigh-in on a consistent basis. It’s a philosophy that has worked extremely well over the years.

Since 2000 Carter has finished in the top 10 in the BFL Bulldog Division standings six times, including the points championship in 2006, 2009 and 2010.

This year, while still fishing the Bulldog Division, he has competed in the Bama Division for the first time and served notice he can fish just as strong in Alabama waters as in those in Georgia, sitting in second place going into the two-day final this weekend. He finished 25^th in the first tournament on Lake Eufaula in February, followed by 8^th place at Lake Martin in April, 17^th at Lake Logan Martin in May and 16^th on Lay Lake in June.

“I made the move because the Bama Division Regional is going to be in Georgia on my home lake – Lake Sinclair,” Carter said.

The move meant fishing a line-up of lakes Carter knew very little about and he did not bother to ask around or do much research on any of them before showing up to fish.

“I just like to go and do my thing, regardless of whether I have been somewhere or not. I did not know anybody to talk to about this lake (Mitchell) and that’s never been my style anyway. I do know it’s a small lake with a lot of grass and it has a tailrace that will play big time in the tournament.”

Carter said he would figure out a tournament strategy in his two days of practice Thursday and Friday.

“I’ll be more or less just looking for places to fish. I just try to go fishing and try to figure out how aggressive the bite is and then let that tell me what to do. I try not to have that feeling that I know what to expect, for sure.”

In practice, he said he will try to figure out a shallow pattern on docks, wood and in grass and whether the best areas are in the main lake or the creeks.

“I try to figure out where the fish are and then go with it. I keep an open mind and just try to let the fish talk to me,” he said.

So far that philosophy has worked on the first four lakes on the schedule and Carter will rely on it for the two-day final this weekend on Lake Mitchell.

“I’ve just gone fishing at every tournament this year, kept it simple and gone fishing. That is how I will treat this one and hope I can keep this run going.”

 

WalMart BFL Bama Division

Sep 12-13, 2015

Lake Mitchell

Higgins Ferry Park

www.flwfishing.com