West Point Bass On The Fall Drawdown

Buddy Stone with a West Point largemouth that hit a crankbait. The bass was right up against a windblown bank at location No. 5.

Shorter days and cooler water will drive West Point Lake spotted bass and largemouth to move shallow and ramp up their feeding activity. Take advantage of this fast fall fishing by hitting the right kinds of places with the right baits.

Located on the Chattahoochee River at LaGrange, West Point has long been a good bass lake. But it has aged, and there is little shoreline cover on the main lake. That has helped spotted bass thrive and take over. Grassbeds up the river seem to be helping bring largemouth back in that area, but overall, West Point has declined as a largemouth lake—certainly compared to its heyday back in the late 1980s  and 1990s.

To allow for work on the dam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is pulling West Point Lake down at least 10 feet by Oct. 1, and it will remain that low until January. That is about 3 feet lower than the normal drawdown in most winters. This year’s drawdown will allow anglers to see and mark shoreline cover like rock and angler-placed structure even better. The lower water levels can also affect your fishing this fall and winter.

Buddy Stone lives on Potato Creek and administers the West Point Lake Fishing Facebook page. He started fishing West Point as soon as it filled in the 1970s. He retired from UPS several years ago and now fishes West Point even more. When we met last month to fish West Point for this article, Buddy reminded me that we were both in the Flint River Bass Club together back in the 1980s before he got transferred to LaGrange.

Buddy and I have some bass fishing history on Georgia lakes!

Buddy fished with the LaGrange Bassmasters for several years, and for 11 years he fished the old Red Man and Golden Rule trails, making the regional tournaments in those popular and competitive circuits. He now spends most of his time fun fishing, exploring the lake and catching largemouth and spots. He knows West Point Lake quite well.

“As the water cools and the days get shorter, both largemouth and spots move into 6 to 12 feet of water to feed most days,” Buddy said.

And the bass will often chase bait even shallower. With the lake 10 feet low this month, you have to find the right places, since the places you fished in the past may be too shallow or even out of the water.

Buddy likes rock and wood cover on drops and prefers them near deep water. A drop from 6 to 12 feet deep with brush or rock will hold fish. It will be even better if it is on a ditch or point leading in from the channel.

Keeping it simple, Buddy will have a crankbait, shaky head or a Carolina rig ready to cast this time of year on West Point. The crankbait allows him to cover water quickly to find bass, and then he can slow down with the rig and shaky head and catch them.

Buddy and I fished the following 10 spots in late August under the worst possible conditions. There was no breeze or current, and the sun was blazing. The water was only 4 feet low when we fished, so it will change a lot for these places when this magazine article is hitting. These locations will get better as the lake level drops, especially if there is some breeze, current or clouds.

Every morning Buddy posts the lake level and generation times from the corps on the West Point Fishing Facebook page. Check that out to plan your trip for the best times and so that you can adjust for the current lake level.

No. 1: N 33º 03.891 – W 85º 06.685 — The upstream point of Half Moon Creek has a ridge of rock running out along an old roadbed. The roadbed runs out to the Yellowjacket Creek channel, so it leads to very deep water. This is an ideal place for October bass—especially spotted bass—to feed.

You can idle over the drop and mark it, but it is best to stay out on either side and ease in, casting until you feel the drop. You can see the ridge of rock on the bank, especially with the water low. It runs pretty much straight out.

Buddy likes to fish from both sides of the point as well as the end of it, casting a crankbait to run over it and a shaky head to bump the rocks. Current or wind blowing across the point will position the fish, so try to cast upcurrent or upwind and retrieve back with it so your lure has a natural presentation.

No. 2: N 33º 03.796 – W 85º 06.312 — An old pond dam runs out across the mouth of Half Moon Creek, and bass use it as an ambush point to eat shad that move into the creek in the fall. The channel marker in the mouth of the creek is downstream of the dam, and you can see a small, round point on the upstream bank where the old dam comes out. With the low water, it should be more visible.

Fish across the old pond dam both ways, keeping your boat off the sides in 27 feet of water and coming up across the top, which will be about 17 feet deep. Remember to adjust these depths—I marked them with the lake 4 feet low, so with it 10 feet low, the top of the dam will be down about 11 feet deep, which falls in Buddy’s favored 6-to-12-foot ideal October range.

Running a crankbait over rocks and wood on these places will quickly let you know if there are active fish. Buddy likes a small crankbait with reddish/brown/orange colors. He does not really have a preferred brand—he said he usually buys crankbaits on sale. He simply looks for those that run about 10 feet deep.

Try to barely tick the top of brush—there is a lot of it here—and bump the rocks. Digging into the structure will produce lost lures. Follow up with a shaky head here for less-active bass. Work from about 6 feet deep on the bank end of the dam out to where it tops out about 14 feet deep.

No. 3: N 33º 03.466 – W 85º 07.467 — Run down past the mouth of the Chattahoochee River and Highland Marina. The next creek downstream of Highland has the old McGee Bridge roadbed running down the length of it. Bass use this road to move from the channel into the creek and back out.

Start on the very end where the old bridge rubble drops into the channel. It is not too deep here with the water down. Work this structure with your shaky head and Carolina rig, and then fish up the roadbed. Stay off to one side, cast across it, and bring your baits up one side, across the top and down the other side.

A Carolina rig is good for probing places like this for brush and rocks. Buddy rigs a 1/2-oz. sinker about 30 inches above a Zoom Mini Lizard or Finesse worm. He likes green pumpkin and watermelon colors and dips the tails in chartreuse JJ’s Magic. The 1/2-oz. sinker allows you good feel the structure, but it does not get hung up as bad as a heavier weight will.

No. 4: N 33º 01.230 – W 85º 09.740 — Run down to the mouth of Wilson Creek, and stop out in the river out from the big new Oakfuskee Conservation Center building. Idle in toward the building, and watch upstream for a very small indention in the bank just upstream of the small patch of trees. There is a ditch running out here, and it creates a good ledge in 8 to 12 feet of water.

There are quite a few brushpiles here—you will see the tops of some with the lake down 10 feet. They continue on out, so stop your boat out from them, casting across the old ditch to hit brush that is down 8 to 12 feet deep.

Bump the top of the brush with your crankbait, and then probe it with a shaky head. You can also carefully drag your Carolina rig through it. You may need to go to a lighter lead in the thick brush that is located here.

No. 5: N 32º 59.743 – W 85º 10.656 — Go downstream into the mouth of the small creeks with Earl Cook Park between them. One creek goes to the left toward the boat ramp. The one to the right goes back to the swimming area. Go to the right toward the swimming area.

Be careful near the bank—there is some standing timber left here, and you will see a few tops with the water 10 feet low. Watch for two cypress trees on the bank. The second cypress is on a rockpile. You will see brushpiles out from it. They are on a rocky point running out from the bank.

Stop out in about 20 feet of water, and fan cast the sides and end of this point. It drops off fast. Work all your baits over and through the rocks and brush.

Here and at other places, the wind blowing in makes a big difference. When there is some wind, a crankbait is a better bait since you can make multiple casts quickly and the fish are more likely to be active.

Two days before we fished for this article, the wind was blowing strong, and Buddy caught a 4-lb. largemouth right on the bank by casting on the wind-blown bank.

No. 6: N 33º 00.138 – W 85º 12.280 — Run up Wehadkee Creek to the point at Stroud Creek. Stop way out from the three white danger pole markers, and watch for a hump coming up from 30 feet deep to about 17 feet when the lake is at full pool. When the lake is 10 feet low at full drawdown, this hump will rise from 20 feet deep to 7 feet. There is brush on this hump that holds fish year-round, and bass will be feeding here in October.

Fish all the way around the hump with a crankbait, Carolina rig and shaky head, hitting it from all angles. Pay attention to the wind direction, and try to work your bait with any current. Wind will make the bass move shallow and feed better.

Although the Carolina rig is Buddy’s go-to bait, he also likes a 3/16-oz. shaky head with a green pumpkin or watermelon finesse worm on it. Dipping the tails in chartreuse helps produce bites, especially from spotted bass. And the shaky head will come through brush and rocks better than the heavier Carolina rig.

No. 7: N 32º 59.835 – W 85º 12.924 — Go around the point between Stroud and Veasey creeks to the last small point in Veasey. A ledge runs out off it, creating a good drop to hold bass. It drops to 25 feet deep quickly.

The drop runs right up to the bank—with the lake 10 feet low you should see it. Stay out from it in deep water and fan cast to both sides and down the middle of the ledge. Get at an angle and try coming from both deep to shallow and shallow to deep.

Run your crankbait across the drop, and then follow up with a shaky head and Carolina rig. Buddy drags his Carolina rig along and then jerks his rod tip a little to make the lizard jump and twitch.

No. 8:  N 32º 59.646 – W 85º 13.236 — Go across Veasey Creek and a little upstream to the big three-arm bay that has docks in it. These are the first docks on that side. There’s timber, so go in carefully. Watch for a patch of standing timber off the right-hand point in the back. A ridge runs way out to a hump with the timber on it.

The tops of several trees were visible when we were there with the water 4 feet low, and we bumped one under the water as we idled around.  You will be able to see more now.

Stop out in about 20 feet of water and cast up around the timber that will be in about 10 feet of water with the lake 10 feet low. Run your crankbait through the trees, bumping limbs and trunks. Then work your Carolina rig and shaky head on the bottom all through the trees.

No. 9: N 33º 02.300 – W 85º 09.810 — Run back up the river under the Highway 109 bridge, and stop out in the middle of the lake even with the big island downstream of the railroad causeway. An old pond dam runs across the mouth of the small creek coming out between the islands.

The top of the dam was 16 feet down when we fished, so it will be only about 10 feet deep now—shallow enough to tick brush and rock with your crankbait. When you locate the dam, fish across it from both sides, paying attention to wind and any current to optimize your casts to retrieve your baits naturally with the flow rather than against it.

This dam is long, and fish can be anywhere along it, but brush and the section cut out at the channel are key spots. When you find brush or rock, work your Carolina rig and shaky head through it. Buddy works his shaky head much like his Carolina rig, dragging it a foot or so and then jiggling or hopping it to give it more fish-attracting action.

No. 10: N 33º 05.539 – W 85º 03.920 – Run up Yellowjacket Creek and stop way out on the downstream point of Sunny Point Recreation Area. An old roadbed crosses it up shallow, but also Buddy looks for an old chicken house foundation that will be in 2 to 6 feet of water when the lake is drawn down 10 feet.

You may be able to see the concrete blocks of this old foundation now that the lake is fully down. Bump them with your crankbait. You may need to switch to one that runs shallower. Follow up with your shaky head and Carolina rig, but lighten up the sinker on your rig to avoid hang-ups in this thick cover.

These places will point you in the right direction to catch October bass at West Point. Check them out, and then use what you learn to find other similar locations that will hold West Point bass during the low water levels this autumn.