West Point Fishing Report – August 2009

West Point: Level: Full pool. Temp: Mid to upper 80s. Clarity: Clear in the main lake; stained up the Chattahoochee.

Bass: Good. Micah Frazier said you can still catch a few fish in shallow brush and blowdowns early, but most have moved to deep brushpiles and roadbeds in 12 to 25 feet of water. Micah likes a DD22 for these fish. A natural-shad color is good for clear water. Switch to chartreuse and blue in stained water. Also, a Carolina-rigged worm will catch fish. Micah likes an Ol Monster, green pumpkin in color. If all else fails, you can catch small spots on the bridge pilings with a 1/8-oz. shaky head. A Zoom finesse worm in green pumpkin is a good choice for the shaky head.

Linesides: Excellent according to guides Bobby Wilson and Paul Parsons. Paul said, “Striped, hybrid and white bass are biting great down on the main lake on live shad. Good areas to try are the railroad hump, the flats around the mouths of Wehadkee and Indian and the humps in the mouth of Maple. There’s a topwater bite first thing in the morning down near the dam, so have a popping-cork rig ready. Overcast mornings are usually best for topwater action. Once the sun gets up, it starts slowing down, but you should still catch some fish in the same areas on live shad.” Bobby said these fish are constantly moving, so you do a lot of boat riding at times. “The schooling fish are getting better every day. They’re coming up from Yellowjacket to the dam,” Bobby said. “Popping corks with a Thing Popper are working best on these fish. They’ll hit just about anything you throw at them. These fish right now are only schooling about two hours in the mornings. Live bait works downlined to about 10 feet down. Your bigger fish are usually under the schooling fish.”

Crappie: Good, but the crappie are on one day and slow the next day, according to Bobby. “Minnows have been working good downlining over the brushpiles in the creeks. Bridge pilings have slowed down — even the night fishing has been off some. The pilings should get better.”

Catfish: Excellent. “Blue and channel cats are biting great all over the lake,” Paul said. “The best bait is cut shad. Flathead catfish are biting great up the Chattahoochee River on live bait. Big flathead catfish are being caught from the Highway 219 bridge all the way up to above Franklin. The best bait is big gizzard shad, but bream are also good if you can’t get gizzards.”