West Point Lake Fishing Report – December 2019

West Point: Level: 3.3 feet below full pool. Temp: Upper 50s to low 60s. Clarity: Slightly stained.

Bass: Good. Guide Keith Hudson reports, “The shallow bite remains fair for now, and it should improve even more, especially with a little stained water and higher than normal lake levels. Baits such as Rat-L-Traps, squarebill crankbaits and ChatterBaits are catching some of these shallower fish. Try to fish these baits in coves and pockets with small feeder creeks or around schools of shallow baitfish. Fish the open water in the pockets with an Alabama Rig like the Yum Flash Mob Jr. Also keep a jig or shaky head handy to pitch around any wood cover. Fishing rip-rap can also produce good results this time of year. Yellowjacket and Whitewater creeks continue to produce some good sacks. By the end of the month, the water should clear back up, and the lake level should drop. Big schools of spotted bass mixed with hybrids, white bass and stripers can be caught on jigging spoons and drop-shot rigs and shaky-head rigs on humps and drop-offs. Target deeper offshore structures like brushpiles and old roadbeds in 20 to 30 feet of water near the mouths of most major creeks for the best results.”

Linesides: Good. Guide Keith Hudson reports, “The downline bite with shad or bass shiners has improved as the water has cooled off. Freelining a live bait will also work at times. Most of the fish seem to be holding 20 to 30 feet deep when they are not schooling on the surface. The fish are still moving around a good bit but should lock in to a certain thermocline as the water cools. Expect the topwater fishing to be sporadic. It’s usually best very early and very late or on overcast or rainy days. Gulls and loons usually show up strong in December, which makes it easier to pinpoint schooling stripers. A popping-cork rig has still been working on schooling 1- to 3-lb. fish with an occasional bigger one mixed in. A 3/8- or 1/2-oz. white Rooster Tail, a chrome C.C. Spoon and a number of other small shad imitators have also been producing. And the colder it gets, the better the fishing usually is—within reason of course. As the water cools, a bucktail jig becomes very effective, as well. The mouths of most creeks anywhere south of the Highland Marina area all the way to the dam and Maple Creek have been holding fish. Trolling with mid-depth crankbaits and Alabama Rigs continues to produce some linesides in these same areas.”

Crappie: Good. Guide Keith Hudson reports, “Try tightline fishing with minnows or a 1/16-oz. or smaller jig around bridge pilings, brushpiles and blowdowns in 6 to 15 feet of water. Concentrate on trees and brush that are close to the old creek channels. Pitching or shooting docks with small tube or feather jigs around or under the docks can still produce this time of year. As usual, crappie seem to love shade and cover. Yellowjacket, Wehadkee and Whitewater creeks are still producing some crappie. Spider-rig trolling usually starts back good in December and can be very effective. Even night fishing can still be good this time year, especially on a warming trend. If December turns unusually warm and wet, the crappie can show back up surprisingly shallow very quickly.”