West Point Fishing Report April 2012

West Point: Level: 2.3 feet below full pool. Temp: 61 degrees. Clarity: Stained.

Bass: Fair to good. Chris Bell reports, “The lake is very transitional right now. The best bites have been covering a lot of water with Carolina-rigged lizards with a 3/4-oz. lead. We really prefer using a Texas rig this time of year, but with fish scattered you can cover much more water with a Carolina rig. Leave your leader at about 24 inches, and use a Zoom green-pumpkin lizard. Fish mid way into the backs of pockets on gentle sloping rocky banks. Fish are staging in these areas preparing for the spawn.” Paul Parsons reports, “Spotted bass fishing is good with Carolina-rigged finesse worms on humps and points. We have been catching lots of spots around main-lake humps and old pond dams on live shad. Largemouth fishing has been good on warm, sunny afternoons when they move into the backs of the feeder creeks to feed on shad. My favorite lure for catching these fish is a 1/4 oz. Rat-L-Trap. Look for largemouth fishing to pick up with the warming water temperatures.”

Linesides: Good. Chris reports, “Some fish are beginning to move up river, but the majority of the fish are mid lake. These fish are at the mouths of pockets on humps and roadbeds working their way up the lake. Currently, downlining live shad or using jigging spoons on these humps is the best bet. If the bite is slow, stick with live bait, but if multiples are present use your jigging spoon. Do keep a 1/4-oz. lipless crankbait in silver with a black back present as during the day fish will sometimes begin schooling in these same areas. Schooling action is very short, so be prepared to cast.” Paul Parsons reports, “The spring striper, hybrid and white bass run up the river has started! Lots of big, fat white bass are being caught from the New River all the way up to the shoals above Franklin. Stripers and hybrids are also starting their run. The best bait right now is fresh, cut shad. Good areas to try are along sandbars and bends in the river channel. Look for the run to be wide open in just a week or two.” Expect the hybrids and stripers to begin the spring run in earnest over the next few weeks. By the first couple of weeks in April, the best bite will be up the Chattahoochee River arm. For a feature story on how to catch linesides when they run up Chattahoochee River, see page 82.

Crappie: Good. Chris reports, “Fish have positioned halfway back in pockets relating to brushpiles and break lines. The best depths have been in 10 to 12 feet of water. Troll Jiffy Jigs in pink and white and chartreuse and black along break lines at 10 to 12 feet of water in creeks such as Yellow Jacket, Half Moon and Whitewater. In these same creeks, locate brush in the same depths, and slow down with live minnows downlined to brushpiles.” It won’t be long before the crappie push up very shallow. Then pitching to shallow cover with jigs or minnows under corks will be a good option, as will longline trolling spawning coves with minnow-tipped jigs.