West Point Fishing Report – August 2010

West Point: Level: 0.2 feet below full pool. Temp: High 80s. Clarity: Clear on the main lake; stained up the creeks and up the Chattahoochee.

Bass: Fair. Micah Frazier said bass will be holding on deep structure like rock piles and brush on the ledges, roadbeds and humps. Fish hard until you find the bass, then stay on them, because they’ll often be grouped up tight this time of year. Micah likes to fish a big crankbait like a Norman DD22 or Strike King Series 5 or 6 in sexy-shad color. If you need to slow it down, try jigs and Carolina rigs. For probing cover, Micah likes a Buckeye Football Jig with a Fat Albert twin-tail grub. He’ll also throw a Spot Remover with a finesse worm if he has to. Rig a Baby Brush Hog or a big worm on your Carolina rig. Micah says he likes green pumpkin and the brown colors. If the water is clear, he’ll go with the summer-craw color on his finesse worm.

Linesides: Good. Paul Parsons reports, “Striper fishing is excellent on the main-lake humps and flats. Good humps and flats are from the railroad trestle bridge to West Point dam. There has been some good topwater action first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. We’ve been catching lots of linesides on popping-cork rigs, but they’ll also hit Sassy Shads and Rooster Tails. Most of these fish are 3 to 5 pounds. We’ve been catching stripers up to 16 pounds on live bait fished 25 to 35 feet deep.”

Crappie: Good. Paul reports, “Crappie are biting good at night under the bridges. The most popular bridges are the Cameron Mill Road bridge in Yellow Jacket Creek, the railroad trestle and the Highway 109 bridge. Good lights are a must for crappie fishing at night. Fish with minnows on downlines, and vary your depth.”

Catfish: Good. Paul reports, “Blue and channel catfish are biting good all over the lake. The best bait is cut shad. Fishing for flathead catfish is picking up with the warmer water temps. The best way to catch the big flatheads is to fish the deep holes upriver from the 219 bridge all the way up to above Franklin. The best bait by far is big, live gizzard shad. Flatheads are biting day and night, but it’s starting to turn into a night bite.”