West Point Fishing Report – December 2010

West Point: Level: 3.6 feet below full pool. Temp: Low to mid 60s. Clarity: Stained up the river; clear on the main lake.

Bass: Tough. Tim Peek said if you find a few good fish, you better sit on them, because the bite has been pretty tough recently. You can catch a ton of spotted bass drop-shotting roadbeds, ledges and anywhere you find bait in the 20- to 25-foot depths. “It’s fun, but it won’t win you a tournament,” said Tim. The spots will hit anything small, and Tim suggested a 4-inch Zoom Dead Ringer or a Zoom Tiny Fluke in either green pumpkin or shad pattern. If you’re after some bigger fish, the largemouths are scattered, but you can find them in the back third of the major creeks or off the first drops when the water level falls. Tim keeps a Lucky Craft RC 15 or RC 25 or a Strike King Series 5 tied on for fish that are a little more aggressive, but he’ll also slow it down with a shaky head or a HP model Dirty Jig in green pumpkin with some blue in it. These same baits will produce a few bites if you’re willing to cover a lot of water hitting brush and blowdowns out on the main lake, and you can also throw a spinnerbait into the mix for fishing blowdowns. Tim said he’s looking forward to colder weather in December when the vertical bite really turns on. As the temperature drops, more and bigger fish will move out onto the ledges, roadbeds and brush in the 20- to 25-foot range, and it can get downright easy to pick them off with a football-head jig, shaky head, spoon or drop-shot rig.

Linesides: Good. Paul Parsons reports, “Striper and hybrid fishing is starting to improve with the cooler water temps. The bigger striped bass that moved upriver to escape the hot water in the lake are starting to move back down, and striper fishing will continue to improve as the water cools.”