West Point Fishing Report – February 2009

West Point: Level: 4.3 feet below full pool and rising. Temp: Low 50s. Clarity: Lightly stained down the main lake and stained in the backs of the creeks and up the river.

Bass: Fair. Guide Paul Parsons reports: “Largemouth and spotted bass are moving into deeper water with the colder water temps. A good way to catch largemouths this time of year is with jigging spoons. The key to success is finding the shad. Good places to start are where the main-lake flats drop off into deeper water and submerged roadbeds. Also, look for the seagulls. If you can’t find fish in these areas, they are probably in the standing timber along the river and main creek channels. Spotted bass are biting good on the main-lake points. We’ve been catching some nice spots on lightweight Carolina-rigged finesse worms. The best color has been watermelon seed with a chartreuse tail.”

Linesides: Good. Bobby Wilson reports: “We’re catching fish trolling crankbaits in the mouths of the creeks. Try Maple, Wehadkee, Bird, Wilson, Stroud, Veasy, Yellowjacket or Jackson creeks. Try trolling a red-and-white Yozuri, chrome/black Rat-L-Trap or parrot-green Bandit. Also watch for gulls hitting the water, fish are usually under the baitfish. Try livebait down on the flats and roadbeds down the lake. A good graph is a must to locate these fish.” Paul said, “Striped, hybrid and white bass are biting good down the lake on humps, flats and roadbeds and also around areas of standing timber fishing live shad. Good humps and flats to fish are the railroad-trestle hump, the flats at the mouths of Wilson, Wehadkee, Alligator and Indian creeks and the humps at the mouth of Maple Creek. Striper and hybrid fishing should remain good until the surface temperature drops below 50 degrees. Jigging spoons will produce with the colder water temperatures. Use your electronics to locate the shad schools, and you will usually find the game fish close by. Another way to locate fish in the winter is to look for the seagulls. They are starting to show up on West Point and will get more numerous as it gets colder.”

Crappie: Good. Bobby said, “Fish have moved to the mouths of the creeks. Trolling 1/16-oz. jigs, any color grubs, has been working. The slower you can go, the better the bite. Try Jackson, Yellowjacket, Whitewater, Turkey, Wehadkee and Maple creeks.” Paul said, “Crappie are biting good during the day on minnows around blowdowns and brushpiles 8 to 12 feet deep. Good brushpiles can be found around many of the docks that are still in deep enough water. A lot of the old roadbeds have brushpiles in 8 to 12 feet that hold crappie.”

Catfish: Good. Paul reports: “Channel and blue catfish are biting good during the day on the main-lake flats in 20 to 30 feet of water. Locate the shad, and you should find the catfish. Another good place to try is the tailrace area below the West Point Lake dam. The best bait is fresh-cut shad. The flathead catfish bite up the river is slow due to the colder water temperatures. Flathead fishing should pick back up in the spring when the water temperature gets up to around 60 degrees. We normally start catching flatheads about the time the striper and hybrid run gets going.”