West Point Fishing Report – January 2009

West Point: Level: 3.2 feet below full pool and rising. Temp: Mid 50s. Clarity: Stained on the main lake. Muddy up the creeks and up the Chattahoochee.

Bass: Fair. Ken Bearden said the same patterns from the December report are still working, but that the deep bite has picked up a little more with dropping water temperatures. He said to fish a drop shot or a spoon around main-lake points in 25 to 30 feet of water. For a better bite, find areas with schooled-up baitfish. Ken likes a 3/8- or 1/2-oz. silver castmaster spoon, and on his drop shot he fishes a Zoom Meathead in watermelon with green flake. Ken said there are also still a few fish shallow, and you can catch them feeding on wind-blocked banks that are warmed by the sun. He’s been catching them on a small shallow-running crankbait. His recent favorite is a Spro Little John, which runs about 6 to 8 feet deep, in clear-chartreuse. Jigs and flukes will also produce for this shallow bite.

Linesides: Fair. “This front sitting on top of us this week has shut the fish down,” said guide Bobby Wilson. “They should pick back up in a few days after the front goes on through totally. These fish are on the move; you may have to do a lot of riding to find them. A good graph is needed to find these fish. They are there one day and gone the next. Once you find them, try trolling chartreuse bucktails, grubs, black/chartreuse, chartreuse, bubblegum or black/blue with a 1/2-oz. jig work best in the stained waters. Chartreuse Bandits, 200 series, work real well trolling.” With the stained water, Ken said he has been catching stripers and hybrids that have followed the schools of shad that were pushed up into the creeks. The fish are 10 to 15 feet deep holding over standing timber in 30 to 35 feet of water. Try trolling a fluke threaded on a Fish Head Spin over the timber. Guide Paul Parson 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 Creek, Wehadkee Creek, Alligator Creek and Indian Creek 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.”

Crappie: Fair. “The front shut them down,” said Bobby. “They should pick back up. Try down-lining minnows in the brushpiles in 15 to 23 feet of water; the fish are stacked in them. With the lake coming down every day, the fish will be moving to the creeks or river channels. When you find them, downline minnows to them or work a small jigging spoon.”

Catfish: Good. “Channel and blue catfish are biting good during the daytime 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,” said Paul.