West Point Fishing Report – June 2008

West Point: Level: Full pool. Temp: Low to mid 70s. Clarity: Clear.

Bass: Tough, said Steve Holt who fished the recent BFL on West Point. He said it only took about 11 pounds to win the tournament in a big field. The most productive patterns were an early topwater bite for about the first hour of daylight and a rocky-point and shoal bite for the rest of the day. For about the first hour of daylight, there is a decent topwater bite on buzzbaits and Zara Spooks on the north end of the lake around rip-rap points and up shallow on the banks. Once the sun gets up, it’s time to move to the plastics, Steve said. Most of the tournament anglers brought in bags of spotted bass caught on shaky heads in 8 to 14 feet of water on rocky points. Some other anglers had success fishing Texas rigs in the same types of areas. The best worm bite was from the Hwy 109 bridge south. Steve said his partner caught a few fish throwing a brown, 7/16-oz. jig to blowdowns in Yellowjacket. Guide Paul Parsons said the fishing for spotted bass is excellent right now. “Spotted bass are being caught all over the lake. They will hit a variety of baits, but the best way to catch them is probably a lightweight Carolina-rigged finesse worm. Chartreuse-pepper and watermelon-seed with the tail dipped in chartreuse-garlic dye are really good colors. Fish the main-lake points and shoal markers.”

Linesides: Guide Bobby Wilson said the fishing is slow. “The river run is over, and the fish have moved back down into the lake,” said Bobby. “Toward the end of May, they will be moving out on the flats, roadbeds and humps. You will be able to catch these fish on live bait, threadfin or gizzard shad. Downline these baits on a Carolina rig. Find these fish by using your graph. Then turn your graph off, and troll back to your buoy marker. A lot of times these fish will spook and move out when using your graph and big motor.” Bobby said you can also catch these fish trolling white or chartreuse Sassy Shads and crankbaits. He likes a 1/2-oz. chrome/blue Rat-L-Trap, a No. 7 black/silver Shad Rap and a Bandit 200 Series in pearl/white, chartreuse or chrome/blue. Paul said, “The best way to catch striped, hybrid and white bass in May is to downline live shad on the main-lake humps, flats and roadbeds,” he said. “Right now the fish are in the northern part of the lake from the mouth of Wolf Creek to the railroad trestle. Fishing on the main-lake humps should get good in about a week or so. Good main-lake humps and flats to fish are the railroad-trestle hump, the flat at Pyne Road Park, the flat at the mouth Wehadkee Creek, the flat at Amity Park, the flat at Indian Creek and the humps at the mouth of Maple Creek. The best time to fish has been from daylight until about 11 a.m. The water color has been clear on the main lake, and the fish have been very spooky. Sometimes idling over them with your big motor running and electronics on will scare the whole school off. Trolling with your big motor back and forth through them will scare them. If you troll, please be courteous to people fishing live bait and don’t troll too close to them.”

Crappie: Good. “The crappie are moving into the brushpiles in about 17 to 30 feet of water,” said Bobby. “Downline minnows to the top of these piles, and you can catch a lot of fish. Crappie are pulling up on the bridge pilings in the day and at night. Downline minnows 8 to 10 feet down, and you should be able to put fish in the boat. These fish are in the creek channels on ledges and stumps. You just have to move around and find them.”

Catfish: Good. The flathead-catfish bite up the Chattahoochee River arm at West Point is going strong. Fish on the bottom with big live bait, concentrating in the deep holes up the river. For more information on flathead catfish at West Point Lake, see the feature article with Paul on page 18.