West Point Fishing Report June 2014

West Point: Level: 0.3 feet above full pool. Temp: 75-80 degrees. Clarity: Generally clear.

Bass: “Most any creek will produce largemouth right now, and there are several patterns that seem to be working right now. We have fish in spawning and postspawn patterns. I enjoy throwing topwaters like a Pop-R or Zara Spook to cover water, but fish are being caught off the bed on Senkos and Flukes as well. Some bass have already spawned and moved out deeper and can be caught on a Carolina-rigged Trick Worm, a Texas-rigged Mag 2 or a jig ’n pig around deeper cover. The flooded grass is also holding fish right now. Try a Poppin’ Spro Frog. The shad spawn also continues to produce. Try a crankbait or spinnerbait in shad patterns around patches of rip-rap rock near the bridges first in the morning. Most reliable right now are the spotted bass. A Carolina-rigged Zoom green-pumpkin Finesse worm or a small crankbait will wear them out. Try the mouths of the larger creeks. Gravel points and shoal markers are a good place to start. Fish the south end of the lake for the best results for spotted bass.”

Linesides: Excellent. “Downlining with shad or shiners on the south end of the lake is great now and will improve even more as the hungry postspawn fish show up later in the month. Look for these fish to be in the 15- to 25-foot range on the edge of humps, roadbeds and creek channels. Also keep your eyes open for topwater schooling activity, and have a popping cork handy just in case. Trolling can still be productive in the creek channels. The spawning run is pretty much over. However ,some of the biggest stripers always seem to show up at the tail end of the run. The deeper holes above Brush Creek to the shoals above Franklin seems to be the key area. Try anchoring out and throwing downstream from the boat. A big live bait seems to be better, but they may still hit the cut shad. Also, I always expect to catch some big flathead catfish or channel cat mixed in with the stripers this time of year. If you want to try artificials, try a Sassy Shad on a lead head or a big Chug Bug.”

Crappie: Keith reports, “Live minnows on a split-shot rig, feather-tail Jiffy Jigs or tube jigs in various colors are working. My favorite technique this time of year is pitching or shooting docks. Try a 1/24-oz. black/white/white Jiffy Jig on 4-lb. line around deeper docks with brush. Some postspawn crappie should start showing up close to deeper brush and can be caught tight-lining jigs or a minnow on a drop-shot rig. Wehadkee, Yellow Jacket and Whitewater creeks are all producing fish. Night fishing has started improving. Try Yellow Jacket bridge or the Highway 109 bridge on the Chattahoochee.”

Bream: Good. “A fish that hardly anyone fishes for here but are now showing up in good numbers and decent size is the shellcracker bream,” Keith said. “They bed later than the crappie but in the same shallow areas. They hit mostly pink worms or crickets. They are good fish to eat and fun to catch since they put up a good fight.”