West Point Fishing Report – September 2008

West Point: Level: 0.42 feet below full pool. Temp: Low to mid 80s. Clarity: Clear on the main lake. Clear in the creeks. Stained to muddy up the Chattahoochee River. Upper creeks have a light stain.

Bass: Tournament angler Ken Bearden said it was pretty tough toward the end of August, but with falling water temps he expects the fall patterns to turn on soon. He said the best bet for bass right now is to either target spots schooling around the linesides with a small topwater bait or a small Rat-L-Trap or to fish a shaky head threaded with a watermelon-flake Zoom Meat Head on the ends of rocky main-lake points in 20 to 25 feet of water. In September, when the shad start moving up, follow the bait into the creeks and pockets. Ken said to target ditches and to imitate shad with a fluke, topwater, spinnerbait or shallow-running crankbait. Also try drop shotting a Meat Head worm in watermelon flake just beneath baitfish you see on your graph. The fall pattern, once it picks up, should last all the way into November.

Linesides: Excellent. Guides Bobby Wilson and Paul Parsons both said the topwater bite is hot right now in the mornings until about 11 a.m. Fish are schooling down the lake from 109 bridge to the dam. Watch the mouths of the creeks for schooling fish. Popping-corks with a popper are working great. Try a Rat-L-Trap, Rooster Tail, spoon or jig. Live shad is also working on the flats, humps, roadbeds and around standing timber. Also try downlining live bait on the schooling fish about 10 feet deep. The topwater bite should be good into September.

Crappie: Good, said Bobby. Fish are still biting in the creeks on downlined minnows just over the tops of the brushpiles. They are also around bridge pilings. Fish 8 to 10 feet down with minnows or try throwing a Jiffy Jig. Night fishing is good around lighted docks and bridge pilings after dark. A Hydro-Glow light works great at night for pulling bait in and catching crappie. The fish should pull out to the backs of the creeks in September and start feeding on schooling shad. Start trolling with curlytail or Jiffy jigs in the backs of the creeks.

Catfish: Good, said Paul. Channel and blue cats are biting well at night in the main lake. Big flatheads are being caught up the river on big gizzard shad, bream, crappie and channel catfish. Good places to catch flatheads are the deep holes from the 219 bridge up to the shoals above Franklin.