West Point Fishing Report September 2012

West Point: Level: 7.8 feet low. Temp: High 80s. Clarity: Stained.

Bass: Poor. Chris Bell reports, “Fish continue to be scattered. Water temperatures have come down improving the bite somewhat. This week with the recent cloud cover there has been a shallow topwater bite throughout the day. Using buzzbaits in a shad pattern and covering water has seemed the best. During times when the sun is high, move offshore and focus on fish related to structure. On offshore structure, my best baits have been soft plastics, either Carolina rigs or shaky-head worms in green pumpkin.”

Linesides: Fair. Chris reports, “There are still some fish schooling late in the evening and first thing in the morning around the mouths of Wolf and Wehadkee creeks. During daylight hours, trolling has been the most effective for numbers. Use a three-way swivel. Tie on a 16-inch leader and a 1/4-oz. white hair jig. On the second swivel, tie on a Norman’s Deep Little-N in a shad pattern behind a 30-inch leader. This may seem cumbersome, but catching doubles is completely possible. Troll these rigs in many of the same areas you located schooling fish in the morning time.”

Crappie: Fair. Chris reports, “Crappie have moved out to standing timber. But with recreational activity, positioning your boat either with downlined minnows or trolling can be difficult. For catching crappie, the best fishing has been at night below floating lights around bridges. Good numbers are coming on downlined minnows 10 to 12 feet below lights. It takes a little time for bait to group around lights and the fish will be soon to follow.”