West Point Lake Fishing Report – December 2018

West Point: Level: 2.6 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid to upper 50s. Clarity: Moderate stain.

Bass: Fair. Guide Keith Hudson reports, “The shallow bass bite at West Point remains fair right now and should improve even more, especially with stained water, higher than normal lake levels and water temps in the 50s and 60s. Baits such as Rat-L-Traps, squarebill crankbaits and ChatterBaits are catching some of these shallower fish. Try to  fish these baits in coves and pockets with small feeder creeks or around schools of shallow baitfish. Fish the open water in the pockets with  an Alabama Rig or Flash Mob Jr. Keep a jig or shaky head handy to pitch around any wood cover. Fishing rip-rap can also produce good results this time of year. Yellow Jacket and Whitewater creeks continue to produce. By the end of the month the water should clear back up, and the lake level should drop. Big schools of spotted bass mixed with hybrids, white bass and stripers can be caught on jigging spoons and drop-shot rigs and shaky-head rigs on humps and drop-offs. Target  deeper offshore structures like brushpiles and old roadbeds in 20 to 30 feet of water near the mouths of most major creeks for the best results.”

Linesides: Good. Guide Keith Hudson reports, “The downline bite with shad or bass shiners has improved as the water has cooled off. Freelining a live bait will also work at times. Most of the fish seem to be holding 20 to 30 feet deep when they are not schooling on the surface. The fish are still moving around a good bit but should lock in to a certain thermocline as the water cools. Expect the topwater fishing to be sporadic. It’s usually best very early and very late or on overcast or rainy days. Gulls and loons usually show up strong in  December, which makes it easier to pinpoint schooling stripers. A popping-cork rig has still been working on schooling 1- to 3-lb. fish with an occasional bigger one mixed in. A  3/8- or 1/2-oz. white Rooster Tail, a chrome C.C. Spoon and a number of other small shad imitators have also been producing, and the colder it gets the better the fishing usually is. As the water cools, a bucktail jig becomes very effective, as well. The mouths of most creeks anywhere south of the Highland Marina area all the way to the dam and Maple Creek have been holding fish. Trolling with mid-depth crankbaits and Alabama Rigs continues to produce linesides in these areas.”

Crappie: Guide Keith Hudson reports, “Try tightline fishing with minnows or a 1/16-oz. or smaller jig around bridge pilings, brushpiles and blowdowns in 6 to 15 feet of water for winter crappie on West Point. Concentrate on trees and brush that are close to the old creek channels. Pitching or shooting docks with small tube or feather jigs around or under docks can still produce this time of year. As usual, crappie seem to love shade and cover. Yellow Jacket, Wehadkee and Whitewater creeks are still producing some crappie. Spider-rig trolling usually starts back in December as well and can be very effective. If December turns unusually warm and wet, the crappie can show back up shallow very quickly.”