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West Point Lake
West Point is a great fishing lake, but it has undergone major changes in the past several decades. Once overly fertile because of Atlanta's upstream influence, environmental changes have reduced the flows of nutrients that once created pea-green waters and super largemouth bass fishing. The lake is clearer these days, and the less fertile waters are transitioning from largemouth to spotted bass. Bass fishing is still excellent, just more spotted bass are caught these days. Hybrid bass fishing is very good, especially during the famed spring run up the Chattahoochee River to Franklin. West Point is a man-made reservoir of 25,900 acres impounded by the West Point Dam, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
West Point Lake Resources
Jeremiah Giles reports, “On West Point, the bass fishing is good. Last week’s trip I caught them up shallow in 10 feet on creature baits and crankbaits. The better colors were green pumpkin and anything with chartreuse in it. A white ChatterBait and a small shaky head fished along any shoreline rock cover did well, too. “On the other side of the dam in the river, the bass and catfish are both biting. Carp are active if you want to target them, and there’s some crappie to be caught at night. The striper run is in full force right now, and they’ll eat almost anything moving, but a white or pink grub or swimbait have been my lures of choice. Most everyone else is using live bait from shiners to nightcrawlers. “We have been fishing from the bank a few hundred yards down the river from the dam, but we…
Read MoreWest Point Lake Articles
March can be one of the best months to catch bass on Georgia lakes, and West Point is often the best bass lake in the state this month. West Point is full of quality largemouths as well as spotted bass, and they are all moving shallow to feed as they get ready to spawn in…
Even when the water is January cold, you can catch a mess of crappie. According to our three experts, who catch crappie with three different techniques in January, you just have to fish a little deeper, and a little slower. When the surface temperatures of Georgia reservoirs drop during the winter, the fish move into…
The popular saying goes that the third time is always the charm. But for Calhoun catfishermen Lester and David Harrison, it was actually the second time around at the Cabelaʼs King Kat Tournament on West Point in July that saw them go from bridesmaid to bride. The father-and-son angling duo, which placed second last year…
It seems to me that the jigging spoon must be some sort of a miracle. How else could a flat piece of metal that looks as if it has been summarily beaten by a ball-peen hammer produce so many fish? But the fact is, miracle or not, these little flat pieces of metal can load…
Those of you who have been pursuing bass on Georgia lakes through the hot summer months know just how tough summertime bass fishing can be. Soaring air and water temperatures seem to combine to make the fish lethargic and action scarce. While higher-than-average rainfall amounts and lower-than-normal average temperatures have made this summer better than…
West Point Lake Record Fish
| Largemouth Bass | 14-lbs., 2-ozs. | Richard Little | 04/15/1988 |
| Spotted Bass | 6-lbs., 9-ozs. | Wendell Young | 02/07/1990 |
| White Crappie | 3-lbs., 14-ozs. | Willie Arnold | 02/15/1989 |
| Black Crappie | 3-lbs., 6-ozs. | Edward Cagle | 03/14/1996 |
| Hybrid Bass | 14-lbs., 12.75-ozs. | Dustin Pate | 03/13/2009 |
| Shoal Bass | 3-lbs., 7-ozs. | Danny Swafford | 08/02/1997 |
| Blue Catfish | 61-lbs. | Jerrimie Tolbert | 10/22/2022 |
| Flathead Catfish | 48-lbs. | Mike Felter | 08/22/2020 |
| Yellow Perch | 1-lb., 2.4-ozs. | Toney Booker | 11/18/2017 |
| Channel Catfish | 16-lbs., 7.5-ozs. | Owen Knabe | 4/22/2018 |
| Striped Bass | 40-lbs. | Mike Steele | 3/24/2024 |
| Shellcracker | 12.64-ozs. | Todd Garner | 05/06/2023 |
| Longnose Gar | 23-lbs. | April Waldrop | 07/21/2023 |
West Point Most-Read Articles
Many of our lakes and rivers are loaded with large, trophy-sized trash fish that no one really cares about fishing for because they are supposedly not that good to eat. Carp and gar are at the top of that list, and even if their taste and table quotient is questionable, they sure are sporting. Just…
There’s a reason tournament partners Earl Kitchens, of Gray, and Wayne Ard, of Lizella, drive halfway across Georgia to fish West Point Lake. The crappie fishing can be that good. And, in late February and early March, when the first waves of egg-heavy females begin pushing into the shallows to spawn, the fishing gets that…
In July, the days are often long and hot, and the lakes can be crowded with pleasure boaters. Conditions can be tough for bass fishermen. To lower your frustration and catch some fish, head to West Point Lake. The spotted bass and largemouths there feed even on the hottest days, and summer bassin’ at West…
There’s no doubt that amongst the beautiful scenery of West Point Lake there’s a huge population of hungry, eager and hard-fighting linesides. And, as the weather continues to warm this month, the action should only get hotter, according West Point Lake angler and part-time guide Todd Pursley. Now that the crowded spring striper and hybrid…