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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
I don’t mind sharing with you that my focus is almost always catfish. And, my methods are almost solely toward big fish. Complete honesty… I want to catch the biggest fish in the lake! What is evident over the past two weekends is that the blue cats are most definitely in spawn. Their bite has indeed slowed quite a bit. I hear tell of a couple of monsters caught upriver. My guess is that water temperatures may still be a bit low in those parts. The flathead bite lasted a bit longer, but this weekend proved that they are also on the brink of going to the beds. For the next several weeks, your best bet for finding active, feeding catfish is going to be the main channel ledges where they will be traveling between feeding spots. Expect more “dinks” through the summer as most mature fish are laying…
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If you read my last blog entry, you’re well aware that Jason Alford captured this year’s Georgia Kayak Bass Fishing Championship in October. Jason was kind enough to sit down with me and share his experience competing on West Point Lake and the Chattahoochee River. In fact, Jason shared so much great information that I’m…
For the second time in its 4-year history, the title of “Georgia State Kayak Bass Fishing Champion” is held by an angler from Rome. This year’s two-day event was hosted by Chattahoochee Kayak Anglers Oct. 12-13 on West Point Lake and the Chattahoochee River below the West Point dam. After two tough days of fishing, Jason…
With the Georgia State Kayak Bass Championship coming up in less than a week, you can bet competitors are firmly focused on their planning—from pre-fishing to studying lake maps to reading old GON lake reports. This post is your one-stop for all the information on this year’s event. Before we get into all the good…
Efforts continue in 2019 to improve largemouth bass populations at West Point Lake. Georgia DNR, through its Fisheries Section of the Wildlife Resources Division (WRD), hopes to boost the number of largemouth bass in West Point Lake. The DNR has already stocked more than 350,000 bass fingerlings this year, and a different approach is being…
On March 8, Mike Bradford, of Douglasville, caught a West Point striper certified at 36.17 pounds, breaking the old record by more than a half pound. At 6:30 in the morning, Mike and his friend Jamie Townsend arrived at the lake. Mike said he’s been fishing West Point for 30 years. “My friend Jamie and…
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…