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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
West Point: Level: 5.5 feet below 635. Temp: Mid 60s. Clarity: Mostly clear. Bass: Guide Keith Hudson reports, “Good. If you want to catch some fish, April is usually the most consistent month of the year for all types of fishing. The weather is usually beautiful, and it is just a great time frame to be on the water. Largemouth bass can be caught on several different patterns this month, and all of them involve staying shallow for the most part. Topwater baits, such as Pop-Rs, Zara Spooks and buzzbaits can be extremely effective for shallow and aggressive prespawn and spawning fish. Try the backs of pockets in most of the major creeks. I normally prefer the pockets with little feeder creeks in the backs. The second pattern that works really well is to look for spawning shad. Try fishing rip-rap around bridges with spinnerbaits, small crankbaits and Zoom Super…
Read MoreWest Point Lake Articles
There are some new fish in West Point Lake—41,264 to be exact. The DNR on May 12 stocked the lake with largemouth bass grown in a hatchery in Richmond Hill, near Savannah, according to Brent Hess, a fisheries biologist with DNR. “This is the first time we’ve ever done that, except for when it opened,”…
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…
April bass fishing is what we have been dreaming of all winter. Make your dreams come true with a trip to West Point this month. West Point is a 25,900-acre U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Alabama/Georgia line. It has a lot of good spawning pockets off the Chattahoochee River and major feeder…
Cal Culpepper and Parker Marshall, both 16 years old, took first place in the Georgia B.A.S.S Nation High School fishing tournament at West Point Lake on Saturday, March 12. After the win, they drove across the state and finished ninth in Sunday’s 2016 TBF/FLW High School Fishing Georgia State Championship on Clarks Hill Reservoir. The two…
Like wet Johnny Appleseeds, bass-fishing teams from Alexander, Central, Harris County, Crosspointe Christian, Breman, Carrollton and Newnan high schools literally jumped in the lake to create important new fish habitat at West Point Lake. Many hands made light work during this mid-August outing. The kids placed hundreds of water willow plants at select locations around…
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 | 72-lbs. | Aivis Tumovs | 01/02/25 |
| 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 | 1-lb., 8-ozs. | Justin Tomlinson | 10/26/2024 |
| Longnose Gar | 23-lbs. | April Waldrop | 07/21/2023 |
| White Bass | 2-lbs., 6.08-ozs. | Shayne Goddard | 01/18/25 |
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…