West Point Reservoir
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Fish and Fishing in
West Point Lake
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West Point Reservoir is a 25,864-acre mainstream Chattahoochee River impoundment located just north of I-85, an hour southwest of Atlanta. The US Army Corps of Engineers operates the lake, including providing public access areas and other recreational opportunities. The Corps of Engineers and others operate numerous free and daily fee access areas. Although most of West Point Reservoir is in Georgia, fishing licenses from Alabama and Georgia are valid, "with the exception of that portion of West Point Reservoir lying upstream (north) of Georgia Highway 109 Bridge on the Chattahoochee River arm of said reservoir." Special regulations apply.
 Historically, West Point Reservoir provided exceptional bass fishing up until the early to mid 90s. However, improved sewage treatment in the Atlanta metropolitan greatly reduced the fertility of West Point Lake over the past decade. Low fertility typically slows growth of all fish and favors the production of spotted bass over largemouth bass. This resulted in a steady increase in spotted bass numbers and reduced numbers of largemouth bass. In 2003, an increase in the abundance of threadfin shad and smaller gizzard shad was observed. Consequently, largemouth bass and spotted bass were collected at similar rates during the spring 2007 electrofishing sample and spotted bass growth appeared to have increased. An abundance of Age-3 and Age-4 crappie were collected, suggesting a good crop of harvestable-size crappie should be available for the next few years.
Although the bass fishery is still far different from what it was in the early 90s, the overall quality of bass fishing still ranks high among tournament-active reservoirs in Alabama. According to tournament reports, West Point Reservoir ranked 2nd for the least number of angling hours needed to catch a 5 pound bass.
Bass fishing success and techniques in West Point Reservoir are influenced by the water level. Although, the water level doesn’t usually change quickly, it may gradually become as far as 6 or 7 feet low during dry summers. West Point has very little marginal cover to attract fish, thus most fishing is offshore, especially during dry years. There is a minimum size limit of 14 inches for West Point Reservoir has a 14-inch minimum size limit for largemouth bass. There are no size restrictions on spotted bass from West Point. Anglers are encouraged to harvest the abundant small spotted bass, which would result in improved growth of the remaining fish. Other species of interest to West Point Reservoir anglers are hybrid striped bass, white bass, black crappie, channel catfish, bluegill, and redbreast sunfish.
Links (disclaimer):
Fishing license information may be found at: www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/license/. Instant licensing is available via the Internet (2% fee), via the telephone by calling 1-888-848-6887 ($3.95 fee), or at 900 vendors and probate offices in Alabama. All youth age 15 and younger fish for free.
Possession and creel limits for Alabama public waters are listed at: www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/regulations/
Fishing quality for black bass at West Point Lake is assessed from bass club tournament results here.
If you are a member of a bass club, please consider being a part of our Bass Angler Information Team. The Division uses information from clubs to help better manage your lakes for fishing.
State fish management information and Alabama reservoir location, size and elevation are listed at: www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/where/reservoirs/
Maps of West Point Lake: westpt.sam.usace.army.mil/color map of wpl2.htm
The US Army Corps of Engineers has fishing, boating and camping information for West Point Lake at: http://westpt.sam.usace.army.mil/Default.htm.
and http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/us_nra/ace/ga_westp.htm
The State of Georgia provides information on West Point Lake. From georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/, go to "Fishing," "Places to Fish," and then "Georgia Reservoirs Fishing Prospects." They will list a link to "West Point" Lake.
Bass fishing reports West Point Lake may be available at: www.wmi.org/bassfish/reports/alabama/.
Local area information is available at: www.lagrangechamber.com
Information about a local group concerned about West Point Lake may be found at www.westpointlakecoalition.org/
It shall be unlawful to intentionally stock or release any fish, mussel, snail, crayfish or their embryos including bait fish into the public waters of Alabama under the jurisdiction of the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries as provided in Rule 220-2-.42 except those waters from which it came without the written permission of a designated employee of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources authorized by the Director of the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries to issue such permit. The provisions of this rule shall not apply to the incidental release of bait into the water during the normal process of fishing.
The Fisheries Section’s District IV Supervisor can answer specific questions about West Point Reservoir by sending mail to Chris Greene at: Chris.Greene@dcnr.alabama.gov
Prepared by: Fisheries Section, Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. This site is presented for information only the Fisheries Section cannot be responsible for the quality of information or services offered through linked sites, disclaimer. To have your site included, send your URL, e-mail address, or telephone number to the Fisheries Web Master, doug.darr@dcnr.alabama.gov. The Fisheries Section reserves the right to select sites based on relevant and appropriate content, of interest to our viewers. If you discover errors in the content or links of this page, please contact Doug Darr. Thank you.
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