Thread: West Point Conditions

I just got back from dropping fish attractors in Maple Creek at West Point. For those of you that may be interested, the lake is as low right now as it was at the height of the drought. The floating dock at Long Cane Access is sitting on the rocks. Water temperature was 39 degrees. Fish and bait fish were suspended along the slopes of the channel at 25 to 30 feet over 40 foot bottom. Did not see a fish anywhere else but along the channels.

US lake levels has the lake at -6.62 as of today. Its low point during the drought was 14 ft. On thursday we had to break ice to launch. The water temps was 34 to 36 deg. Seems to be warming up just a little.

Any body fishing the Wolf creek area?

It was iced over on Thursday. Dont think there is a lot of fish up there. Water is low and that place is like a mine field. Keep me posted.

Hey foul hook, I stand corrected. It has been lower. Someone told me they would lower the level in winter for period of time to prevent the growth of hydrilla. Don't know if thats true or not. I only saw two other boats out of Long Cane. One pulling out when we got there, bass fishing, caught nothing, and one jigging spoons out in the Maple Creek channel.

The corp drops the water level this time of year. I wish we had some Hydrilla or grass of some kind. It would change the way we fish but it would be good. At the peak of the spawn they sometimes raise it up to full pool. I dont know if that is planned or accidental. I watch the lake levels and wish I had access to the generating times. I guess if we waited for the perfect time to fish we wouldnt fish very often.

Hello foul hook, You are right again. The drop in the water level is part the Army Corps action as reflected in the "Forecast Levels" for West Point Lake. It also shows the water level to begin rising from mid February to full pool the 1st of June. As far as the generating times, check out this web link, USGS Real-Time Water Data for USGS 02339400 WEST POINT LAKE NEAR WEST POINT, GA

, if you don't already have it. Scroll down to the first graph on this page.This does not give you a specific time of generation, but by looking at the daily peaks and falls of the water level graph, you can make a pretty good prediction as to when lake levels will begin to drop. It looks like the peaks of the graph for the past week is usually between say 9:00pm and midnight (power generation starting?) and the valley peaks around 10:00am to noon (power generation stopping?). I think that the rise in water level through the weekend can be attributed to less power demand from industry. These levels can also be influenced by discharge through the floodgates. Regardless of what causes these drops in water level, I think the graph reflecting approximately when the lake level is dropping gives an indication of when you can expect to have a current through the lake. This is when I seem to catch the most fish.

I'm not sure, but I think the main reason for lowering the lake level in winter is to prepare for spring rains (flood control).