King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah
Fishing ? Instructor!
Continuing on from part one, I'll be getting into presentations, lures, and baits for white bass fishing.
FISHING FOR WHITE BASS...
The important thing to remember when you're after white bass is that they are pack feeders and never travel alone. If anything, catching one of them fires up the rest of the school. Don't be surprised to reel one in and it have several followers with it. They often push baitfish to the surface or into confined areas to trap them, and then slash into the bait ball. Anglers working these feeding schools of bass catch fish every cast. You don't need to be particularly skilled or knowledgeable to catch these fish, just be able to cast with nearly anything that resembles a shad or herring, and you'll likely get bit.
Even though this is oftentimes the case with white bass, fishing for them is not always so simple as when they are heavily feeding on frantic baitfish. They can be extremely selective about the SIZE of your offering, as aggressive as they are, white bass are still more easily spooked than most panfish. You could just about drop a brick on a bluegill's head and he'll come back in a few seconds to check out the brick. Throw anything that lands a little too hard at a white bass, and they're gone. When you find a school of whites, keep your distance. Many an opportunity has been missed by boat anglers because they cut on the outboard motor and run up on a school of feeding white bass, only for them to disappear, and then reappear a hundred yards away 20 minutes later. Fast retrieves with erratic action normally work best for white bass, but when they're feeding heavily, all you have to do is put the bait in front of them and many times, movement isn't even necessary. You can deadstick a bait or cast it and it won't even have a chance to sink and hit bottom before a white bass grabs it. It's important to know that these fish school by size, for the simple fact that fish that are the same size can't eat each other. If you locate a school and they're small, look for another because they'll all be that size. Watch for swirls, splashes, and slurps at the surface which indicate white bass feeding. If you see huge blow-ups and baitfish jumping and being thrown in the air, those probably aren't white bass, but stripers or hybrids. White bass attacks are smaller, but still with the same aggression.
Approach them quietly. Long casts may be necessary. Drift into them or use the trolling motor on a low setting. Weather has little effect on these fish, and they don't care about cold fronts or storms, though surface feeding may last longer on overcast days. Be very careful with a landed white bass. They have sharp spines on the back and razor sharp gill plates that will flat slice you open. Use a de-hooking tool if you can. If you must remove them from hooks by hand, grab them firmly behind the head. And don't be surprised if they throw up on you. Yes, you read that right. Schooling white bass will gorge themselves to death on shad, regurgitate them and then eat some more. Caught fish often spit them up after they've been landed.
White Bass Tackle...
White bass are powerful fighters for their size on light tackle. 6-10lb test is plenty good enough in most situations, but you should check your line frequently for knicks and cuts. Retie after every dozen or so fish. Any light to medium light power rod will do. Nothing needs to be overly sensitive or costly. Anything from a $20 walmart special to a $400 Loomis rod is just fine. If you're jigging for them, you can use a medium power, as jigging spoons and such tend to be heavier. 12lb test is a safe bet for line here, and if you snag bottom, you can straighten your hooks out and get the lure back. If you're using braid, 8-20lb with a leader works well. They have good eyesight and may not strike lures without leaders in clear water, so make sure to use one. Both spinning and baitcasting outfits do well for white bass, and if you're in a creek during the spring spawn, you can even use a cane pole. Fly rods for white bass are generally 5-7wt outfits. You'll want to use either a weight forward floating line for surface feeders, or a sink tip at least type 3 for subsurface fish.
LURES FOR WHITE BASS...
White bass strike almost any artificial lure small enough to fit in their mouths if it resembles a baitfish. Smaller fish are the vast majority of what they eat their entire lives. Shad, probably their #1 food item, especially small threadfins, hatch in late spring or early summer and grow rapidly through fall. Some continue to hatch all summer though. This complicates things sometimes because white bass food can change on a day to day basis. The spit out shad from a caught fish gives you clues on bait size. Sometimes they may only be an inch long. Most veteran white bass fishermen if they could only choose one lure, it would probably be the jig. ANY jig. Whether it has a plastic trailer, hair, marabou, a live bait, and sometimes just the bare hook, the jig is probably the superior white bass lure. You can fish them deep for bottom fish, or on the surface for the pack feeders. They also just have one hook so you can quickly unhook them and get back in the water where all the action is. Many fishermen use double jig rigs and catch 2 fish at a time every cast.
Down south, tailspinners are popular as well with the Mann's little george being the favorite. It's an excellent choice for vertical jigging because the blade helicopters on the way down. Vibrating blade baits and jigging spoons are also popular for vertical jigging.
Crankbaits work well on white bass, as do spoons, jerkbaits, just about any topwater bait with poppers and stick baits being most popular. Fly fishermen can use any popper or streamer for these fish and catch them as well. During a mayfly hatch, white bass feed heavily on them and can be caught on nymphs by fly fishermen when nobody else can catch them on any other lure. Conventional fishermen attach popping plugs to their mainline with a leader on the back to a jig to catch surface feeders and subsurface feeders at the same time. The popper gets their attention and the trailer gets bit by fish attracted to the commotion. The popper also serves as a bobber. Fly fishermen have used this technique for years with a method called the "dry - dropper" rig.
FISHING FOR WHITE BASS...
The important thing to remember when you're after white bass is that they are pack feeders and never travel alone. If anything, catching one of them fires up the rest of the school. Don't be surprised to reel one in and it have several followers with it. They often push baitfish to the surface or into confined areas to trap them, and then slash into the bait ball. Anglers working these feeding schools of bass catch fish every cast. You don't need to be particularly skilled or knowledgeable to catch these fish, just be able to cast with nearly anything that resembles a shad or herring, and you'll likely get bit.
Even though this is oftentimes the case with white bass, fishing for them is not always so simple as when they are heavily feeding on frantic baitfish. They can be extremely selective about the SIZE of your offering, as aggressive as they are, white bass are still more easily spooked than most panfish. You could just about drop a brick on a bluegill's head and he'll come back in a few seconds to check out the brick. Throw anything that lands a little too hard at a white bass, and they're gone. When you find a school of whites, keep your distance. Many an opportunity has been missed by boat anglers because they cut on the outboard motor and run up on a school of feeding white bass, only for them to disappear, and then reappear a hundred yards away 20 minutes later. Fast retrieves with erratic action normally work best for white bass, but when they're feeding heavily, all you have to do is put the bait in front of them and many times, movement isn't even necessary. You can deadstick a bait or cast it and it won't even have a chance to sink and hit bottom before a white bass grabs it. It's important to know that these fish school by size, for the simple fact that fish that are the same size can't eat each other. If you locate a school and they're small, look for another because they'll all be that size. Watch for swirls, splashes, and slurps at the surface which indicate white bass feeding. If you see huge blow-ups and baitfish jumping and being thrown in the air, those probably aren't white bass, but stripers or hybrids. White bass attacks are smaller, but still with the same aggression.
Approach them quietly. Long casts may be necessary. Drift into them or use the trolling motor on a low setting. Weather has little effect on these fish, and they don't care about cold fronts or storms, though surface feeding may last longer on overcast days. Be very careful with a landed white bass. They have sharp spines on the back and razor sharp gill plates that will flat slice you open. Use a de-hooking tool if you can. If you must remove them from hooks by hand, grab them firmly behind the head. And don't be surprised if they throw up on you. Yes, you read that right. Schooling white bass will gorge themselves to death on shad, regurgitate them and then eat some more. Caught fish often spit them up after they've been landed.
White Bass Tackle...
White bass are powerful fighters for their size on light tackle. 6-10lb test is plenty good enough in most situations, but you should check your line frequently for knicks and cuts. Retie after every dozen or so fish. Any light to medium light power rod will do. Nothing needs to be overly sensitive or costly. Anything from a $20 walmart special to a $400 Loomis rod is just fine. If you're jigging for them, you can use a medium power, as jigging spoons and such tend to be heavier. 12lb test is a safe bet for line here, and if you snag bottom, you can straighten your hooks out and get the lure back. If you're using braid, 8-20lb with a leader works well. They have good eyesight and may not strike lures without leaders in clear water, so make sure to use one. Both spinning and baitcasting outfits do well for white bass, and if you're in a creek during the spring spawn, you can even use a cane pole. Fly rods for white bass are generally 5-7wt outfits. You'll want to use either a weight forward floating line for surface feeders, or a sink tip at least type 3 for subsurface fish.
LURES FOR WHITE BASS...
White bass strike almost any artificial lure small enough to fit in their mouths if it resembles a baitfish. Smaller fish are the vast majority of what they eat their entire lives. Shad, probably their #1 food item, especially small threadfins, hatch in late spring or early summer and grow rapidly through fall. Some continue to hatch all summer though. This complicates things sometimes because white bass food can change on a day to day basis. The spit out shad from a caught fish gives you clues on bait size. Sometimes they may only be an inch long. Most veteran white bass fishermen if they could only choose one lure, it would probably be the jig. ANY jig. Whether it has a plastic trailer, hair, marabou, a live bait, and sometimes just the bare hook, the jig is probably the superior white bass lure. You can fish them deep for bottom fish, or on the surface for the pack feeders. They also just have one hook so you can quickly unhook them and get back in the water where all the action is. Many fishermen use double jig rigs and catch 2 fish at a time every cast.
Down south, tailspinners are popular as well with the Mann's little george being the favorite. It's an excellent choice for vertical jigging because the blade helicopters on the way down. Vibrating blade baits and jigging spoons are also popular for vertical jigging.
Crankbaits work well on white bass, as do spoons, jerkbaits, just about any topwater bait with poppers and stick baits being most popular. Fly fishermen can use any popper or streamer for these fish and catch them as well. During a mayfly hatch, white bass feed heavily on them and can be caught on nymphs by fly fishermen when nobody else can catch them on any other lure. Conventional fishermen attach popping plugs to their mainline with a leader on the back to a jig to catch surface feeders and subsurface feeders at the same time. The popper gets their attention and the trailer gets bit by fish attracted to the commotion. The popper also serves as a bobber. Fly fishermen have used this technique for years with a method called the "dry - dropper" rig.