Whitebass

Went out today …. and the whitebass were really working the shoreline.. They were going nuts… thought some of you would like to know….

they were bustin the shore line down here last time out too…whats a good bait to throw at’m ..Are they workin the minnows ?

Caught one… after another…. after another… after another… tonight on a 5″ Purple K-grub. I was fishing for walleyes but the whities didn’t quite play along by the rules.

Excellent average size and they are fighting like devils. We did catch some dandy walleyes, Dustin got a pre-spawn piggie and we split a good number of decent fish between us as well.

It was a good afternoon to be out, despite the rain and wind.

Hey Dave.
I went out yesterday and didn’t have much luck with the Walleye on plastics so I just started trolling with a #5 Shad Rap in 4 to 5 ft. Like James said the Whites hit hard and fight aggressively. They were on the larger side also. OH! I also hit a larger sheepie on the #5.

If they are busting topwater, I would try a Baby Chugbug. A chrome/blue should do it. Even a plastic shad bodied bait will work well with a small lead head. Colors…white, black/silver,…heck it may not matter if they are going good.

and if you need to cast a ways then rattletraps work great… and sometimes cicadas are just awesome!….
then there is the classic roostertail spinner.. that seems to just keep on nailing them year in and year out….
but I LOVE the topwater action… and I agree the chug bugs are killers… and if you want to have some REAL fun… tie 12-18″ of line on the end of the chug bug and tie on a white maribou jig with a 1/32 oz head as a trailer.. you will catch double after double if they are going good.. first they nail the chug bug. then the next fish spots that jig zipping around the other white bass… and *wham* you have two on!…

I will definitely have to try that. White streamers on fly rods are a riot too.

The weirdest thing I tried is a floater similar to what you would use for walleyes rigged with a white plastic shad body. Yeah, I know it sounds wacked but it worked. The head kept the bait up and the tail was just below the surface wigglin’ away. They absolutley crushed it. But, it’s not like they know how to finesse bite a lure.

Me too, Ken. I love that topwater action so much that it account for about 90% of my white bass fishing. You ought to see my collection of poppers and prop baits for this. I use a Hula Popper with the jig trick you mentioned.

LK

White bass will hit just about anything. Sometimes you have to determine their activity level and adjust lure speed accordingly. Sometimes they get active in short spurts where you can’t reel fast enough and sometimes you need to slow down and make your lure change directions. If you see them bustin on top, that is the time to pull out the topwaters.

James, I am coming up to fish out of Evert’s the 22-24, I hope we can get together. Maybe another memorable Casino buffet trip? I will be looking to catch some eyes and have fun with the White Bass. You think the eyes/sauger will still be going good? I am taking a gentleman from Illinois
out with me on the 23rd.

PS…I am running a 2003 black/gold 1750 FishHawk with a 115 Yammy now, and a new drk green/silver Chevy 4X4 PU.

Silver and Black or Blue Torpedo. Wonderous fun.

you talking the Tiny Torpedo? I have a shad colored one that kicks rump… just about anything shad size that sits on the surface will do the job… one of my fishing buddies busts the lips off from a floating rap…. there are lots of options these days… but like I say anything shad like is usually killer… sometimes props are good too… my trick with tying on a trailer jig (or better yet Streamer fly!!) will work on ANY surface lure…. or else a 2 jig rig will kick rump too… its just FUN to hook two fish at a time.. one time I ended up with 2 monster 3# whites… though I had a big northern!

I actually use the biggest torpedo they make. They used to make a silver/blue one but I can’t find in anymore. I have had doubles on the big torpedo. I haven’t had the same success with the tiny. I also had a day last year, on the entrance to a small bay, where I caught 27 bass on the frog torpedo. 19 bucket mouths and 8 smallies. Biggest was a 5# bucket. My thumb was physically raw from taking them off my hook. What a day to remember!!!!!! A stiff wind was blowing in to the shoreline where there was a little bay behind it. They were sitting tail to the bank in about 2 feet of water facing the waves. Perfect!!!!!!

you can throw practically anything at the white bass and they will take it. My best has come off with poppers until they get use to the and then i usually go with small hair jigs and keep them on top of the water, or little plastics.they really come up and nail them.

How important is time of day? Morning bite better than afternoon? Thanks.

Two or three small jigs tied in-line works great as they school and follow a hooked fish. Others gang up on the other jigs so doubles or tripples are not uncommon.

Fished damn area today. First fish 25 inch post spawn eye CPRed. After that at least 30 whitebass, great day.

Lifes to short to fish with dead minnows! Jim