05/04/2000
- Article
Faster
than a Speeding Bullet...
By
Scott King
Referred
to regionally as silvers, silver bass, stripers, or their
appropriate name, white bass are often forgotten in our quest for
other river game. Walleye
and smallmouth bass anglers are often disappointed when the bright
flash of a furious fighting fish shines the wrong color.
White bass inhabit the rivers where we target the glamour
species, and to many anglers the schools of small white bass can be
tough to get away from. However,
larger white bass are a more sporting game.
Their fighting ability and willingness to attack an
aggressive presentation should make this species more sought after,
and the chance to catch a number of large whites from a single spot
in a short time definitely enhances their respectability.
For you see, white bass are as schooling a fish as any that
we find in fresh water. Knowing
the practices of a high-speed, schooling fish will add to your
arsenal of fishing opportunities, particularly those opportunities
available to fishermen before the opening of other gamefish seasons.
Tiny
Tunas
White
bass schools can move into and out of an area at incredible speeds,
and their tendencies to move and feed are seldom related to daily
weather changes. Seasonally,
of course, their habits will vary as the temperature of the water
dictates their location in a river system and the depth they will be
found at. As an angler,
there is one key feature of a white bass’s nature that will lock
you onto a pattern day in and day out.
White bass eat shad, and lots of ‘em.
Whites swim fast and work in highly competitive schools that
require massive food supplies in order to sustain existence. Shad provide this food source at most times and in most river
systems throughout the year. If
you can find schools of shad in your local river, you will find
white bass (and many of the other game fish that will be utilizing
the shad supply).
The
locations that white bass will feed upon shad depend on where white
bass can catch shad. Like
schools of little tuna in the open sea, a current break, depth
change, funnel area, or backwater must be used in order to push or
corral bait in otherwise open water.
The predators must effectively hinder the forward progression
of shad. White bass are
quick, but in open water, unrestricted shad must be quicker –
ecological laws at work. Often,
along the edges that the white bass are feeding, the shad are forced
to the surface in order to escape.
The shad in our larger rivers can regularly be seen breaking
the surface with whites in hot pursuit.
On calm days this feeding frenzy is visible from some
distance. Gulls and
terns often give away the location of shad and bass, as they
capitalize upon predator-stunned prey fish.
Without question, the pursuit of surface feeding white bass
can be one of the most visually exciting quests in all of freshwater
angling. A change of
pace for most of us, the fish are giving undeniable proof of their
whereabouts as well as their readiness to feed.
Remember, white bass school very specifically by size.
If you’re catching small fish, look for other signs of
surface commotion. The larger fish are likely onto another school of
shad altogether or on a portion of the main school that has broken
free. The only other
factor we need to consider is the appropriate offering.
Matching
the Hatch
River
white bass can be quite size selective, and are noticeably color
selective. The size of
the lure you choose to present can be crucial, as shad schools
quickly move down from the surface and may become inaccessible with
conventional casting methods. Throughout
the length of a river system, shad groups will also school by size
and only certain sizes of this baitfish are components in a white
bass diet. Think about
the size and shape of a large (17- inch) white bass’s mouth and
certain presentations are ruled out.
Typically, lures in the 1-inch to 3-inch range are utilized,
but in the eyes of a white bass, this range is enormous.
Look to signs of the size of bait that the fish are using.
Dead or wounded shad on the water’s surface, regurgitated food, or
fish that are dropped by birds can all be clues to use.
Another option is to keep a number of rods rigged each with a
slightly different sized bait, in order to quickly cover the
spectrum of potential shad sizes.
Fire a few casts at actively feeding white bass and they’ll
let you know quickly if your offering is what they desire.
For
those not in tune with the cosmetics of shad, they are silver fading
to black/blue/purple on top, with large eyes and bodies twice as
deep as a fathead minnow. Most
tackle manufacturers have created excellent representations of this
prey fish, especially in the domain of the crankbait.
Patterns of silver, white, and sometimes even chartreuse
(each with a darker back color) can effectively be cast to fish
feeding near the surface. Both
lipped diving baits and rattle-baits work at times, depending on the
size of the school and how densely it is distributed.
Small in-line spinners and spoons work too, both are best in
silver patterns. These
can be particularly deadly when the shad are smaller than crankbaits
can represent. Jigs and
plastics are the best option if the best are beginning to go back
down as the shad are moved off the surface.
Easily, the most exciting presentation is the use of topwater
baits, such as small buzzbaits and poppers.
If the white bass are popping shad out of the water and
showing themselves as well on their strikes, they are active enough
to crush your topwater bait with a bone-jarring slam.
Make
no mistake, white bass are tough.
A three-pound white can snap your light line faster than a
smallmouth twice its size and you’ll swear up and down that it was
a pike. They’re not
only scrappers, but they are willing to bite as well, which is more
than we can say about some of our other glamour species. For some reason, the white bass has never quite attained this
level of respect. Not
quite as nasty as a carp, but never a walleye either.
For a change of pace, try white bass angling in one of our
larger rivers like the Mississippi or the St. Croix this season, an
wonder like myself why this fish has not become the focus of more
angler’s efforts.
Editor’s
note:
Scott King is regular contributor to Fish & Game Finder. He’s an accomplished St. Croix River guide, as well as the
owner-designer of Maverick Bucktails, which are high quality inline
and tandem bucktail spinners. He
can be reached at 651-748-0405.
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