Alternative to live bait for Whitebass?

Since this is onlt the 2nd year of having a boat, my walleye seeking skills are very much lacking. So I have been trying to catch a slightly easier target (to keep the kids and myself happier). However, last weekend on P4, the whites were on a strict live bait bite only. There were tons of small 1.5″ shiners everywhere and the whites were on the attack. I tried just about everything from rooster tails, to small silver spoons, to paddletails, to small Raps, and could not get them to hit any of them at all. We had some really dark fatheads that just didn’t entice them at all. Any suggestions for artificials??? Of course I’m gonna be more prepared and get crappie minnows from a different source as well…

A 1/8 ounce hair jig can be darn effective on whities.

Poppers?

I have not fished for whitebass in a while, but as I remember, when they aren’t biting anything else. They will hit a small silver spoon, forgot which brand, little cleo or one of the others, with slant. They will hit those on the fall. TIP: Switch out treble to single white hair hook. Easier to remove for fast action and the hair adds some effectivesness. If I can still find one in the tackle box, I’ll post a pix. We custom made the single hooks with hair.

beetle spins

A good old beetle spin type lure is tough to beat. If you want to fish them faster, put a heavier head on them.

They fall for the vibraton most of the time. Once in a while a very light jig worked very slow will temp them into biting.

Worse case scenerio.. get yourself a minnow trap and a few crackers and you’ll have all the little shiners you need!

I agree with James
my arms got sore yesterday with over 50 white bass to the boat.
I throw black bucktails and alternate with a 1/16 oz Black head and a two inch Dustin Pro Blue ringworm….
These two combinations are deadly on the white bass.
enclosed is a photo from yesterday Thursday…B-fish-N has the jigs and ringworms.

I tried a pro blue paddletail, but I think it was a tad large…

So I’m assuming you trimmed the regular ringworm to 2″??? I still have plenty left from not catching any eyes last fall.

Yes sir just measure from the tail and snip apply 1/16 oz jig and just add fish.

I will definitely give that and the cracker idea a go if I make it out this weekend!

Thank you IDA pros!!!

All silver panther martin in #4,6,9 or 15 to match the hatch. Easy to use and all that silver seems to get the job done.

Fished pool 10 yesterday and kept a few Whitey’s for dinner. They had shiners in their stomachs. I use a 1/4 or 3/8 oz. Castmaster in full silver about every time. One-eyed wolfs also work but the deeper you go the more sheepies you catch. A friend of mine swears by the Little Cleo’s. What a fun fish and great tablefare when prepared right.

Bucktails .Just match the size and color of the bait.Marabou works good at times also.I almost always chase whites and wipers and these are my go to baits.The small live eyes and other similar baits should work really well also.The big thing with fish like these is getting a lure the size of the bait and work it at the depth they are feeding.

Roostertail spinners work great and also bucktail jigs. I have a blast trolling and casting the Roostertails and I love jigging bucktail jigs for them.

Thanks, Bill

A jig with a white twister will get them every time!!!!

OK, made it out on Sunday morning. I have to thank Stuart at Evert’s for putting my brother and I on a nice spot. Stuart was by far one of the nicest persons I have ever met! The whites were definitely attacking every few minutes or so. They slowed down their attack as the the morning passed. We tried just about everything. Stuart recommended the white twister tail and it worked sometimes. I did the 2″ pro blue ringies and it caught a few. Tried smaller rooster tails, same thing – a couple. Tried small crappie minnows that were the exact size as the shiners – nothing. We tried some dead store-bought emerald shiners (don’t laugh – I used a dead one last week and it caught a fish) – nothing. After 4 hours, we had caught only 15 whites. A lot of the time when the fish were surface attacking, we were in the pits either retying lures or changing to something different. As the morning passed, I came to the realization that some of my lures were just too big. Some I downsized accordingly to the bait fish. Unfortunately, the fishing slowed down as well.

Overall, it wasn’t too bad. We would have liked to catch a few more, but it was still a good morning. Like I always tell my brother, “you learn something new every time you fish the river.” That applies to both the Croix and Mississippi, since those are the 2 rivers I fish (primarily). Besides, the week prior we met BrianK and now Stuart. That’s a win-win anytime.

I’d have to agree w/ the hair jigs or downsizing a ringy. From April-May I’ve never had a problem catching them at a fast clip (meaning usually in fifteen minutes we are sick of catching them and move back to targeting other fish) even when I may be struggling to boat eyes or smallies. Glad to hear you had a little better luck last time out.

Some times it pays to just wait until you see them before even casting. THis is when they are surface feeding. Started trying floating raps this year. They stay in the strike zone longer. Have even dead sticked them out behind the boat and cuaght fish. After trying this I was thinking about trying some sort of popper.
Last time I was out fishing white bass they seemed to be surface feeding on bugs. No chasing minnows. In this case it was more challenging to get them to take a minnow imation type lure. I think a person with a fly rod would of cleaned up on them.

Pop-R’s work well – you can entice a school into a frenzy with them. Little cleos rock – especially the silver and blue in either the crinkle/bubble finish or the smooth. I think the sizes we like are 1/3 oz. They like the bigger ones too – it reduces the little ones you have to release – and we find the larger fish lower in the water colummn so find it appropriate to count them down. (It can be a bear to remove the treble hooks entirely in thier mouth so keep a forceps handy.)
Double jig trick too – tie two jigs on your line at a time and hope for a double! You can try two different colors / style of jigs at a time. For another twist use a floating jighead with a twister for the top jig !

Blue fox Vibrax spinners in the size 3 silver blade rock as well.
Don’t forget small sonars / cicadas… just remember that they really like flash.
Good luck – they scrap well – eat fine – plenty have them!
Chuckles