White Bass Action?

When do the whitey’s tend to turn on big??
where first?

for me it seems to be right now…..they’re going hard in hog lake right now(pool 2)…and there was a time last spring, i think this time of year actualy, they were spawning up at the ford dam off of the island in the slack water…..i could catch one on every cast….they are alot of fun

We were down on pool 4 up by the dam last night and caught a couple Silver Bass. Caught them on Purple and white, Electric Blue and white ringies. They were thumping it HARD!

Match the lures up with light action rods and it feels like a 10 lb. walleye or a 6 lb. smallmouth on every fish.
Thanks, Bill

Chappy, was wondering what was the difference, if any, between silver and white bass? Never heard of a silver bass. Thank you in advance for responding.

Those are just a couple names used locally for the same fish. Officially they’re white bass. Locals will call them whites, stripers, silvers, sand bass, etc. but they’re all the same critter.

Loads of fun on a ultra-light or a fly rod!

Haywood, leave my whities alone! They’re mine!
I love catching them. They are my primary target. Been out only once this year and got skunked though. I expect to get some tonight.
I would expect you to be able to jig some up off that wing dam we were on last summer.
I’ve got to get them figured by next weekend cause my Dad is comming down to fish with me. He loves them too.
Maybe see you out this weekend.

Wooly,

I have not seen any yet but try the slack area by the 5 and 5a dams. My guess is that they may be there. I was at that wingdam a few days ago, not trying for them but I saw nothing. Looking back to last year the best action for me was mid may, with a great daughter & dad day on June 6th.

Good luck and keep me posted.

All this talk about whites reminds me of a lesson I learned a long time ago. We camped below Oahe dam a lot when I was a kid, and man would the whites turn on in the slack water at times. Well, the old man let me keep my limit one day(25). He said, are you sure you want to clean that many fish? I said “OF COURSE!!” He took a picture of me with a stringer I could barely hold up, then we headed to the cleaning station armed with a semi-sharp filet knife. Anyone who has ever cleaned one of these fish knows how tough the bones are on a good knife, let alone a cheap one. Needless to say, by about fish #10, I was begging for help. Dad was kind enough to gently remind me I didn’t need to keep so many, but he would help me this time.

Anyway, just thought I would share one of my best memories of white bass fishing.

Three big whites for a meal. Rest back to the river. We do eat a few meals though. They are so good, baked or fried. Just need to cut the dark meat off the back.

When I was a kid fishing with My Dad and Grandpa on the Wolf River, we would fill coolers. Lots of hours spent cleaning them. They were pretty small too. Probabally because of the presure. Guess the reason they get so big here is because everyone is busy chasing wallies and bass. Hope they keep it up.

One of my favorite fish to catch and eat. IMHO. . . darn near as good as walleye. Prolific as heck so you don’t have to feel guilty about keeping a bunch and a ball to catch when you find them bunched up. I often wish we had the striper/white bass hybrids (wipers) up here.

Now you are talkin!!!. I use to take Nate down to Lake Zumbro fishing for those babies every Wed. night when he was little and troll little crappie jigs way behind the boat and we sure caught alot of them. Great fish for getting kids hooked on fishing with. They fight like crazy and the big ones are sure a riot to catch.
Thanks, Bill

White bass action continues up at the dam. My father-in-law and I enjoyed rasslin’ with these guys Sunday afternoon. Most of the fish we took were shallow (less than 10′) and came to the boat on jigs/minnows and jigs/chart. tails, jigged aggressively (don’t sit and wait for a bite). LOTS OF HARVEST going on up there (not by us). I was surprised by all the shore fisherfolk fishing well upstream of the fish refuge signs.

We also hooked a BIG stugeon in the same spot, seemed like a 4-footer as it came flying up out of the water twice before throwing the hook. A real heart-stopper! The stugeon pattern was also a jig/chart tail. The only walleyes we tangled with were downstream by Red Wing. No monsters, but a nice change of pace from all the wipers upstream. Tight lines everyone!

Whites in 5A just dripping spawn. Caught a bunch on jigs and tails, they were agressive.

Takin’ the Mrs. down to pool 4 tomorrow if the winds hold off. Are the white bass still active at the dam? I figured I would start her off with a few of those before heading downstream to chase eyes.

Plenty of action on the whites yet. Shouldn’t have a problem getting in to em at the dam.

Any recent action I would like to get out witht the kids.
The dams have been few and far between for me.
Thanks