White Bass on the Mississippi – Help

Need some help here with white bass questions. I never fished the river until mid season this year. I’ve seen several posts mentioning white bass and would like to try my hand at catching some. I’ve been out trolling lead core for walleyes south of that big point north of the town of Pepin in pool #4 and have noticed the gulls several times as mentioned in several posts. My question is what would be a good choice or two for a beginner to use for catching the white bass. Are we talking a slip bobber crawler type presentation or a crank bait of some kind. Should I be trolling or drifting or what. Really would appreciate some input here. What to do, what to do? Thanks in advance. Backtroller II

This time of year on the lake I like to fish morning or evening, when the fish are working. You’ll see them pushing the shad up onto the surface and slashing them. Lots of presentations work when they’re doing this. I prefer to burn Traps or Rattlin’ Raps in 1/2 or 1/4 oz in Chrome/Blue or Blue/Orange. In line spinners, topwater, white jigs and twisters, hair, and a number of presentations I probably haven’t thought of yet will take them at this time. I prefer the traps because I can fish them more quickly and cover more water. During the daytime hours I’ve had the best luck trolling number five Shad raps in many different depths over the sand. These fish suspend and seem to feed voraciously no matter the time of day or the conditions, making it pretty easy to troll them up. Good luck!!!!!!

I always watch the birds. When you see them diving it usually means there are white bass feeding. You should be able to see the fish and baitfish exploding on the surface. I mainly fish the river for white bass and not the lake itself. In the river the bass push the schools of baitfish up onto the wingdams and the edges of shallow flats. When they are feeding you can pretty much toss anything at them and you will catch fish. I usually use cranks but I love catching them on top water. You can use buzz baits, poppers, spooks, torpedos, etc… Absolutely nothing compares to catching fish on top water. I don’t normally keep the white bass but they aren’t bad eating. They can provide some fast and furious action. Some schools will have 2 Lb+ fish and they fight.

Eyehunter

They are a fun fish to catch and I would love to get on a school. I have seen monster schools of shad lately while catfishing and I am thinking of tossing a inline spinner or top water to see if there are any white bass in there. I have caught all of mine in the past on inline spinners. I’ve never actually hit a school before. A 1# fish on some light tackle is a blast. They are an underrated fish when it comes to fighting. Those razor thin bodies cut right though the current.