Today I headed for Pool 2 instead of my usual haunts, thinking that a river would be less affected by the cold front that came through yesterday.
I also wanted to try and combine a few of my favorite things: Pool 2, Fly Fishing, and White Bass.
I started off throwing a small crankbait along the rip rap. I picked this bait up at Wally World for $1.25. It’s called a Renegade Shad Diver. I ended up catching almost 100 fish on this cheap little plug over the next 8 hours! I had to replace both hooks and split rings and half the paint has fallen off but it still catches fish. Smallmouth, White Bass, Sheephead, and Channel Cats all hit this bait with abandon. Talk about fun.
The Channel Cats hit twice as hard and fought twice as long as everything else. The biggest one was 24 inches. I can’t imagine what it must be like to hook a big Channel. It would take all night to land them 
The rip rap provided steady action from Sheepies and Smallmouth. The White Bass were staging out on the ends of the wingdams or up on shallower shoreline flat areas. By this I mean areas that are 5-8 feet deep with slightly deep water near by. The easiest way to find these spots was to troll and note where you got action, and then come back and work that area carefully.
The White Bass were herding up the shad and then tearing into them. It was fun to chase the schools around with the trolling motor and do some sight fishing.
I did meet my goal of catching some big White Bass on the fly rod. The crankbait was working better today without a doubt, but the white Bass could be caught on a properly presented streamer.
I just might have to go back down there tomorrow!
Rootski
