White bass are running

Fishing guides Les and Luke Jarman show proof that the spawning runs of white bass, crappie and walleye has started. Both anglers caught a mixed string of all three species.

Ken White

The white bass are running according to veteran Ozark anglers who are already going after those finny fighters. When you hook one you know it has to be a white bass. Your drag on your ultra-light reel had better be set right or the line will break as the fighter heads for deep water.

It seems that each year when major league baseball starts the white bass are making their spring spawning run. Its no different this year. A phone call from fishing guide Les Jarman reported the whites are running up the river.He along with his son, Luke, had been catching limits of whites last week and said it would only get better.

From feeder streams to the large impoundments the white bass are on the move. From below the dam at Truman Lake to Beaver Creek at Bull Shoals, anglers are pulling in limits of white bass. In some years the white bass fishing can start as early as late February, but the prime time is from now through April.

Some of the spots where I have caught lots of whites include Beaver Creek, Swan Creek, Turnback Creek, the Sac River above and below the Stockton and Truman dams as well as other tributaries to the big impoundments.,

Most white bass anglers prefer to use silver spoons, smoke or white color jigs, small spinners and minnows. On an April 1 fishing trip to Bull Shoals years ago, Charlie Campbell, Forsythe, told me where the whites were hitting, so I headed that way only to find around a dozen boats in a big circle surrounding a white bass hangout. Most everyone was catching fish. That’s when I tried a “speck rig”----a pair of small jigs tied in tandem. I call it jump fishing because by working it over a school that’s furiously feeding on shad it can increase your catch because it enables you to catch two fish on one cast.

You can make your own spec rig by simple tie your fishing line to one terminal of a three-way swivel. Next, attach leaders of different lengths, such as 15 inches to 24 inches, to each of the other two swivel terminals, and tie jigs to both. When a white bass hits one jig set the hook, but don’t reel in. With the fast action of jump fishing, chances are another white will soon hit the second jig.

Fighting two fish at once isn’t as difficult as it may seem, for they usually pull against each other rather than against the rod. A pair of fairly large whites, however, may pull the tandem rig apart.

By using the spec rig, I was able to catch a limit of whites while my two fishing friends took a half hour before they caught theirs. Now, during the spring spawning run, I have a speck rig ready to go.

On another white bass trip, Campbell told me what to use to catch whites up to four pounds at Swan Creek. He said, “ Use a small floating minnow type lure and cast to the edge of some brush.” I tried and on my first cast, a big white nearly pulled me out of the boat when it hit the lure. It weighed just under four pounds and on ultralight gear, it took awhile to land it. It was the first of seven others I caught in the same area before they moved out. When I weighed the eight whites, they tipped the scales at just under 20 pounds.

White bass anglers know that when you get into a school of white bass, you will have all the action you want. When you hook a large one, you might think you have a tiger on the end of your line. Those fighters give you all the action you can handle. Its no wonder they are in the top five most popular freshwater fish in Missouri, just behind largemouth bass, crappie and catfish.