White Bass?

[JohnF52]

Looked at river late this morning at Twin Bridges. It's high, muddy, and full of sticks, limbs, bottles, trash. Several people fishing, boats coming and going, but very few fish today. Conditions a few miles down are much better. Lake is on the rise up into the weeds and grass, but the water is much cleaner looking at Beavorama and Pin Hook Bend. Hope no more rain for several days. This last rain should make it hit 1121 or more.

[J-Doc]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like the rising water will shut down the bite for a few days.

[hoglaw]

I was out there yesterday from 2 to 6. Caught fish at first but the rise was noticeable. Clear water got muddy. Went upriver and saw Richland was chocolate milk. Made a cool mud line. Fishing will be off until well into the week I think.

[JohnF52]

Richland Creek was super muddy today. It looked the color of runoff from a clay road. I think the white at Twin Bridges will clear a lot by about Tuesday. One guy told me today the whites have run way up past there, and have not spawned yet due to cold water. We have the threat of another freeze (28 degrees) in 5 days according to Accuweather, after another very cold rain. The white bass may run until May 15, who knows? The cold snaps are supposed to keep coming until it naturally warms up in Canada, and breaks the cycle. That might be early July?

[npierceuark]

Drove over the bridges yesterday evening and there were plenty of people up richland, water had cleared pretty well but the white was still brown. I'll probably give it a day or two and they'll be back at it.

[hoglaw]

I expect another banner day this week. If I can only make it two banner days somehow, then I'll really be happy!

[npierceuark]

when you going to go hoglaw? You do any good friday?

[hoglaw]

I was fishing the rise Friday, big time. I caught them on the first three casts in my favorite spot, then a few more in that same area. I had the place to myself so I figured I'd try a different spot that's normally a little more crowded. Picked up a few there, but then it slowed down. I didn't notice how fast the water was coming up until I went back down to my favorite spot and the water was noticeably cloudier. I tried another spot just above Walker's Bluff and had nothing, so I went back up to the confluence to see what was up and Richland was running really muddy and big. There was a huge shifting mudline just below Richland that was neat to watch, but no fish. I didn't catch any more for the rest of the day and packed it in around 6 or so. I'll send you a PM with the rest of the details. Been lots of lurkers on this thread lately. The white bass run is by no means a secret, and I could fish shoulder to shoulder with buddies and still whack them when conditions are right. I have zero qualms about sharing spots, dates, etc., with members, but this thread appears to get watched a lot.

[Guest]

yeah, they're all looking for your hybrid bass

I talked to a couple of whites, they informed me the spawn is secretly happening at night

[hoglaw]

Gave it another shot this afternoon. Thought the river would fall out a little quicker than it did. In the spots I fished between Neil's and Twin, the water was stained but with about two feet of visibility. Even though the water was significantly higher than it was last week, the current was slower. Seems like maybe it's backed up from the lake some?

It wasn't a good trip. Very few fish were being caught. I don't remember seeing anyone catch any for the first hour or so while we were there, except one each for my co-workers and two little males for me. I decided to venture upstream in search of some better water, and called in some permission behind the Waterford subdivision. The shoal there is beautiful, and I think it's just downstream from the old "burned out house" access that used to be open to the public. The water was much clearer and I thought with so much water, we'd be in good shape. It wasn't to be. I caught maybe another dozen between there and the next shoal down, which is the second one up from the bridge - the one at the top of the LONG deep pool.

The carp were in full blown spawning orgy mode. That was kind of cool to see. We just never could get on the whites consistently. With the weather forecast looking the way it does, it's going to be a long time before it gets good again. Maybe some fish could be caught tomorrow, but I think the 100 fish days are drawing to a close.