Where Do They Go?

[Dutch]

There is always a lot of chatter during March and early April about the spawning migration of white bass. After that one hears about surface action sometimes in the summer.

Where do those things go after the spawn?

[Phil Lilley]

I've been told the white bass are thick upper Bull Shoals between Barker and the dam. "Easy to catch".

[Wayne SW/MO]

I believe they go where the shad go. Shad stay shallow at night and then go to deeper water. I believe the reason for seeing them on the flats is simply because there is less water for the shad to escape in the shallow water.

[fishinwrench]

I've been chasing whites year-round for the last 4 years, I've learned some interesting things about them in my particular watershed that do not seem to apply in other watersheds.

I had a tracking study write-up from Wisconsin saved, but deleted it after studying it and noticing how incredibly different my own observations were where I fish, and so few studies have been done elsewhere that you're pretty much on your own as far as developing a year-round understanding of their habits.

All the literature and habit info you'll find online or elsewhere indicates that they travel great distances and roam open water following baitfish schools 24/7.....but that's not what they typically do where I fish the most (at least not the catchable ones).

In my watershed they are very structure oriented and kinda picky about bottom composition. For example; you won't see whites on LO busting shad over a silty bottom area, even though that may be where the mass of baitfish are hanging out at times. Matter of fact I'd challenge you to even catch a fluke white directly over a mud flat at any time of the year.

In lakes where shad aren't as thick and plentiful they very well may "follow them around" during the Summer months, but on lakes where the shad are basically thick everywhere I think whites (in much smaller groups than in Spring and Fall) operate more like ambush style feeders and have a definite home range tendency, patrolling a certain area and ambushing shad on their own terms as the baitfish pass through.

I'd love to see an actual year-round tracking study done on reservoir whites though.