Long Creek Whites, 3/31

[Phil Lilley]

Duane, Bill and I headed to Cricket Creek Access today. Met there at 5 p.m. and pointed the boat up lake.

Running up Long Creek was an adventure. Lots of junk in the water including logs, big ones. Water color was good everywhere- for fishing anyhow.

Boated up Long as far as we dared in Babler's big bass boat. Could see the first riffle above us 200 yards away. Also saw whites on the surface spawning up there. I didn't check water temp- may be Bill did.

We started slow but caught on. They were on the shallow side, in pockets and holes, not in the channel. And we did the best on white 1/8th ounce jigs.

We ended the evening by going up closer to the riffle and found whites everywhere. At first we were catching 5-6 inchers but as the sun dropped we caught the big ones. We (I) wanted to keep some for a fish fry but didn't want any big females. This became a problem because they all seemed to be sows. But we put 19 in the well, most looking like males.

When I cleaned them tonight, I think I only had 3 males. The rest were females partially spawned out. I think, I know, Duane put most of them in the well. I told him I only wanted about a dozen. He kept slipping them in and chuckling cause he knew I'd be cleaning till late.

Didn't see many boats up there. Couple above the riffle and two below. Some locals on the bank. Nice quiet evening with good friends and good fishing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAu40spmrk&feature=youtu.be

[Sac River Jim]

Phil thnx for the report and glad you were able to find some time to chase a few whites. I love my Bass fishing but i love catching those big sows on light tackle especially if ya have to pull them across some current. It just dont get much better than that to me.

[Middleton369]

Phil, I was up there from 12-3 yesterday, along with about 20 other boats. Most went up there first but I chose to go for my crappie before heading up for the whites. I had the same problem as far as the females go, they seemed to be the only ones I could catch. I put 18 in the livewell and probably released 20 or 30 more. At the time I left, the water temp way up in the riffles was 62 degrees. Thanks for the report and pictures!

[fishingaddiction]

Glad you got into the whites. Catching them like that must have been a hoot! I don't envy you having to clean that many at the end of the day.

[Phil Lilley]

I don't mind cleaning, as long as I have a good electric knife. But I bought a Black & Decker at Sams last week as a backup. Started with it and it didn't get through one filet! The blades where moving together instead of separate... not good. Boxed it up and it'll go back to Sam.

Found a iPhone in the parking lot at Cricket. Duane spotted it. Crushed... well the glass was shattered. But it worked! No case... amazing! Run over and still ticking. Called the last guy that called the phone and left a message. Mike from Harrison picked it up this morning.

[Brennan]

Thanks for the great report. Is this a pattern that could hold up for a while? I'd love to get my 6yo son in on some fast action like that.