White bass report - 4/8

[Guest]

exactly, its not at flood stage or anything. But its muddy & fairly swift today.

I would give it a few days to settle down, unless it rains again.

Keep an eye on those USGS guages this week.

[JohnF52]

The river is fed by a lot bigger watershed than just east on 45. If it rains in blackoak, St. Paul, or Elkins - that all hits twin bridges.

It's unfishable right now, but it didn't come up THAT much. It should clear up enough to fish in 3-4 days provided there's no more rain, but that doesn't look like it's going to be the case.

You can walk Richland Creek until your heart is content. You can walk the shoal immediately above the bridge, and the two shoals below it on the White (all accessed from 45 bridge). The problem is that the lake is backed up to at least the first shoal below the bridge. The second shoal is most definitely a lake this year.

To access the shoals above the bridge, you need a boat, paddle-craft, or private access through waterford (or up higher even).

The upper White watershed extends from 4 miles east of Pettigrew along Hwy 16 east then west to just southwest of Winslow along Hwy 71, and also includes most of south Fayetteville. That does not include the Richland Creek and War Eagle watersheds, which contribute significantly to Beaver Lake. With the expected lake rise, the shoals right below 45 Bridge should be lake water.

[Spencer]

Does the lake backing up into the watershed regions affect much, in terms of one's white bass pursuit? I'm sure the temperature and turbidity in the watersheds changes somewhat, but does the lake rise play a bigger role than that?

[hoglaw]

Yes. It has a significant effect. White bass need current to spawn. They will move to current. Post spawn fish will scatter in the backed up areas as they travel back home, but the spawning fish will go to areas with current.

[Dan Sweeney]

Well I mostly whiffed on taking my two personal days from work this week. Caught them really well for a while after work on Monday evening and figured they'd be that way for a while. Didn't get woke up by rain overnight, so I drove down Tuesday am just before dawn and....... NOPE!! It was high, muddy, and steadily cooling. I palm-faced myself repeatedly, pulled up the gauge via phone and fished for an hour anyway, to the expected no avail. Fortunately the bream and buck bass in my pond salvaged the days off (and I found some morel 'shrooms), but I'm holding onto my last day off until the gauge returns to fishable conditions.

Monday sure was fun though. Got about an even mix of good sized males and some big ol' females. It wasn't hand over fist like it can be but it was a steady beat of a fish every few casts with plenty more to be seen flashing and darting.

[hoglaw]

Glad to hear they're still getting after it. I've had plenty of good days, but not a "hand over fist" day out there yet. Maybe I can get on them again next week. After that, I leave for Fort Morgan for a week of trout and reds from the kayak!

[Feathers and Fins]

Its been an weird bite for them this year. My belief is many went up the creek arms more than the river this year and that's what I am hearing from many people. Its happened before and as one old timer told me at the ramp earlier ( The only things for sure about white bass is they swim they bite and they eat mighty fine )