White Bass Newbie

[LanceB]

Hey guys...

Im targeting some answers from fly fishers, but any advice is welcome. I have searched the past articles about this and got good info, hopefully to gain some more insight here.

I am wanting to fish the white bass this spring, mainly around the Richland Creek / Twin Bridges area. 

Is the area wadeable? What are the best access points, as I have no boat, but am willing to hike in to some places.

Also, what type of gear will I need. I see a lot of longer rods, and swithc/spey guys. I currently have a 5wt setup with floating line. Can I use sink tip leaders or will I need sinking line? 

Assuming clousers are the main weapon of choice as well. Any other flies?

 

Thanks in advance!

[fishinwrench]

Hard to beat a clouser for spring run Whites, and typically a sink-tip or sinking leader isn't needed up in the shallow creeks.     

The one tip I give most often to guys that aren't doing so well is SPEED UP THE RETRIEVE.  Whites love to chase and eat stuff that is moving quickly, and fast erratic retrieves really get the whole school fired up.  Believe me, you can't strip a fly too fast for white bass.

[M_Taylor]

Lance, I have never fished the run where you are talking. That said, it sets up very similar to a place back on the Norfork where I have years of experience. 

I prefer a 6-7 weight rod, more because of ease of casting in the wind rather than because of the weight of the fly. I have had best results on neutral buoyant flies, combined with sinking or intermediate lines. Not to say a Clouser won't catch fish, or that I don't use them. 

I use 200-250 grain sinking lines quite often. Even in river systems I don't use floating lines hardly ever.  Floro leaders are a must in my opinion. 

Feel free to PM me sometime if you want a fishing buddy. I can also send you a pic of the fly and colors I use a lot. Catches the snot out of walleyes too.  

[bferg]

Clouser for sure.  The only fly you need but you need a lot of them.  When the run is really good and you are catching them you will go through a bunch.  My brother and I try to have 100 tied up between the two of us.  All different colors but white/grey, white/blue vapor, white/chartreuse, white/red are some of my go-to's.  That being said- when the run is on any baitfish imitating streamer will work.

A 5wt will work but I like a 6 or 8- never know when a big Walleye or Striper will be in the mix.  I prefer to use a slow slinking line or neutral buoyancy line but floating line with a sink tip will work- especially on Richland creek.  Again- kinda depends on water levels.  

As for Twin- depending on the rain/water levels yes it is wadable but not crossable in most places.  Go to the other side of the bridge from the boat ramp and walk down the trail to get to Richland.  It gets crazy crowded there on the weekends.  If you can get in a weekday/evenings you will have a lot more freedom. 

Also- don't forget about the beaver tailwater.  (If we get any wadable water there this spring.). There is a decent run up there and offen it is after or at least lasts long than the run on Beaver.  You can catch whites into June there sometimes.

Finally- stop by McLelland's.  They can make sure you have the set up and point you in the right direction.  Solid guys and very helpful.

[Lshack2]

I would echo the stop by McLellans as they are good guys  and will get you set up.  I like a 6 wt rod and fish sink tip most of the time until the very end of the run.  The White is typically wadeable but it is currently almost 7 ft above pool which means most of the common gravel bars are completely under water.  I also fish Clousers most of the time with chartreuse if the water is off color and blue / white or grey / white if the water clears.  

[LanceB]

Awesome! This is some really solid advice. Thank you all. I may try to get my hands on a 6-7 at if I can. Probably be good to have a little backbone for the fighting of the fish. 

Will get to the vise soon with some clousers. 

I've never heard of the run going to the tail waters. That's interesting! Im sure the water is high most everywhere now. Hoping for a somewhat dry spring. Water temps will be getting up there soon.

Looking forward to this new pursuit this year. 

Keep any advice about tackle, fkies , leaders, line, etc coming. 

[hoglaw]

It's going to be a weird year for foot access.  I haven't seen the water yet, but I assume it's backed up quite a ways (and at least one poster here has said that it's up 7 feet).  That kills any current on the white in the bridge area, and you'll have to go a good ways upstream to find current.  One option for you might be to get a canoe and put in at Wyman and float down to some productive shoals.  Richland is always an option too, but I expect it will be crowded with folks trying to find fishable water.  You can also float down Richland from the Tuttle Road bridge.  It's going to take some homework and planning to get on good wading trips.  There used to be a walk-in access on private land upstream from the bridge on the White.  We always called it the "burned down house" access if anyone remembers that.  But I've heard that person no longer allows folks to cross their land which is understandable.

It's really going to be a jetboat year I think.  Unfortunately due to work and family stuff, I'll be lucky to get one or two trips in.

I'm sure there are lots of productive flies, but I've always used clousers.  Mostly in the colors mentioned.  Brown and purple has produced for me on cloudy days for whatever reason.  I use a sink tip line, 7 wt (or I did before I broke mine on a fish last year), and a 10lb tapered mono leader (I think it's the "bonefish" one from McClellan's maybe).  I agree on the FAST stripping.  Some days they want that thing moving.  Lots of days I'll run two clousers of different colors at the same time and just see if they prefer one to the other.

[jdelow77]

During high water years I've done better on war eagle than I have white for the white bass run , seems they bite better and aren't as skiddish on cloudy days too ! 

[LanceB]

14 hours ago, jdelow77 said:

During high water years I've done better on war eagle than I have white for the white bass run , seems they bite better and aren't as skiddish on cloudy days too ! 

Nice. What are the access points at War Eagle?

[hoglaw]

I've never fished the run on the WE.  I'm only aware of two places to get in - fifty cent hole up by the mill, and sidewalk hole where it's a lot more lake than river.  Sidewalk requires a boat.  Fifty cent hole is wadable.  Just look on google earth.  Someone has tagged a picture near the mill with "50 cent hole"