Whitebass Fishing

[smartfish73]

when does the whitebass bite start on the white river i remember going with a friend and his cousin few years ago but i can't remember what time of year it was if i remember right i think we put in at housemans and went up river only fished a little stretch but they were there so we did not have to go anywhere else any input would help lots thanks

[hoglaw]

Someone probably has more expertise than me, but I think it's temperature dependent. Preferred spawning conditions are somewhere around 51-55 degrees surface temp, at least that's the situation on the white river before it hits beaver lake. If you're fishing around houseman, it could be that the run is later than it is here because of the colder temperatures. On the white outside of Fayetteville, I know one guy that starts fishing on Valentines day and continues through the end of April. The bulk of the run typically hits in late march and early april here, but the question is relative.

While I say the run starts that late, the white bass school in the upper end of the lake before that time. You can find them in the lower stretches of the river first, before the "run" has really started. Then the small males come up, followed by the big females. Around the same time as the females but slightly behind come the hybrids, then stripers. That's how I've always understood the run to work.

[smartfish73]

thanks for the input i guess that would make sense i fish at grand lake in ok and that is the way they run there too

[Dutch]

I spent several years fishing for them. Much of the time we could catch hundreds of them before people thought that they should be there. By the time people started showing up we would move on to another lake and another species.

Current more than anything else is a good predictor for white bass movement. If there is no current they will move seldom. If there is good current then you can find them several miles up river from what you might have expected. In some of my research several years ago I ran across a study which radio tagged some whites. One of them traveled over 100 miles in the prespawn and spawn time.

So, if you get some good winter rains, look for them up stream early. If not then the water temps and daylight hours will be more of a determining factor on movement. Also the location of the lake has a lot to do with how early they move with Table Rock and Bull Shoals being earlier than Stockton, Pomme de Terre and Truman.