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White Bass Assault Continues...


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I now have another unpopular fish that I love to fish for - White Bass.

Dtro & I teamed up at an undisclosed location on the Minnesota River in search of the aggressive and fiesty White Bass. And oh boy, did we find them. smile.gif

Water temperatures are up approximately 14 degrees from the last time I fished whites and so was their aggressiveness. We were reading temps in the 64 degree range (note... Flathead time!).

Once we located a school of these critters, it was fish after fish after fish on consecutive casts. I landed 5 fish consecutively as fast as I could get my bait in the water at which time Darren decides he would rather run a video camera than catch fish. Fine with me. But the video camera was enough to end my hot streak. It took 3 more casts to land another one. frown.gif

Average size of the whites we were catching was 14-15". There were a few larger ones caught, a couple 16s and this 17" by yours truly. smile.gif

050107hanson17whitebasskw9.jpg

Tactics remained the same- simple white jighead with a white plastic twister tail body. I was using plastics from Mister Twister & Exude while Darren had a Northland plastic on. With the higher water temps and higher activity level, the whites were really willing to chase and attack a fast moving bait. At times, we were burning the baits as fast as we could and getting hit. But it really became apparent that an erratic and varied retrieve was our best bet. Most of the time the bass were hitting on the pause as you'd expect.

When all was said and done, a conservative estimate would be 50 whites the boat in about a 3 hour period. Unbelievable action! Besides whites, a few pesky walleyes found our baits and a small northern pike as well.

As fun as these things are, I think its just about catfish time. Before we left, we anchored at a creek mouth and tossed out some cutbait. It took a little while but I had a small channel cat in the boat after about a half hour. It was fun and refreshing to watch that 8' Reflex getting doubled over in the rod holder when that kitty hit.

Darren has some more photos he'll probably share and a video as well if he gets his lawnwork done tonight. smile.gif

Thanks man, was a blast as always!

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I now have another unpopular fish that I love to fish for - White Bass.

Dtro & I teamed up at an undisclosed location on the Minnesota River in search of the aggressive and fiesty White Bass. And oh boy, did we find them.
smile.gif

Water temperatures are up approximately 14 degrees from the last time I fished whites and so was their aggressiveness. We were reading temps in the 64 degree range (note... Flathead time!).

Once we located a school of these critters, it was fish after fish after fish on consecutive casts. I landed 5 fish consecutively as fast as I could get my bait in the water at which time Darren decides he would rather run a video camera than catch fish. Fine with me. But the video camera was enough to end my hot streak. It took 3 more casts to land another one.
frown.gif

Average size of the whites we were catching was 14-15". There were a few larger ones caught, a couple 16s and this 17" by yours truly.
smile.gif

050107hanson17whitebasskw9.jpg

Tactics remained the same- simple white jighead with a white plastic twister tail body. I was using plastics from Mister Twister & Exude while Darren had a Northland plastic on. With the higher water temps and higher activity level, the whites were really willing to chase and attack a fast moving bait. At times, we were burning the baits as fast as we could and getting hit. But it really became apparent that an erratic and varied retrieve was our best bet. Most of the time the bass were hitting on the pause as you'd expect.

When all was said and done, a conservative estimate would be 50 whites the boat in about a 3 hour period. Unbelievable action! Besides whites, a few pesky walleyes found our baits and a small northern pike as well.

As fun as these things are, I think its just about catfish time. Before we left, we anchored at a creek mouth and tossed out some cutbait. It took a little while but I had a small channel cat in the boat after about a half hour. It was fun and refreshing to watch that 8' Reflex getting doubled over in the rod holder when that kitty hit.

Darren has some more photos he'll probably share and a video as well if he gets his lawnwork done tonight.
smile.gif

Thanks man, was a blast as always!


Whitebass may be unpopular for you, but it is extremely popular for the Hmong people.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • gimruis
      Part of my issue with live bait is that it generally results in a higher hooking mortality than artificial does, especially in the heat of summer.  95% of what I catch is intended to be released, so in order to maximize that, it helps to avoid using live bait.  I'm not saying you can't accidentally kill a fish with artificial that is deep hooked, because you certainly can.  But as a general rule, they are more often hooked in the mouth with artificial.   The cost is also ridiculous for some live bait too.  Crappie minnows and waxies aren't bad, but when you start talking shiners, jumbo leeches, and decoy suckers...it gets out of hand quickly.  The last time I bought a big decoy sucker for muskie fishing years ago, they were $14 each.  15 bucks for a dozen shiners and half of them are dead by the time you get to the lake?  Take my left arm too why don't ya.
    • Bloatlord
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    • Rick
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    • leech~~
      Great.  Have to swing by soon to see what they have, then over to Petti Bros for some jerky and sticks!  
    • Dash 1
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    • Luv2BowHunt
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    • Luv2BowHunt
      It was dismissed before court via email correction from enforcement officer Robert Gorecki. 
    • Hookmaster
      Last weekend I was monitoring a bay on Tonka whether people were still driving out. I saw 6-7 vehicles. In one spot there were 4 trucks with 3 wheel houses. One of the houses was 20 ft+. On Sunday I arrived to see the sheriff put up a thin ice sign that 6 vehicles had driven past.   I returned to fish it last Wednesday late afternoon with 4 vehicles already out. Drove to the spot I fished 2 other times in the last month and drilled the first hole. LiveScope showed the fish 30-50 feet away. Drilled a cluster of 5 holes in that spot and game on. It was almost as fast as you could put your line down. A lot of up bites. After it slowed down on the small jigging spoon, I switched to a 4mm tungsten jig and caught more. The fish shifted 10 feet away once where one of the other holes was and then went back to the initial hole. For crappie, I ended up with a 13, a couple 12s, couple 11s, three 10s and a handful of 9s. Also 4 bluegill either side of 8” plus several smaller of both species. All fish were released. The pictures I posted are the 13 with me, both 12s an 11 and a dink. I measured them on a Li’l Dipper which is accurate from the middle of the hole at the top of the handle. I am going to order a Ketch board. The rod for the tungsten jig is a Tickle Stick and for the spoon a Panfish Sweetheart.   All three times I’ve fish this spot the big fish move out about 60-90 minutes before dark. I suppose they are moving to a different area (weedline?) to feed. If I get out to this spot again this year I’ll try and figure out where. When I drove off the bay there were still 6 other vehicles out.  
    • TomWehler
      Yup. Bullseye on the Ricochet . Bit o simple St Pats humor as that’s how I live n guess this flows thru my fingers.   Always interesting to see how close guesses are here.   where my island is clears out before the bay n large sections of lake so that is fun also. In past a few times last 28 years I hit it right on. Silly icy fun Big Smiles n Keep on Rocken! T            
    • delcecchi
      8 degrees in Rochester this morning.    looking at the 10 day forecast for Cook, not much melting going on out to the end of next week.
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