Saturday, March 17, 2012

White Bass Season

Every year the white bass run is different. The fish act different, the river re-shapes itself and the weather is never the same. This year we are having a heat wave. The temps today were in the 80's. A thunderstorm last night left the river stained and running with a decent flow. There were more trees and logs in the water than I remembered. I hit the trail just as the sun rays started peaking through the trees.
The recent rain made the landscape look like it was wet with dew. As I came out of the forest I walked along a field that is maintained by the Army Corp Of Engineers. It was flash burned last year and in one year it has grown back even taller. I'm not sure if it is because of the strange weather or some other phenomenon but there were spider webs everywhere.
There was so many they kind of blurred together and looked like they were a part of the plants. I'm always fascinated by spider webs and how no two seem to ever look that same. Some are very intricate and others are messy like they were made with no focus or specific goal in mind. 
The fishing was slow even with activity here and there. There were splashes and random plops from fish rising hitting things off the surface. I caught a bluegill on my first cast. It took several more before I finally felt the tug of what I waited a year for. I never remember how hard white bass fight.  Even with a 5wt a 13inch fish can give you a nice tussle. The fish bend and shape themselves against the current making it difficult to bring them in. Once they get close they like to circle and make you spin in circles to keep up with them. I never get tired of catching them. 
It wasn't until this year that I realized how yellow the fishes eyes are. They are almost mustard yellow. I'm not sure if these fish see better in light or dark water but they can strike flies with lightning quickness.
Once you hook one you never can quite tell how big it is. All you know is something is on the end of your line and it ain't happy. Some species fight like they're scared when you catch them, white bass act like they are pi$$ed off.  For good reason too. The more time they are being yanked around the river is time they could be looking for mating prospects. This year was the first time I have ever seen spawning behavior. I saw boils from fish and several times I saw fish chasing each other. It was very cool.   Every year the same places seem to be productive.  I tried other parts of the river but at the end of the day I went back to the same hot spots I hit every year.
These locations are becoming less and less secret. It seems that the internet and popularity of social media has really taken its toll on the white bass run. There were more people than I have ever seen this year and with the limit of 25 fish a day it's amazing anyone catches anything. Even with all the odds against the fish they seem to maintain good populations and the fish are larger this year than I remember. I'm not sure what I want more, bigger fish and less of them, or a ton of smaller size fish.  I guess all I really care about is catching them. The morning ended with a few fish landed and time well spent with friends. A perfect fishing day if you ask me.

12 comments:

  1. The final image is wonderful, Kevin. Great textures.

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  2. I don't get to fish white bass very often, but it's always exciting. (good to eat to!) Nice post.

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  3. Thanks Mike.

    Howard, I keep hearing that white bass are good to eat. It's making me actually think about taking a few home to throw in the deep fryer. Are they easy to clean?

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  4. Kev
    Fantastic images, in fact the web images and the green in the trail picture is worth framing. I agree White Bass are awesome on the fly. I landed some last year on our local lake and as you said they give a 5 wt all it can handle. Thanks for reminding me of what is in store with the fly later on this summer.

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  5. Awesome day indeed...and fish...and photos!

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  6. Is this in east Texas? If not, what is your length minimum? In Texas, our daily limit is also 25 with none under 10". We have had very similar conditions as you. Currently, our males are running in Central Texas, and the females have started their run in East Texas. Really great story and pictures.

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  7. FlyFshGrl, In NC there is no size limit. You can keep 25 at any size. I've seen Game Wardens out there a couple times but I don't think it's really enforced. They seemed to focus on making sure everyone had their fishing license. It's not uncommon to see people walking out with 2 10gallon buckets full of fish.

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  8. Beautiful pics! and very nice fish! Great writeup Kevin!

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  9. That was a neat story! I empathize with you concerning the "secrecy" of places now, and fishery management. Our mountain whitefish has an absurd 50 fish limit and people seem to think they are as numerous as the buffalo once were, not so. And I have a running fued with a local outdoors columnist who is one kiss and tell expeletive. His agrguement is just that, "Everybody has the internet." I say use your common sense then, we go round and round. White bass are 400 miles away, but if I had a chance...

    Gregg

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  10. Thanks for the comment Gregg, yes things definitely aren't the same as they were 10yrs ago. Now people will even give GPS coordinates to locations. Earning a good fishing spot through exploration and trial an error seems to be a thing of the past. Now most want a short cut and use the excuse that it is just a more intelligent way of doing things.

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  11. Very nice post Kevin....nice pictures as always.....oh, I got you a gray squirrel tail also....come by one day to get the fly tying material..you should have my num,.....Mack

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  12. Thanks for sharing your awesome blog! More power!

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