I have been waiting a year for this. At night I'd surf the local fishing boards looking for that big mouth. The guy who can't help but post his haul of fish and that would open the flood gates. I didn't see that post yet but I did see little teases here and there. I couldn't take it anymore and decided to try a spot after work. I have fished and caught white bass the last 4yrs. I don't know if it's the time span in between the seasons but I can never remember how hard they fight. On my 5th cast I was reminded. The fish jerked the line pretty much hooking itself. It used the current and after a nice tussle I received not only my first white bass of the season but validation that my flies work.
I think this was a female because usually the males aren't this large. I honestly can never really tell.
This turned out to be my only white bass of the night. I was able to catch a few largemouth. The bonus was they were all caught on flies I tied. This last one was caught on an orange backstabber.
White bass have to be my favorite fish to catch with a fly rod. I can never get enough of them. If I could find out how to catch them year round I would. The runs here only last about a month. They never start soon enough and they are over way too fast.
You have got to love white bass. I tried last night for them and it was just a few degrees too cold- you could see them, but they wouldn't go near a fly. Saw a few caught on "minners" by the bait crowd.
ReplyDeleteJason, I got lucky with this guy. The water was only 52 degrees. The last few years the action got hot when the water was around 60 or in the low 60's. This has been a rather cold spring in the peidmont. We get teased with 3 days of above 60 degree weather. Then we'll have 4 days in a row that have lows in the 20's and have a high of maybe 48. Sucks! I think the largemouth are in pre-spawn mode.
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ReplyDeleteI agree White Bass are unbelievable on the fly rod. They come up the tailrace I fish in April and yes they can produce quite a fight. I am glad you were able to land those on one of your own ties. Great Post!!
Kevin, nice fish there! Always a special feeling when a pattern you designed finds a willing fish.
ReplyDeleteI love fishing for white bass! I've only done it once, but they were suicidal. They taste pretty darn good too!
ReplyDeleteHoward, I've heard they taste great. I might actually keep one this year and try it. The limit is 25 fish a day. I think that's kind of rediculous but people freak out when there is talk of lowering the limit.
ReplyDeleteAlways look forward to the white bass runs in the spring. Wish I had time to fish them more than I do. And yes, they are very tasty!
ReplyDeleteNice catch- always very rewarding to catch fish on something self-tied.
ReplyDeleteGreat report as always! What weight rod are you throwing?
ReplyDeletePhillip, I use a 5wt with floating line. The water I fish averages 2-3ft. There are deeper holes where I've thought about using intermediate line. I get hung up enough with just this setup. I think a line that sinks would make things worse.
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