|
 LITTLE
ROCK - Arkansas fishermen, those who don't limit themselves to one
species, have calendar notations about late February and the beginning
of March.
It's white bass time.
They know the prolific, scrappy and under-appreciated fish can provide
exciting, challenging and even rewarding action for anglers.
White bass are members of the true bass category of fish. They are the
smaller cousins of striped bass and half of the equation that produces
hybrid bass. Another member of the family is the much smaller yellow
bass, a nuisance species in some Arkansas waters.
White bass and stripers make spawning runs up tributaries to lakes for
spawning when the water warms to 50 degrees or a bit above, according to
fisheries biologists with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
White bass are found in most of the state's larger and mid-sized lakes
and rivers. Some lakes like Beaver, Maumelle, Ouachita, Greeson, Bull
Shoals and Norfork, have developed reputations as white bass fisheries.
They are, but other locales hold good numbers of them as well. The
Arkansas River has enormous numbers of white bass. Lake Hamilton and
Lake Catherine are strong white bass waters.
White bass bunch up in schools throughout the year, and this can provide
fast and furious fishing action when they are found. Most weigh 1 to 2
pounds, but wide bodies help with their fighting ability when hooked.
The spring spawning runs concentrate them in feeder streams and rivers,
and anglers sometimes line banks to take advantage of the action.
White bass primarily feed on gizzard shad and threadfin shad as well as
minnows. Fishermen argue about their actions on the spawning runs,
whether the whites are voraciously hungry when spawning or simply react
by hitting a lure.
 Shad
imitation is the factor for choosing white bass lures. A white spinner
bait more often used for largemouth bass works on whites, but anglers
lean toward the smaller sizes with these lures. Trailer hooks usually
aren't needed. Little Georges and other "helicopter" lures work well,
along with Roostertails, Roadrunners and Mepps spinners in the smaller
sizes. Marabou jigs work for fly-fishing, white streamers and Clouser
minnows also are good choices.
White bass are fish of open waters. You seldom find them hanging around
stumps, brush and weeds, those traditional hangups for black bass,
crappie, bream and catfish. Whites are social creatures, too, school
fish. Catch one and go right back to the spot with the same bait. You're
apt to catch a second, a third or even more.
Creel limits are generous on white bass, 25 a day for nearly the entire
state. But on Beaver Lake, there has been no limit on whites for many
years, and their numbers are as high today as when the rule was
established a quarter-century or more ago.
As with most fish, spawning for whites begins a little earlier in the
southern part of the state than in the central and northern areas. But
don't wait too long. Check water temperatures, and keep in mind this has
been a generally mild winter. |
