White Bass?

[Slyster]

I have caught lots of Rock Bass.. Largemouth Bass.. and Smallmouth Bass.. but tonight I watched an episode on Lindners.. and he was catching White Bass... huh? He even showed a map of their range which included Minnesota!

Can you catch these bass in the Metro area? Never seen one!

[Ritz]

WOw, you have never caught any whitebass before??? You must not fish rivers around here....... Whitebass are the easiest to catch!

[Ray Esboldt]

Sly,

The Mississippi and St. Croix have healthy populations of White Bass (some refer to them as silvers). There are also a select few lakes around our region that have them.

They like current, they feed in large schools and often herd bait to the top, and they pull as hard as a smallmouth of comparable size. You can catch them on anything that works for largemouth or smallmouth. I like cranks (old style Fat Raps), inline spinners, lipless crank baits, and a jig and a minnow. I've got into schools while throwing Rat-L-Traps where I've boated 50 fish in an hour and frequently had multiple fish on the bait at one time. So, there's nothing un-fun about fishing these guys. They are definitely not a "glamour" fish - I've never heard anyone say "I'm White Bass fishermen."

You may want to launch your rig on Mississippi Pool 2 this year and check it out.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Sly- as stated above they are mostly a river fish. They look more like a crappie than a bass if you ask me. In your area(WBL) I would suggest you go check out the Croix or drive down to Lake Pepin. Ray pegged it. Small crankbaits or small spinnerbaits like a beetle spin is all you will need for lures.

[ikeslayer]

like already stated when you get into a feeding school of them it can be some of the most memorable fishing. As fast as you can handle it. Good luck on the whites. ike

[JollyT]

Whites are a true bass. Same genus as Striped Bass. Not just a pumped up sunfish! Fun to catch when they're schooling!

Fish the Mississippi, you'll never know what you'll catch!!

[katoguy]

Madison Lake near Mankato has a healthy population of white bass. We catch them while largemouth fishing in summer and crappie fishing in winter. Many here call them stripers, but they are indeed white bass.

Some people eat them, but be sure to cut the reddish/brown meat out of the filet. I tried it 15-20 years ago while I was a poor college kid. I won't do it again, though.

[DTro]

They are a lot of fun, especially when you get into a school of them. Early spring seems to be the best time to target them.

Here's a nice one I caught late last fall:

[jparrucci]

White Bass can be a riot in the spring before the walleye season starts. My technique (still kind of a greenhorn when it comes to river fishing) is to toss small jigs tipped with either a Mimic Minnow or a fathead. White usually seems to be the best color, but when they are really active they hit anything. They might hit as hard as any fish for its size, as they can really pound it. I've fouled hooked more of these in the last 3 years then I have of every other fish combined my whole life. Bouncing a jig in current along a rocky river bottom, and these things just POUND it. It is a lot of fun. I fished the Minnesota River in Mankato when I was in college down there, now I fish the Minnesota in Chaska, right under the 41 bridge and in the area around the boat launch. This things can really be fun. I've caught a few that might have pushed near a state record. Another bonus to fishing these in the spring on a live minnow is you never know what else you will catch. While white bass fishing before the walleye season, I've caught a Goldeneye, Flathead and Channel Cats, Drum(Sheephead) and some walleyes and saugers. Like a previous poster said, they also will bite on Rapalas if you want to try to avoid the many snags on the river bottom. I typically pitch the jig upstream into the current, and just slowly work the jig past me downstream. You almsost dont have to reel in at all, I try to get a jig that just barely gets taken downstream by the current, and then just slowly bounce it along the bottom as it goes past you downstream. Also, most of the fish I catch seem to be right near shore as they are feeding on shiners in the river typically. Dont give up as your jig or Rapala nears shore, as most of the fish I've caught tend to be within about 10 feet of the shoreline. Look for areas with some decent current. I usually go for areas that have a rocky bottom ( be prepared to lose LOTS of jigs). Hope this helps. Good Luck!

[riverrat56]

Anyone have an idea what the state record is? I caught one a few years ago that was pushing 20 in's estimated it around 3 1/2 - 4 lbs?

[katoguy]

4-2.4 MS river pool 5 taken in 2004 18.5 inches

See page 76 of the 2006 Regulations or google:

"bass, white" and MN record fish

[ikeslayer]

The state record is tied between 2 people at 4 lbs and they both went 18 inches So had yours truly been twenty you would probably have your name in the books. here is the dnr web page that talks about them and the current state record

[DTro]

wow, I always thought the record was much bigger. I never measured the one in my photo, but by doing different measurements on the screen with distances between knuckles, between eyes, fingers etc, every time I came up with 18" or bigger.

[riverrat56]

It was deffinatly over 18, that was the measurment of my handlebars on my bike, it was at least an inch longer, dang it all anyways.

[No_Net]

The white bass that riverrat caught was definitely 18+. German lake also has a good population of them always seem to catch a couple of them in the 2-3lb range each year.

[Maashkinoozhe]

Since I've been starting to fish the river more often, I keep a printed copy of the MN state record fish in my wallet(reallly small font) just on the off chance... You never know what you'll catch in the river, and it may be a record - especially if you catch something like a black buffalo (only 3 or 4 recorded instances of that being caught in the state so if you catch one, you have at least a 20% chance of having caught the state record.)

Dreaming of pulling in that 2-lb Northern Hogsucker;),

Dave