Okay, I have one more question for you knowledgable folks (slow day at work). Has anyone opened up the stomach of a white bass to see what it was eating??? I have a little stomach pump I use on trout, but keep forgetting it when I go after the whities at Utah Lake. I would like to know so I could tie up something else besides a wolleybugger.
Thanks!
ES
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I have checked a few times and what I have noticed was alot of scuds, and other crustacions, as well as alot of other vegtable matter.
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Thanks ichole69! Color? If you had to put them on a hook, what size would you use?
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most that I saw were tan to redish, I would say size 24. [
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I'm suprized they can even find something that size in that water! Thats amazing . . . Thanks again.
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well most of the ones I caught were by the inlets and I was fishing for eyes at the time, I think they will hit about anything with alot of flash, vibration or movement. They might have been picking up the scuds attatched to the weeds in the lake, that would explain the vegitation also in ther bellies.
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any particular inlet or just all over? I'm aching to hook into a whitie on my flyrod. They are really fun on light tackle too. Thanks for being so willing to share!
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Hey Nate,
I've dissected a white bass as well a couple of times. All they ever have is tiny insects just like icehole said. I wasn't too knowledgable then (not that I am now, lol [crazy]), so I don't know exactly what they were. All I know is yes they were tiny like size 22 or smaller. I really don't think you'll ever catch any using a fly imitating something like that though. The water is too murky in Utah Lake and the odds are really against you. If you really want to catch white bass on a fly rod I would go with streamers.
Since they do hit just about anything gold or silver flashy, you could tie some wooley buggers that have lots of flashabou in silver or gold colors -- gold for sunny weather and silver for cloudy. You could also use chartruese, pink, or other colors that you'd normally use for jigs. They should work just like a marabou jig, just not right on the bottom. White bass will hit high or low in the water column so that shouldn't make much of a difference.
BTW I'll probably be going down to where the Provo enters the lake in my tube with my little bro (his first tubing attempt with his brand new tube[cool]) on Sat. sometime. Fishluvr said he might go too. Come on down if you can. I'll let you know Friday if that's still the plan. Gonna try for walleye and white bass or whatever else will bite.[sly]
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Try tying tbe buggers with a twist. Put a propeler at the head, i think they call them woolly spins. I have caught trout on them just a thought.
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I;m a belever I caught 6 browns the other night just be for dark. I plan on tying up some for this summers bass.
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I caught one of the biggest browns I have ever landed on the Provo on a black Pistol Pete I had tied up. The fly actually hit the bank across from me. I twitched it into the water and as soon as it hit the water the brown hit it. I landed 6 within a half hour that evening. The fly eventually broke off, on a fish, and it was time to go home.
Thanks for the tip!
ES
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Please do let me know! I've told my wife that I will be escaping for a while on Saturday and she gave me the green light. I had my fishfinder on my toon last year and about 2-3' upstream from the footbridge in the park the water drops off from 4' to 9-10'. The hole is about 20' long if that. There was also a little freshwater bubbling into the river from the park side at that same point. Just be aware of a pretty big snag at the top of the hole right in the middle of the channel.
Let me know!
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It's decided I'll be going fishing Sat. but it will be in the morning. How early depends, since my wife said she might like to come along. I don't know if she will or not -- she doesn't have a license this year and would just come to be with me (we really don't get much of that). If she comes I'd go at about 10 am, if not probably more like 7:30 or 8:00.
The only problem is, I'm not sure where to go if she comes. She wouldn't have any fun sitting on the bank while I'm out in the tube! Hmm....any suggestions?
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Walkie talkie?????? Float tube built for two? Sorry I'm not more helpful.
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That sounds great I like hearing stories like that. I thinks it even a bigger thrill to catch a fishs on a flys that you build yourself. the pistal pete i saw was tied up with a bead head then prop.[reply]
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Yup thats the one! You can pick up propellers of different sizes from places like Jann's Netcraft. I actually saw some at Sportsmans the other day in the flytying section.
Happy tying!
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I can help you out a bit, I have examined the stomach contents of numerous white bass in all seasons. Here is a list of what I have encountered. Plankton (daphnia, predominately), baby white bass up to 3 inches in length, green sunfish, small bluegills. Plankton appear in stomachs of fish generally when other larger forage is less available in winter and spring. However the majority of the diet and associated weight gains results from cannabalism. The white bass in utah lake subsist almost entirely on their own young during the summer (about late July and onwards) and fall months and up into the early winter months. I would say up to 90% of their diet is consists of their own children. Saying this reminds me of the writer Jonathan Swift's satirical piece entitled "A Modest Proposal." Every other predator in utah lake also preys upon baby white bass. The baby white bass themselves feed upon plankton as well as insects, the swarms of midges around the shores being the most significant insect. Feel free to pm for further details. I have dissected stomachs of almost every fish I catch. Does this help?
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You da man! That helps tremendously.
Thanks,
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