12-06-2020, 10:00 PM
As has been suggested, once you find an active school of whities it is harder to find something they WON'T hit than something they will. But action is usually best early in the season...inside the harbors. Once the open lake freezes the white bass tend to leave the harbors (mostly) and are much harder to locate.
The early action inside the harbors or other protected areas like the pumphouse can be crazy. At those times it is hard to beat a blade bait like the Sonar. You will get lots of "pop on the drop" hits...with the fish jumping on as the lure is falling. But pounding it on the bottom to raise some mud and then lifting it a few inches can stimulate a lot of bites too.
When the whities are really on the chew, you often don't need to "sweeten" the lures. But as pressure increases and fish numbers drop it usually takes some extra added flavor...like crawlers, white bass meat, etc.
Many years ago...before we discovered the blade baits...we used to do well with a 1/4 to 3/8 oz. silver Kastmaster, with a bit of crawler on it. It even worked deadsticking when action was slow. And we got a few walleyes on it too.
Once the action slows, then downsizing to a smaller jig and bait can pay dividends.
The early action inside the harbors or other protected areas like the pumphouse can be crazy. At those times it is hard to beat a blade bait like the Sonar. You will get lots of "pop on the drop" hits...with the fish jumping on as the lure is falling. But pounding it on the bottom to raise some mud and then lifting it a few inches can stimulate a lot of bites too.
When the whities are really on the chew, you often don't need to "sweeten" the lures. But as pressure increases and fish numbers drop it usually takes some extra added flavor...like crawlers, white bass meat, etc.
Many years ago...before we discovered the blade baits...we used to do well with a 1/4 to 3/8 oz. silver Kastmaster, with a bit of crawler on it. It even worked deadsticking when action was slow. And we got a few walleyes on it too.
Once the action slows, then downsizing to a smaller jig and bait can pay dividends.