# WHITE BASS TROLLING



## RAYSOR

Want to start white bass trolling on lake Livingston, I have figured out the 190 road bed or maybe Pine Island to troll, but not sure of the set up. I have heard some folks use divers with a lure tied to them but the set I am unclear of, what kind of Diver, color, how deep of one to look for and what kind of lure to trail behind and how far, also who sells this stuff, sorry about all the questions just trying to get a grip on this one, Thanks Ray


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## jamesgreeson

Go to academy they got clear divers,torpedo shaped divers and pinkes.Get some pet spoons small to med . size silver or gold .Run them behind your diver about 3 feet.Set your diver the deepest setting[about 30 ft]and start counting line out in seconds till you get a hit or hit the bottom.[Troll at 2 mph or as close as you can.


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## shadslinger

Headshakers got a good take on it, but like all fishing everybody has a different twist to it. As long as it catches fish, then its the right one for you. 

That being said, I use 10' chrome jet divers with a large pet spoon( they tend to cull small white bass before the bite) on two rods and let them out about a 100 yards, on the other two rods I use 20' or 30' clear jet divers with large pet spoons and let them out a long ways, not sure how far but past the 10' ones. I sometimes use crappie jigs instead of spoons, and when I am after only stripers I use 7" plastic worms on a #4 sproat hook set so they ride with hook thru and riding up. The worms have a long curly tail.
I zig zag while trolling and try to cross over humps, past drop offs (especially 12 to 16' drops) and out in 25' when i don't find them in the shallow places. I also stop and start over fish I see on the finder but who aren't biting.
SS


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## Kornbread

*White bass trolling*

I think SS hit it on the head, although I didnt hear him mention trolling the hellbenders with a slab and or pet spoon trailing behind.....I've used this combo down around the "hump" and the prayer creek ridge area (Pine Island) with alot of success. Best advice I could give you is to buy a Hot Spot map, take the ideas you've heard in here and try them in the GPS coord's on the map, and go fishing.


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## shadslinger

I am not much of a fan of the trolling hellbender, even though there are many days where it is the bait to use, they just pull too hard with no fish on for my liking. Kornbread is correct though, they will catch fish some days when other trolling baits that I perfer will not. 
I mostly troll to locate fish on days when none of my GPS white bass spots will pay off, and when I find them I will stop and jig. Vertical jigging is prefered way to catch whites.
SS


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## Ditto

Raysor, if you use the Hellbenders, cut the hooks off and tie the leader to the pet spoon where the front hook was.


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## Red3Fish

*Shadslinger...*

Just a question....100 yards? That is a long way behind the boat? A football field back? I am prolly 30 to 50 yards back. Not criticizing...just asking if you meant feet instead of yards? Thanks in advance!

Later
R3F


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## fishy

I hate to troll, b/c you not fighting the fish your fighting the hellbender. Also now at $4 a gallon its not cheap. I love to slab, but i will troll to find the fish if they arent in the spots i have marked.


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## Meadowlark

Ditto said:


> Raysor, if you use the Hellbenders, cut the hooks off and tie the leader to the pet spoon where the front hook was.


I'm a rank beginner but rigged mine up differently...tied the leader to the Pet on the tail swivel of the hellbender. Cut off the little spinner blade on the hellbender.

My thought was the motion of the hellbender is greatest at the tail and this will impart the most action to the spoon...also the swivel should help with line tangles?

Guess I'll try it both ways...as soon as the weather permits...anyone try it the way I described?


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## shadslinger

Good eye red3fish, should have read 100'. Must be all the meds I've been taking! 

MdLark, I tie up the way Ditto mentioned when I do use them. However I buy the hellbenders made for trolling with/out hooks and tie to the first eye. Another thing that gives me fits about hellbenders is tuning them so that they will stay down and not shoot to the top while trolling. It seems that once one starts doing that it just will not track right again.
One more trolling tip, jet divers are expensive and the one that seems to catch the most fish are the highest priced ones. The cool chrome/camo babies catch the most fish for me, but they are about $1.50 more than the others.
SS


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## Kornbread

All good info......should help get you started. Ray, I was down at academy in conroe today, they have everything you need.


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## muleherder

Anybody try using the Dipsy Divers or a planer board to get the pet spoon of to the side of the boat?


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## shadslinger

White bass are not that shy of boats and there doesn't seem to be the need for side planers, however stripers are very boat shy and it might be a big help with them. A lot of people use ballons with live bait for stripers to get the bait away from the boat.


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## muleherder

Makes sense. I thought about side planers just to get more baits in the water. Thanks.


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## shadslinger

Trolling for white bass on Lake Livingston can be better for you when you get some sweet spots developed. On Livingston just about any drop off that goes from 12' to 25' can be good at different times, that seems to be one of their favorites, that and 18' to 30'+. All most all of my waypoints for white bass have one of those two factors. Sometimes white bass will get all worked up from a boat trolling over one of their ambush spots like drop offs, and then you can drop a slab over and have some real fun, at times where just pulling up and starting to jig spoons wont get them going.
Shad are everywhere on Livingston so the whites are looking for a place to wait over the ridge and then attack as the shad school comes over. Places the Hump are great because the ridge top out in the open water gives plenty of "edge" for ambush spots.
SS


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## fishinganimal

Just food for thought. I like to use large cranbaits. They work great and dont hang up as bad as Hellbenders. I look in the bargain bins at Academy and get them cheap alot of times. And they don't pul near as hard as the HBender. Try spec rigs too done well with them also.


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## Meadowlark

I've been wondering about that myself...and will try the big cranks. Wouldn't a short soft plastic work as a trailer behind it?

Another trailer that I plan to try that I believe will be very effective is the Clouser minnow fly...can tie them up quickly for pennies and they are a great small fish imitation. Has to work...especially on fish that see a constant pounding of pet spoons.


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## Cartman

Excellent thread! Thanks


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## johnmyjohn

If you want to try for what ever's there try a big crank bait like the old big ''o's'' or any dark colored and short crank. About 2 ft. above it on the main line tie a mr. twister type jig bait (small like for crappie) on a 2ft. leader. If there's stripers they'll hit the jig (so use loose drag) every time and so will the sand bass. If you put a small strip of perch on the crank bait(on the back hook and small enough not mess with wiggle) channel cats and sometimes blues will tear into the crank. Large mouth will hit either one. I prefer to use a trolling motor to troll baits myself so not to move too fast and not to scare anything away. It doesn't take much speed so you may have to put a small egg sinker above the crank to get it down. Let out enough line as too put the baits half the depth your fishing but not over 12 ft., if there's something down there they'll come up to check it out. Most all fish look up as part of their feeding habits. This works good for me in river channels and lakes. Hope this helps a little.


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## fishinganimal

*Hellbender Tuning*

Things to do if HB is popping up to the surface. First thing is to hold Hellbender in hand and shake to see if it has water inside. After using alot the front bill will crack and seep water. With water in it it is junk. If so remove rear eyelet and drill into HB with small bit not to damage threads for eyelet replacement. Shake HB till all water is removed and silicone eyelet and replace. Water comes in just above the bill of HB there will be a crack there apply silicone to seal. If HB is darting right or left which ever way you need it to correct you bend the front swivel in that direction just a fraction at a time until HB swims straight. Hope this helps and saves a little cash.


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## shadslinger

Or, you can throw them out in the water and shoot them w/.410...JK. All seriousness aside,..Once I give em a tune or 2 (chck4H20& front eye adjustment) my frustration level for things not catching bass have xceded its upper limit = > .410 shells are cheap.


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## shadslinger

I just wanted to renew this thread back to the top. 
It is way cool thread with a lot of good tips from real anglers. And Lake Livingston can be a tough one for whites at this time of year, a feast or famine type experience. One of the things that I have learned about whites this time of year is that trolling a spot with different lures/depths/techniques will often reveal that by golly there are white bass down there, it's just that they will only hit, da da da a certain thing. Sometimes its an inline spinner up close to the bulkhead or bank, or a rattle trap, etc etc etc.
The last time i went(last Saturday) we caught the first good whites I have caught in a while trolling with 20' jet divers and pet spoons in 19 to 22' of water. They were for the most part big white bass and the first that I have cauight in a while.
Anybody else catching whites? If so what on?


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## fishinganimal

SS

I will be up there this weekend. Hopefully hit the lake early to beat the crowds. I usually don't fish the holidays. If yall make it out I will be in the black with stars and stripes on the side 22' Bluewave Extreme. I'm stayin at Wolfe Creek. Give me a shout. Whats the water lookin like?? Gonna work Walkers lookin for some schoolin action.


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## RAYSOR

Thanks to all for the great info, SS again thanks for all the great advice.


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## shadslinger

You are welcome raysor, fna, the water is still beautiful green, go get em and give us a report. Since i got a new ride today I'm working on a trip tomorrow!


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## Sean Hoffmann

Dittos regarding the earler post regarding trolling crankbaits. Rapala Shad Raps are extremely productive, especially in the winter, spring and early summer when the whites haven't gone down deep yet.

Here's a method to get your Hellbenders down deep without having to let out a lot of line behind the boat.

Take off the front hook screw. Open the hook screw with pliers. Remove the hook if your Hellbender is equipped with one. Place a 1/2 oz. dipsey sinker (the pear-shaped sinker with a wire eye on the top) on the hook screw. Close the hook screw with pliers and put the hook screw back on the Hellbender.

Doing this will have your Hellbender bumping bottom in 20 feet of water without having to drag 100 yards of line behind the boat.

Naturally, your leader with Pet Spoon or other bait of choice will be on the back hook screw of the Hellbender. Never hurts to put a barrel swivel between the back hook screw and your leader (remove, open with pliers, install swivel, close, replace).

If I remember I'll try to post up a photo or two of this rig in the near future.


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