# What is your goto White Bass lures?



## Gluconda

New to white bass fishing and wanted to know what is your goto or sure hit lures for catching white bass?


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## SKs Crappie Fishing

road runner style inline spinners [black/black, trues/black & trues/trues].


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## capn

Chartreuse roadrunner, or white roadrunner.


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## SaltH2oAssassin

*Roadrunners*



capn said:


> Chartreuse roadrunner, or white roadrunner.


That's probably everyone's goto bait unless you want to fish with minnows. But typically chartreuse and white panfish assassins with a raodrunner works real well.


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## Steven H

Every year it changes. Used to be gold tony acetta #13, then roadrunners, last year sour apple berkley frenzy, this year bandit 300 in white/ylw bottom and green/white with sparkles. Had to choose one, silver/blue 1/4 rat l trap.


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## Meadowlark

I think it depends on the situation....

In deep waters of the main lakes pet spoons and slabs work really well....but up in the rivers/creeks, not so well for me. Not sure what it imitates, but a red head Chartreuse body roadrunner can be the most effective when whites are on the move for the spawn....sometimes you have to work them very slowly.


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## JakeBrake

I trolled the Trinity River two weekends ago below Hwy 19 and caught one on a chrome rattle trap, but the rest I caught on a chartreuse little george. When they get up into the creeks I've had better luck on roadrunners.. sometimes chrome sometimes chartruese..
going this saturday and sunday, I'll let ya know what works for us.


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## FishKiller

The smallest pet spoon (silver/white tail) and chartreuse swirly tail. I always stock up on those b/c pet spoons are hard to find when action heats up.


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## Ross

-Pet Spoon #13 silver with white tail or chartruese tail

-1/16oz or 1/8oz Road Runners in various colors and forms (curly tail, assassin, regular marabou)

-Rapala 2"-3" Husky Jerk color varies depending on conditions-gold/black back, silver/blue back, or ghost minnow

Those are my go to lures for whites.


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## outdooraggie2011

I hear tandem speck rigs work- white/chartreuse and red. Never tried them though.


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## JakeBrake

outdooraggie2011 said:


> I hear tandem speck rigs work- white/chartreuse and red. Never tried them though.


 We're going to try the speck rigs this saturday.... gonna have the full arsonal out there this weekend!!!

I fished them ol' creeks around Huntsville years ago back in my college days and those fish would be hot on one thing one day, and lockjawed on it the next....


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## Profish00

lil george


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## shadslinger

I used to guide for white bass and stripers below the Lake Livingston Dam. Most of my less experienced clients would fish for white bass. I found that I could at times anchor off at the cable cast an in line spinner(roostertail) and catch a big ole white bass every cast. I would hand it to some people who would cast in the same place with the same lure and no matter how I coached them they could not catch a white bass on a lure.
For them I would net threadfin shad and hook them in the eyes on an a gold aberdeen hook on a leader 18" under a casting cork with a small split shot between the hook and cork. It would catch white bass for anybody, most of the time, under most conditions. You might have to fuss with the leader length to find them but it is the best bait.
Lures? A chartruse curly tail on a 1/4 oz jighead. If I had to pick just one.


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## Whitebassfisher

Main lake in the summer: chartreuse or white 1 & 3/8 ounce slab spoon.

Spawn: 1/4 ounce lead head w/ chartreuse or white curly tail grub or maribou. 1/4 ounce traps in chrome aren't too bad either, especially in the creeks.


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## elpescador24

spec rig..spec-rig and spc-rig tandem chartruse 1/8oz.thats what that record whitebass inhaled at the lock..............


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## captray

*White Bass*

I use a cotton cordell gay blade. They can be used at any level by speeding up or slowing down your retrieve. They look like a shad. They work really well.


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## firelt

Trolling - silver spoon or silver rat-l-trap
Casting - A white Shyster or a 2 inch white twister tail grub on an 1/8 ox lead head.
Model A's work good for deep trolling.


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## papaw092602

*GoTo Bait for Whites*

Texas Avacado Panfish Assassin on 1/16 oz jig head, 6# line, ultralight spinning outfit, after dark, fishing underwater green lights in the summer. This is one of two limits caught on same trip. Sorry about the size of the photo. Not sure how to fix.


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## csmcg

1/4oz. Northland Thumper with a Yum Twister Tail: Similar to Roadrunner but so much better. Get em @ Cabellas or directly from Northland.

http://www.northlandtackle.com/Category/main.taf?cat=167


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## sea ray

anyone tried the berkly gulp minnows in 2.5 in? on a roadrunner?


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## OL' LUNGBUSTER

I agree with some of your former clients, shadslinger. I prefer a roostertail(white/silver-gold) to cover ground quickly. Once I find them then I proceed to run thru the tacklebox to find the right combo. This isn't exact science of course, since they are so agressive and hit just about anything. It's fun trying to figure out the right presentation.


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## SSNJOHN

I agree with Whitebassfisher for the most part. In main lake (RC), I think we catch larger white bass trolling crank baits over 8-15 ft humps adjacent to deeper water, than we do jigging slabs. Favorite crank is Bomber Flat A Deep in Pearl or Chrome. Runs the best with rod in holder and Shiner in hand. Any color will work, but these two seem to be the best in April / May. Have a caught a white bass and two doubles on ~ 30 consecutive casts with one of these on a special place on Richland Chambers at dawn.

SSNJOHN



Whitebassfisher said:


> Main lake in the summer: chartreuse or white 1 & 3/8 ounce slab spoon.
> 
> Spawn: 1/4 ounce lead head w/ chartreuse or white curly tail grub or maribou. 1/4 ounce traps in chrome aren't too bad either, especially in the creeks.


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## essayons75

I am going to try a white H&H with double spinners in Spring Creek. What do you think? Too big?

Also bought lots of Road Runners just in case.


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## Sea-Slug

Flea-Fly hair tailed jigs, 1/16th oz. Roadrunners, Sassy-Shad. Clear water I like white or grey, muddy I like yellow.


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## Africanut

3/8 ounce Kastmaster w/white buck tail---can sling one forever and they never wear out..


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## CrankN

Chrome/Blue Back Lipless Crank (Rattle-Trap) CANT BE BEAT WITH THIS BAIT!


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## railman

My favorite is Cotton Cordell Little O


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## RAYSOR

I want to get into the white bass on the big lake on Lake Livingston, is it best to pull the divers with the spoon trailing and if so will I have better luck with 10 or 20 ft and how long should my spoon trailer be, or would it be better just to pull a bomber or rattle trap, any help would be appreciated.


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## Aggie_Snowman'04

Model A Bomber in Tennessee Shad, oldie but a goodie!


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## Silvermajek

1/4 oz Chrome and Blue Rattle Trap.

Blue and White Clouser minnow for the fly rod, what a blast!


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## dwhite

Small Chrome w/black back rattle trap, same color in a lil george as well...seen guys tear them up on the pet spoons too. The rattle trap seems to catch the bigger fish though, from the few times i have been able to go, all lake fishing btw.


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## workorfish

*Rattletrap*

Agree with Sivermajek in that R/T's in 1/4 oz tend to catch the bigger fish and are best trolled. Silver with blue or black back best all-around but gold with black back also works well although those are hard to find now except on-line.

For stationary casting, I have found a Roadrunner/Beetlespin works well with yellow probably the best but if they are schooled up and biting, they will hit just about anything.

We've hit the runs on the creeks off Livingston for over 25 years and these combos are from experience.

The H&H mentioned is probably a bit to big for consistent WB bites.


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## Wedge

Blakemore road runners are hard to beat. White with a red head or chartreuse.


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## brazman

Fishing in Lake Ft. Phantom outside Abilene, the water is generally pretty muddy/murky on most days. The last few years we've been having the best luck trolling chart. lil georges. At Lake Brownwood, the water's clearer and they hit the best trolling Lil Fishies in the 2 1/2" minnow size in silver/black back or silver/black zebra striped. Depends on water clarity, I think.


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## shadslinger

Raysor, come go with me when they are back in the late spring or early summer and I will show you how. I use both 20' and 10' divers to find them, sometimes even a 30'. 
I try to find the key leader length that the white bass currently like. Some times it's 15" and sometimes 3'. 
Usually about 18" to 20", I have good luck with a white crappie jig instead of a pet spoon most of the time for the cost factor. However some days they want a pet or castmaster spoon and that's all.


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## Lead Head Red

When you catch them schooling, anything will work, but I've caught doubles, one after another, on spec rigs (ghost minnow with silver glitter.


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## haparks

1/4 oz red headed road runner with a chartruce feather tail


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## shadslinger

The H&H is funny when it comes to white bass, I have caught every gamefish in freshwater with one, but not very times was it a real good white bass lure for me. Only one that I can remember, at lake Arlington in the hot water discharge channel durring deep winter, and they wanted it V waked on top, but slow. I just don't think that they like much big spinning going on.


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## truangler

*white bass slayer!*

Try a 1/4oz or 3/8oz Lil' George, they are great lures, you will stay'em. They are like hamburgers to us...its always a good time to eat one....truangler


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## Solid Action

outdooraggie2011 said:


> I hear tandem speck rigs work- white/chartreuse and red. Never tried them though.


Haven't fished for them in years, but that used to be all I used. Would catch 2 at a time under the lights.


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## goldie

white pet spoon or white road runner , just my favorite


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## Northsider

I fish for whites and crappie almost exclusively soI have a very large assortment of panfish lures by my favorites in no particular order are.
Rooster tails or cocktails a knock off of the rooster- Chrome/white feather, chart/gold, blk/chart, firetiger/chrm, pearl white/grey, chrm/yellow tail, blue/wht tail, silver/wht tail
Rattle traps in 3 sizes Tiny1/4 oz, 1/2oz, 5/8oz- chrm/blu, blk/chrm, chart, sil/blu, firetiger, pearl wht shad pattern.
Grubs- blk, white, chart, sil, yel, pearl wht, sliver
Pet spoons- #13 wht/chrm, #12 wht/chrm
Crankbaits- same as rattle traps
Maribou jigs- wht, blk, chart, chart/blk, red/wht, org/blk, wht/chart, yel/blk, pink/wht

Mind you I have a lot more stuff to choose from but these are my go to baits when all else fails. I fish them solo or combo them up with another set up, for example I cast crank baits with a pet spoon chaser about 15" behind on a leader. I've tried all kinds of differnt stuff just messing around and they all work if you can establish a pattern on the fish, hope this helps.


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## Meadowlark

Northsider said:


> ... I fish them solo or combo them up with another set up, for example I cast crank baits with a pet spoon chaser about 15" behind on a leader.


Me too, I like to experiment and often tie on a deciever fly behind a crank...but this week that was a no no. Any trailers I used actually reduced, even eliminated the bite in side by side comparisons. First time I've experiencd that...they wanted a certain action in the crank and the trailer inhibited that action, it seemed. Interesting.


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## BigBuck

*lures*

I use a lot of the ones listed, I like the Little George's when the whites are deep in the lake over humps. In the creeks during spring my favorite is a bandit crank bait. I usually use the mid range runner, square lip, runs 3-4' deep. If the whites are stacked in deeper holes, I use a longer lip, runs about 6' deep casting and 8' trolling. I like white with a chautruece belly, I add red gill plates with finger nail polish. Chrome with a blue back works well too. This is my go-to bait. Second choice small spin- trap in chrome or white. Roadrunners (twister tail, not maribou) in red head, white or chartruece body close third.
BB


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## Timemachine

Ross said:


> -Pet Spoon #13 silver with white tail or chartruese tail
> 
> -1/16oz or 1/8oz Road Runners in various colors and forms (curly tail, assassin, regular marabou)
> 
> -Rapala 2"-3" Husky Jerk color varies depending on conditions-gold/black back, silver/blue back, or ghost minnow
> 
> Those are my go to lures for whites.


That just about says it all. Nice when you only need 3 lures to catch a fish instead of the 16 tackle boxes it take for Bass.


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## shadslinger

Off the topic some, one time my ex-wife and me where frustrated by a bay boat that was fishing next to us at the cable below the Livingston dam. They caught striper after striper on "castmaster spoons" the same size as ours and we could not get a bite. After close inspection we noticed that their spoons had little red plastic tabs on the hook.
Couldn't find a spoon with a tab, or anything else to use, and after much experimentation used small pieces from the the red rinds on the lunch meat on our sandwiches and caught a limit in no time.
Be ready to think out of the box when they don't bite what usually catches them! 
SS


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## Rip Some Lip

Most of the earlier listed lures on this forum are a part of my arsenal but these two are my "go to".
Lewis 1/8 0z. Chrome/Black Spin-Trap. Bass Pro _XPS_ 1/8 Oz. Lazer Eye Chrome/Black.


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## Bill Fisher

lake fishing it'd be the rattle trap for me........ have always filled the ice chest and seldom catch any less than a pound-and-a-half (that i throw back)


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## fishinganimal

Pet Spoons and Spec Rigs for trolling and Old Reliables for jigging.


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## shadslinger

FNA, you got it, a slab spoon, or any jigging spoon, in the warm months, just can't be beat.


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## bluegill addict

White/Chartreuse Sassy Shad on a 1/16 ounce weedless jighead for when they are running on the Angelina.


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## chaser2008

Double rigged crappie jigs and good old minnows and make sure that you buy the jiggs that have bigger wire hooks than the normal gold hooks


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## jrogerlures

i use the jrogerlures. they are awesome. slabs are cheap as heck too.


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## fishing king

anything small and white works


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## RED SNAP

shadslinger said:


> Off the topic some, one time my ex-wife and me where frustrated by a bay boat that was fishing next to us at the cable below the Livingston dam. They caught striper after striper on "castmaster spoons" the same size as ours and we could not get a bite. After close inspection we noticed that their spoons had little red plastic tabs on the hook.
> Couldn't find a spoon with a tab, or anything else to use, and after much experimentation used small pieces from the the red rinds on the lunch meat on our sandwiches and caught a limit in no time.
> Be ready to think out of the box when they don't bite what usually catches them!
> SS


 This little trick holds true when speck fishing sometimes also.


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## bueyescowboy

where's my LIME GREEN slabs at? I fill my tackle box full of them every year and about right now...as always I am out and cant find them....
but ole blue eyes has a trick....smash two eyelets inbetween an old cast net weight, and paint it .....thats right LIME GREEN!
With me and dad fishing side by side I would pull in 2 to his one. me lime green ...him white or chartreuse. And it wasn't technique...we would switch poles. He would then start catching more.
Schooling.....hand me anything with a hook.....I was thinking of trying a beer tab with hook attached to it.


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## That Robbie Guy

... google searched and found this thread.



outdooraggie2011 said:


> I hear tandem speck rigs work- white/chartreuse and red. Never tried them though.


Last weekend I picked up three throwing the TTF Glo.


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## Kahoot

Pet spoon! Ya cant beat them.


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## Fishon21

*Wb in the creeks*



bluegill addict said:


> White/Chartreuse Sassy Shad on a 1/16 ounce weedless jighead for when they are running on the Angelina.


Hey bluegill addict
I was wondering if anyone was going to mention a 2'' white sassy shad.
I catch a lot of white bass every year up the creeks and sassy shads are
my best go to bait.
The creeks that i like to fish the most is where caney and peach meet north of lake houston , and the east fork .
Lake livingston in opinon is, way up white rock creek near trinlady park .
Now behind LL dam i like to use kastmaster spoons at the cable, and clear
zara puppy top waters when they are schooling .
Now for what it's worth that's my 2 cent's worth.
Terry:rybka:


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## BigWW79

Roadrunners, chrome ratltraps, or rapala glass shad raps. I usually troll with the shad raps but from the bank roadrunners with power bait bodies.


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## SwineAssassiN

Every single one of these was caught on a pet spoon out of a creek. They wouldnt touch anything else.


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## ronniewelsh

The tandem spec rigs do work well and will produce a lot of strikes.I personally like to use a shyster (yellowor white)on an ultra light rig, you can pretty much fish any depth with either.But everything mentioned so far works too! I have caughtem on a piece of foil from a cigarette pack so they arent real picky when they start biting! I figure if they can see it they will hit it so water condition probably is whats important.:fish:


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## shadslinger

ronniewelsh said:


> The tandem spec rigs do work well and will produce a lot of strikes.I personally like to use a shyster (yellowor white)on an ultra light rig, you can pretty much fish any depth with either.But everything mentioned so far works too! I have caughtem on a piece of foil from a cigarette pack so they arent real picky when they start biting! I figure if they can see it they will hit it so water condition probably is whats important.:fish:


A Shyster? Some old timer must have taught you to fish.


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## fluffycharm

Mortar strike VIA battlefield 3???


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## ComeFrom?

shadslinger said:


> A Shyster? Some old timer must have taught you to fish.


My Firstest lures in this world where one white, one yellow and one black shyster I carried around in a bandaide box in the early 60's. LOL! I haven't heard that word shyster in years! I don't know if they still make 'em! CF? :dance:


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## ML56

shadslinger said:


> A Shyster? Some old timer must have taught you to fish.


Yup, the ones with zig-zag crimped blades were the best! Many stringers full caught on yellow with black polka dots. -Mike


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## shadslinger

Lucky Luchie said:


> Yup, the ones with zig-zag crimped blades were the best! Many stringers full caught on yellow with black polka dots. -Mike


Yes sir!


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## ComeFrom?

*Question Please...*

When you guys are talking about Pet Spoons you are talking about what used to be the Tony Accetta spoons, right? The ones now made by Lurh Jensen, right? TIA - CF?


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## ronniewelsh

shadslinger said:


> A Shyster? Some old timer must have taught you to fish.


 Well SS my daddy always told me dont fix it if it aint broke!:fish:


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## ronniewelsh

ComeFrom? said:


> My Firstest lures in this world where one white, one yellow and one black shyster I carried around in a bandaide box in the early 60's. LOL! I haven't heard that word shyster in years! I don't know if they still make 'em! CF? :dance:


 Trust me they makem!
Ive got probably 10 in my box right now!


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## ronniewelsh

ronniewelsh said:


> Trust me they makem!
> Ive got probably 10 in my box right now!


 If youll look real close at my profile picture that fish is hangin from a yellow shyster!:fish:


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## hrider2001

Fished white bass for 35 years....in the creeks during the spawn, use white lead head jigs with rubber white twisty tails. In the lake, use white bomber slabs and bump'em on the bottom (unless they're schooling...then throw, retrieve at a moderate pace, and enjoy). I have switched to chartreuse when the water was off color a bit. If the water is brown...go home and enjoy some coffee...and wait till it clears...white bass feed by sight. If you can't see your lure...neither can they. Keep in mind...these fish like structure and will often congregate around "something" under there. ....could be an old roadbed, a hump, a point, anything that separates itself from the surrounding environment. Advise you take a buddy who knows, and learn from him. Good luck.


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## fishingcacher

Do white bass detect vibration and can they smell scent?


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## Mattsfishin

Whites do detect vibration. I use a small crankbait that will catch whites in cold muddy water this time of the year. I have fished the Stubblefield lake area when you could not see a lure as soon as it hit the water and caught whites in january and february.

Matt


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## fishingcacher

Mattsfishin said:


> Whites do detect vibration. I use a small crankbait that will catch whites in cold muddy water this time of the year. I have fished the Stubblefield lake area when you could not see a lure as soon as it hit the water and caught whites in january and february.
> 
> Matt


Thanks Matt. What about smell?


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## shadslinger

Right now is the perfect time to try the SS white bass mojo special, that catches fish even when the water is very muddy in the spawning time.
Someone get a sack of live crawfish and I will take my boat and we can go catch some white bass.
The trick is to peel the tail and use it on a small hook, like an Aberdeen and a split shot in a pool where there are some white bass that will not hit lures.
I would go and rake the craw fish out of the ditch myself, but I am too lazy.


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## fishingcacher

shadslinger said:


> Right now is the perfect time to try the SS white bass mojo special, that catches fish even when the water is very muddy in the spawning time.
> Someone get a sack of live crawfish and I will take my boat and we can go catch some white bass.
> The trick is to peel the tail and use it on a small hook, like an Aberdeen and a split shot in a pool where there are some white bass that will not hit lures.
> I would go and rake the craw fish out of the ditch myself, but I am too lazy.


It is funny that you should mention that as I was fishing one day and the guy on the other side was throwing a cast net to get minnows for bait. Instead of minnow he would get one crawfish and he would throw it back in the water in disgust.


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## Mattsfishin

Yes sir they do like the crawfish tails. I forgot about those until you mentioned it. They must hit them by smell because they can't see them in the muddy water.


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## shadslinger

The tails when you peel them are a bright white, but I think the fish smell/taste them in the current and home in on them.
Usually I toss it it out on light spinning tackle with a split shot and a crappie hook across the current then let the current slide it along the bottom.
The hit usually come when the line straightens out in the current like when fly fishing.


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## SwineAssassiN

ComeFrom? said:


> When you guys are talking about Pet Spoons you are talking about what used to be the Tony Accetta spoons, right? The ones now made by Lurh Jensen, right? TIA - CF?


the ones i buy say tony accetta


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## bluegill addict

Weedless 1/8 or 1/16 ounce jighead and white or chartreuse sassy shad. I got tired of losing roadrunners and have had better luck with the sassy shads. 

I used this on the Angelina River when the white bass were up in the sticks spawning.


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## juror81

I add a tube or a tail to the roadrunners to cover up the hook only and this made it weedless and less hangup losing less lures.


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## ronniewelsh

SHYSTER!
:fish:


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## SwineAssassiN

Last year I tore em up on a #13 pet spoon. Chrome with a yella tail. But this year I am having better luck with gold.


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## Major29

Medium size ratl trap. Chrome with a blue back. 90% of the time this is what I use. Troll till you get bit, then drop the trolling motor and work the area real good.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2


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## elpescador24

tandem spec-rig..........1/8 oz. or the tandem 2''grubtail...white,chartruse..yellow..silver spoons


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## fishingcacher

1/8 small curly tail white and/or yellow with 4 lb line early in the run and switch to 6 lb line when big females are present.


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## pYr8

One of the best February days we had on the Trinity was chuckin $3 silver/black crankbaits from Alco, Blaze I think they were, about 2-1/2" 4-6' divers. Ratl traps, jigs & grubs would hardly do a thing. In a few hours, 2 of us caught about 80-100 lbs of sandies, just about every cast. Just kept a dozen or 2 that were over 14". Gotta head out with a variety of lures & test til ya find the sweet spot!


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## alldaylong

_*I have caught them on tandem grubs out of Spring Creek, 1/8 oz. Roadrunners out of Sabine, Lil' Georges out of Trinity, by far the most exciting was catching them on those Lil' Georges. *_


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## koyhoward

Major29 said:


> Medium size ratl trap. Chrome with a blue back. 90% of the time this is what I use. Troll till you get bit, then drop the trolling motor and work the area real good.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2


This. Also caught a ton on a white Maribou jig.


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## seacer

I never fished for strippers before and would like to know given the month is February were should I be fishing for strippers in creeks or lake? I see the best bait is road runners


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## hrider2001

Fished whites for 30 years.....up the creeks during the spawn....I use a 1/4 oz white lead head jig with a white small rubber twisty tail....so that the tail spins during retrieval. I stress white....have tried other colors....white best by far. When they're in the lake......I bump a white slab on the bottom where they're congregated around structure....or in sand flat areas.....again....I stress white only. If you're fishing schooling whites.....I throw a slab with a trailer jig.....feel the hit of one....play it....when the second hit strikes.....oh boy....two whites at one time is a good fight. I've caught a lot of fish.....but nowadays I am strictly a "catch and release" fisherman.....occasionally I might keep a couple to give someone some fresh fish.


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## seacer

Thanks for the info Hrider, 1 other thing for strippers and using this rubber twisty tail jig should it be thrown and retrvied slow / or should I just work it by jigging it back slow? Like a crank bait?


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