Limiting Out On Linesides
Night Bass Fishing
Editor’s Note: Catching white bass is relatively
simple because the fish are extremely aggressive –
eating many types of smaller  fish,
including perch, bluegills, crappie and gizzard shad
besides feeding on insects and crustaceans – and
will hit a wide variety of baits. The biggest problem
involved in catching white bass is finding the fish
so anglers have a target for their casting. Since populations
of white bass fluctuate from year to year because of
the fragility of the eggs and the requirement of nearly-perfect
weather conditions for hatching, the fishing is hot
and cold. Although the white bass can be harvested heavily
wit hout
harming the fishery, the fish successfully reproduce
only every three to four years in most areas.
When you cannot find the white bass by day, let them
find you at night. Although white bass prefer deeper
water in the daytime, they travel into the shallows
at dusk for night feeding. By using a Coleman lantern,
a floating light or pier lights, anglers can lure linesides
into catching range.  One
of the best baits for night fishing for whites is the
minnow, which is a natural food of the white bass. By
either fishing a tight line or using a cork and suspending
a minnow off the bottom, anglers can have fast fishing
by starlight.
Many times minnows will turn on the fish when they
normally are turned-off. And night fishing with minnows
is not the only time the live bait is effecti ve
on the stripe. Hooking a minnow through the lips on
a jig, a spoon, a spinnerbait or crankbait also may
trigger strikes in the daytime when artificial lures
are non-productive by themselves. The minnow added to
the lure is like a piece of homemade lemon pie waiting
to be eaten by a fisherman after a full dinner. Even
though the angler knows his stomach is full, and he
shouldn’t eat the pie, he can’t let the
piece of pie sits on the plate without taking a bite,
and neither can a stripe.
Even though most states have liberal limits on linesides,
which can be easy to find and not too difficult to catch,
there are no guarantees whenever you go fishing. But
by utilizing some of these tactics this spring and summer,
you’ll increase your chances of limiting out on
linesides.
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