BASS, WHITE
The White Bass is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. White Bass are carnivores. They have four main taxa in their diet: calanoid copepods, cyclopoid copepods, daphnia, and leptodora. White Bass inhabit large reservoirs and rivers. When mating in the spring, they are more often found in shallow rivers, creeks, and streams. Morone is of unknown derivation. The species epithet chrysops is Greek meaning "golden eye."
The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white sides and belly, and with narrow dark stripes running lengthwise on its sides. It has large, rough scales and two dorsal fins. The more anterior dorsal fin is much harder and appears to have spines on them. Although these are not true spines, this type of fin is called a spinous ray. The more posterior of the two dorsal fins is much softer, and is thus called a soft-ray. Because the vertebrae do not extend into the tail, the White Bass has what is called a homocercal tail. The body is deep and compressed laterally. Most grow to a length between 10 and 12 inches(25-30cm), though they can reach 17 inches(43cm) or more. Because the dorsal and ventral portions of the its tail angle inward toward a point to create a clear angle, the tail is said to be notched.
The record size for White Bass caught on fishing tackle is six pounds and 13 oz (3.09 kg) shared by fish caught in 1989 in Orange Lake, Orange, Virginia, and in 2010 in Amite River, Louisiana.
In the winter small spoons jigged near the bottom work well. A live minnow like a shiner or threadfin shad will also catch White Bass. In the spring you can troll with small spoons like the Binks. Small spinners like Mepps work well also. They will also eat small jigs like bucktails. Fishing under bridges day and night is a good tactic in the spring and summer. During the summer small topwater baits like a Tiny Torpedo cast to surface activity is a good way to catch them. Small spoons, spinners and jigs work well also. One good way to catch them is to attach a small floating fly behind a popping cork. You can cast it a long way and the little bait attracts the fish. Light spinning or spin cast tackle works well for throwing the small lures needed to hook them, and light line in the six to eight pound(3-4kg) range is best. The light tackle also lets the strong pulling White Bass to put up a good fight for anglers. They are good to eat but have a red stripe of meat that is very strong flavored.
International
White Bass are distributed widely across the United States, particularly in the midwest. They are very abundant in Pennsylvania and the area around Lake Erie. Some native ranges of the White Bass are the Arkansas River, Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio, and Lake Poinsett in South Dakota; they are abundant in the Winnebago lakes system of Wisconsin; and they are also very abundant in Oklahoma. White Bass have also been found in rivers that flow to the Mississippi. Native to many northern habitats, they have been introduced in many different waters around the United States, particularly in southern locations. They were also successfully introduced to Manitoba starting in the 1960s, where they have gained importance as a sport fish.