Grand Lake White Bass / Sand Bass
Today, was our first white bass trip on the main lake at Grand this year. When they come back from spawning they feed very heavily on shad and that’s what they are doing right now. It will only get better as more fish return from their annual run up our creeks and rivers to spawn.
We caught our fish on two different patterns, but the same water depths, 14-18ft, for each pattern. Our first area, was a ridge they were running up and down feeding. We caught about a dozen good fish there, but the action never really got good. They were moving too fast and it was hard to stay on the fish. That’s the problem with fishing ridges, unless it’s a giant school. The second pattern was a rock pile hump in the lake. It peaks at about 14 foot deep. The fish move in packs surrounding the shad and working them up the hump. When the wind picked up it was fast and furious action for about an hour. Multiple doubles were caught today fishing in the wind. We use a slab and fly tied above. You can get them from FleFly.com or area tackle stores.
There are three primary methods we use to work the slab. One-drop down to the bottom and jig up, dropping it back down. Most hits will occur on the fall. Two-cast it out and hop it off the bottom. Three-cast out and work it at the desired area of the water column if the fish are suspended or feeding on the top.
Today, was the first day using the 7′ medium action High Standard rods from FleFly. I’ve got to say, they are the best slabbing rod I’ve used, very light and I can feel all the action of the lure. We use 20 pound braid with a 14 pound fluorocarbon leader tied with a uni-uni knot. The leader is less visible and more abrasion resistant. White bass have sharp gill plates and will cut the braid.
Water temp was 68-70 degrees and chartreuse/white and white/silver were the colors we used. Grand Lake white bass action will just get better!!!
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