White and hybrid bass are commonly found in large schools and are usually feed actively. The best white bass lures should be small in size and easy to cast. Hybrid bass is a mix of striped bass and white bass. Many anglers target the white bass fish species because they tend to eat aggressively near the surface, making them easy to catch. White bass prefers river systems or larger lakes and primarily love feeding on bait as they mature. Even though hybrid bass is larger than white bass, you can use the same artificial lures on fishing for both fish types.
Why Target White Bass?
White bass is popular throughout the United States, especially in the Great Lakes and the Midwest. In the last few decades, the white bass has been introduced to many southern states. Most white bass will weigh 1-4 pounds, while a hybrid bass can weigh up to 20 pounds. White bass is schooling fish that are constantly moving and searching for food. Fishing for white bass is a great way to catch them if you find good bait.
If you have the right white bass fishing lures, you can go fishing for the white bass with friends, workmates, or family members. White bass prefers shallow waters and hangs out near weed edges where smaller fish may be found. Use a small fly or a small popper to catch small white bass or other panfish by fishing the shallow edges of weed beds.
Since the white bass like schooling, you can be sure there are several of them around an area you just caught one. Fan out all the time, and keep targeting the nearby locations until you spot them. This article, white bass buying guide, will teach you everything you need to know about these white bass lures, along with a list of our top five picks to choose from.
Top Five White Bass Lures
Here are our top picks for white bass fishing lures:
1. Acme Kastmaster spoon
This spoon from Acme is the perfect fishing tool for white and hybrid bass fishing. It’s the first on our list of the top five white bass lures. Kastmaster is a slender spoon with a unique action that casts well and produces abundant results. It can be effectively used in all kinds of waters, from vertical jigging to breaking fish.
The spoons come in many sizes, but the 1/8-ounce and 14-ounce options are the most popular for fishing for white bass. The lure has chrome, and gold split finishes perfect for attracting the white bass. Kastmaster’s unique balance produces wild action without twisting your fishing line.
Moreover, the lure has an aerodynamic design and is the master distance caster. In other words, the white bass lure can catch fish ranging from big trout to stripers in fresh and salt water.
Features
- Measures
- 5.86 x 2.59 x 0.66 inches
- Weighs 1 Ounce
- Chrome/gold finish
Pros
Appealing chrome and gold split finishes
Effective aerodynamic design
Light-weight
One Year Warranty
Cons
It May work best for Trout than White Bass
2. Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap Tiny Trap
Fishing in dark or dirty water? You’ll have tons of fun if you bait the fish with bright-colored lures that appear realistic. There are lots of dark and chrome baitfish colors, such as The Bill Lewis Tiny Trap, that attract anglers in low light conditions. This lure vibrates and rattles when they are retrieved from the water. This is an excellent example of a non-lipped crankbait. Do you want to be sure that the water in your local lake is as clear as the first spring day? Deep water? Shallow water? We have an excellent solution for you. Rat-L-Traps work great in both conditions. It’s still great fun to fish baitfish in shallow water. Tiny traps are the third-best bait for white bass.
Fish slow and slam them down with a simple cast and crank technique or just let them sink and burn them back across structures to create tons of deflections. Fishing from deep water works great for floating on the bottom, too. They make excellent search baits and can be easily trolled.
Features
- Ayu in color
- 1/2 oz. in size
- Made from Blend
- Measures 4.25 x 1.8 x 0.75 inches
- Unisex-adult users
Pros
It comes with an artificial-fishing-bait
This is a lipless crankbait
The tiny size that perfect for white bass
It’s great for blind casting near the surface
Cons
Not that cheap compared to other options
3. Berkley PowerBait Soft Bait
PowerBait is the secret weapon that makes good and great anglers great when in action! Berkley scientists have spent more than 25 years perfecting the scent and taste of PowerBait to attract fish. White bass love PowerBait so much that they will stay with it for a very long time, giving you the time and confidence to catch more fish.
PowerBait soft baits are as good as it gets for baiting minnows. White bass are insatiable feeders who love fodder, and they will feed on any bait that you give them. That makes the minnow PowerBait perfect for all your white bass fishing outings in all seasons.
Features
- Measures 6.73 x 4.84 x 0.51 inches
- Made from plastic
- Weighs 0.07 Kilograms
- Has manufacturer warranty
- Unisex-adult users
- PowerBait Grass style
- Spinning, casting fishing technique
Pros
Irresistible body and wig design
Available in HD Tru Color
It has a newer Bobby Lane style
Very versatile
Cons
Not very suitable for beginners
4. Blakemore Road Runner lure
The Road Runner from Blakemore is a great lure for fishing for white bass. This is like a spinner and jig in one. It’s a great fishing lure for any water and fish. Road Runner lures are compact and lightweight. They easily hook fish and are very easy to cast. It is best to use white bass lures that are 1/8 ounce and 1/4 ounce in size. White, pink, and chartreuse are the top colors for this particular lure. The white bass lure works great when casting to break fish, when you are fishing on underwater structures, points, or when fishing near a dam.
Features
- Measures 3.5 x 2.7 x 0.5 inches
- Red in color
- Weighs 0.03 Pounds
- Great with Panfish and White Bass
Pros
One year warranty
Best even in underwater structures
Great for casting fishing technique
Compact
Lightweight
Cons
Not great for spinning
5. Mann’s Little George
Mann’s Little George is an old-school white bass that legendary anglers have tested and tried out for decades. It’s been around for a long time. Renowned angler Tom Mann designed it. Little George white bass lures are powerful and very compact, so they can be cast far. It’s a terrific lure for busting big white bass fish, particularly when the fish are a little spooky. It is very effective in a vertical presentation when the bass are nested deep under some structure. Even
Little George is one of the oldest bass lures on the market today, and they still work just as well as they did when they were first introduced. It is one of the best baits to catch big-game white bass. The Mann’s Little George is an old-school bait that has been around a long time.
Features
- Measures 2.3 x 1.6 x 0.5 inches
- Weighs 0.35 Pounds
- Chartreuse in color
- 1/2 oz. in size
Pros
One of the oldest in the market
Great for schooling fish like white bass
Superior action
Effective vertical presentation
Cons
Not easy to use for new anglers
Buyer’s Guide for the Best White Bass Lures
Fishing for bass is overwhelming since there are thousands of lures to choose from. Knowing how to select the right lure can help you avoid wasting time and money. The more you know about bass behaviors, the more effective you will be when choosing the right fishing lure. Many bass pros put less importance on the lure color than on many other factors. It’s more important to know the mood and location of the fish so that you can choose an effective bait.
Fishing lures come in every color and combination of colors. It is hard for fishers to know which lure colors to tie. Some colors are better than others in certain circumstances. Here are some basic guidelines that fishing professionals use when choosing a white bass lure, depending on a wide range of conditions and locations.
Pick Colored Lures
It’s very important to use bright lures when it’s muddy or foggy; using more subtle colors in clear water is good. It’s not easy for fish to see through the sludge, but colors like bright yellow and bright orange are easier to see than things like bone or smoke. However, if the water is clear and fish can see what you’re trying to lure them, it’s best to stick with softer, more natural colors.
For example, when visibility is poor by about a foot or less, many experienced anglers prefer using a lure that has a fire tiger pattern or a lure with a yellow belly and a bright tail that attracts.
But, in clear water, white or white/blue lures are preferred. That includes crankbaits in chrome or in various natural finishes such as fish, shad, sunfish, etc. It’s the same principle that applies to soft plastic baits like worms, lizards, tubes, and grubs.
Dense colors and bright colors on worms are often the best way to catch a fish in dingy water; worms that have two colors on their tails will look more attractive to fish. Sometimes, worms that are shaped like grapes or are made from colored plastics — black or blue baits with red or orange tails — work best in dingy water.
However, while some anglers feel that using bright colors on lures will lure white bass into a rocky area, others feel the lighter colors will be more attractive and effective. Favorite lure colors for such situations include pumpkinseed, strawberry, and smoke. Sometimes, tiny pieces of metal flake can be added to some see-through worms to give them even more attractiveness to the white bass. This means that translucent, lighter colors work best in clear water conditions.
Making Lure Adjustments
When choosing a lure color, it is important to consider water clarity, the type of lure used, and the target fish species. Fishing for crawfish is popular in the springtime on many southern lakes, so a lure with a crawfish pattern on it or a jig-and-pig that looks like a crawfish is a natural choice.
White bass is also attracted to small bluegills in the post-spawn period. Therefore, lures that look like sunfish are good options. Using a shad-colored lure is a reasonable choice for white bass that is actively feeding on shad in the summer or actively hunting it in a bay in the fall. Two conditions call for colored lures: night fishing and topwater fishing.
Most night fishing tackle fishers prefer using dark-colored lures like black or blue. Experts believe that dark lures provide a more distinctive profile to catch fish because the fish can tell that it is their own reflection when placed against a white water surface. White bass easily see and strike a dark lure at night and will likely strike it more accurately than a lighter lure.
Topwater lure specialists prefer light-colored baits when conditions are good and dark-colored baits when visibility is poor. They, however, note that a surface lure’s ability to act and make noise when it is thrown on a fish is more important than its color. It’s critical to know when to adjust your white bass lures to get it right every time you are out fishing this species.
There are no specific rules to guide you in deciding the lure colors for catching white bass. It’s more to do with being confident in the choice you make based on what you know about the lures than anything else.
This is what experienced anglers do. They know what colors work in which water conditions, and when they encounter them, they can easily determine which color will work best. Fishing professionals limit themselves to a few colors of worms, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, etc. So they can avoid confusion and spend more time fishing for bass rather than wandering through the tackle box searching for the right lure color.
Beginners or those new to the activity should follow the guidelines above and try experimenting with different colors and combinations to find out which ones work best for their needs. They should keep only a few lure colors in their fishing tackle boxes, and they shouldn’t keep thinking about the dozens of lure colors that they don’t have. They know which colors work best for each water situation, and when they encounter a certain situation, they can tie on a lure that works for that particular situation.
Ways Of Choosing The Perfect Color
Bass fishing lures come in all kinds of crazy colors and combinations because the white bass loves these somewhat weird colors. White bass can be attracted to hues such as Chaos, Roadkill, Scuppernong, and Foxy Momma, which you won’t find in ordinary crayons. They may seem random, but there is a very good reason that these colors and weird combinations of colors exist. The most critical considerations to keep in mind when choosing a fishing lure color are the time you plan to go fishing, the day’s weather, and the clarity of the water. Follow these crucial rules when making your decision:
- Rule one: Try out natural, light-colored lures in clear water or when it’s sunny. White bass or hybrid bass have very sharp vision, and because of this, they are able to see most of the same colors that we can see. In clear water and on bright, sunny days, a white bass lure that looks like a natural colored shad that resembles the forage that bass are eating may trick them into biting.
- Rule 2: Try out very bright or very dark white bass lures for very dirty water or during cloudy days. Tie on a brightly colored white lure in dark waters or on a day when the water is muddy to increase visibility, or tie on a very dark lure in a very dark color for maximum visibility. It is best to use soft plastic lures that are both black and blue; a chartreuse Glow Blade spinnerbait will also be effective.
In dark or muddy water and on overcast days, tie on a brightly colored lure to increase visibility or use a very dark solid color to maximize profile visibility. For hard baits, bright chartreuse, green, or dark, solid-colored lures will perform well.
- Rule 3: Native forage patterns and Local baitfish are the best colors for bait bass. Using lures that mimic the various baitfish commonly found in your fishing area is crucial. White bass is often attracted to golden shiner, gizzard shad, and threadfin shad. You can lure the white bass in with chrome-shad-colored bass lures of various designs. Spinnerbaits that have several blades work well to imitate small baitfish.
- Rule 4: Try something new. Sometimes, it is very difficult to learn something new, but you should always be adventurous when it comes to fishing for white bass.
FAQs
What are the best white bass lures for winter river fishing?
It all depends on the water temperatures, conditions, and depth of the water. You can use dark baits in very murky water and light-colored baits in very clear water. You’ll find that fast retrieval is great in clear water and that it is very noisy and erratic in murky water. Brown Texas rigged worms/lizards fished very shallow into deep channels will be devastating to big white bass, as is the case with green or orange double-bladed spinnerbaits when fished in shallow to medium water. Topwater frogs, brown or green, in areas where there are lilies and grasses, are excellent for catching big white bass.
Can I use white lures to catch white bass?
If you have fish that feeds on white baitfish, try using lures that look like their natural colors. It is best to use black and blue lures in winter to attract small fish. A white and chartreuse Glow Blade bait will also work.
What is the best time of day to catch white bass?
White bass generally feeds at various times during the day. White bass eats baitfish and shad throughout the day and at night. Therefore, peak fishing activity will be early in the morning before dawn and later in the evening when the fish are at their most active. Fishing for white bass during the nighttime is very productive. Target areas that are illuminated by lights and have strong structures, such as bridges and docks.
Conclusion
Most people are used to targeting largemouth and smallmouth bass, but we’d encourage you to try catching a few white basses the next time you go on a fishing trip. White bass requires simple lures and is a great target for beginners because once you find them, the action keeps going non-stop. Try a few of the white bass lures we provided in this article to catch some nice white bass. Keep your eyes peeled for the fish’s habitat and bait.