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Anglers are becoming more and more reliant on artificial baits and attracting substances. But it is important to keep in mind that their actual food is the best attractor for them. And fishing whit live bait is the most natural way of getting attention of the fish. Especially white bass baits are the most impactful elements you can ever cast for a fish. But again over time anglers are having more interest in artificial white bass baits. And that also make sense, if one can trick the fish with some plastic lures it might be easier to have them. In this article we will share with you some of the best white bass baits that will catch you a ton of fish.
One thing really important for most anglers to keep in mind is the limits of baits for white bass. In short there are no limits for types of artificial or live baits for white bass.
There are literally hundreds of different shapes, colors and sizes that you can pick from. And there are so many that works great for white bass. So there is no set limit for white white bass baits that you can give a try and see how it performs in the water.
We will discuss some of the most impactful substances from live baits and artificial bait substances that could possibly attract the fish for you.
White bass can go for anything that seems food to them. From small crank bait to a giant shad live bait it will eat every thing it finds as food. For me its all about learning new stuff everyday
Live White bass baits
As white bass is a predator it never stops eating, even some people name it “the eating machine”. This eating machine loves live baits as they seems actual food to them. Live baits trick white bass quite easily as they are parts of their routinely diet.
Baits like minnows, small shad/shiner, hellgrammites and bluegill are among the best live baits for white bass. It will also eat nightcrawlers, crawfish and frogs sometimes.
Among the live baits there are several that are the perfect matches for the fish. We have some of the top live baits for white bass that will work amazing for white bass in almost any condition. Below we have shared each of these baits in details and the conditions it will work better.
Another important thing before using live white bass baits is that you should be complying with your local rules about it.
Minnows
As always minnows stays at top of the list as a great bait for white bass as well. White bass love minnows and attack instantly if the fish find some in the waters. So when anglers present minnows as a live bait at their hook it heavily tricks the fish. It attacks instantly and tries to make minnow its food but it get hooked most of the times.
Using minnows can be very successful live bait in lakes and rivers. But it is not the only option as there are more baits as well that will work as good as minnows.
Shad/shiner white bass baits
As a species having good similarity with minnows shad or shiners also makes it to top of the list. They are no exception for white bass predator habitat, the instant attacks seems that shad entirely tricks white bass. You can even use smaller pieces of shiners if you feel that the bait size is larger than white bass or you expect the fish at your spot smaller.
Near their safe homes in the water shiners are great and impactful live bait for white bass. It can also help to locate the white bass if you thread larger pieces at the hook. However after locating the fish will work better in the area where the fish live or spawn.
Hellgrammites
In the mean time when bass eat maximum size flies as well as they eat their larvae. As others hellgrammites are also larvae of larger flies which is why their size varies from time to time. If you find decent size hellgrammites you will have no better option than using hellgrammites as your live bait. Ranging from 1 to 3 inch these are decent baits for white bass and the fish will love them.
One mistake many people make threading or hooking the bait for white bass is very common. You should turn around and thread again and again the bait on the hook until it finishes. Otherwise its very easy for any fish to steal a hanging worm from a hook and the angler would not even notice it.
Bluegill bait for white bass
As for all types of catfish bluegills are among the best baits. Same here for all types of bass, bluegill is a great food source and part of food. Including white bass bluegill or pieces of it are loved mostly by larger predator fish. While fishing for white bass it is great to use bluegills as an option. But these probably comes after worms, minnows and larvae.
There is great trend of hooking bluegill at a spot near the dock where you can expect decent size fish. But if you expect the fish size to be smaller you can also present it in pieces.
Other live baits
Almost every swimming fish is in love with all types of worms when it comes to live bait. There are several types of worms you can include in this category. However we will discuss one of them “nightcrawlers”, which work as fine as other types of worms for all types of fish. Worms are so common type of bait for white bass that we don’t even mention it because they are obvious.
Other types of bait like crawfish, frogs and worms are also good to go with.
Again as the white bass is a predator fish there is no limit of live baits for white bass. You can use whatever you consider as food for them, even the fish is sometimes called eating machine which never stops eating. So if you are successful finding the right spot and the place to cast at the spot. You are pretty much successful catching them with bait.
White bass power baits
When it comes to the manufactured substances names as baits/power baits. They really aren’t that great white bass baits. Although white bass falls in the category of “power bait eaters” it doesn’t mean power baits are the best for them. They might help in someway sometimes or if you get lucky over it you might find a matching power bait for your fishing spot.
Gulp minnows works better than others due to its shape but we still prefer using live bait or artificial lures.
Artificial baits
You can read our full article on artificial lures and jigs for white bass which you can read here.
Here is an overview of the artificial baits that anglers have been using and suggesting for long time.
For rivers with medium flow many anglers use inline spinners that matches the size of fish. It is very important to locate and predict the fish size. After locating them using an inline spinner bait you will have many hits as white bass are tricked many times with it.
Crank baits is the second most successful option for both lakes and rivers and even small streams. A local angler has caught roughly a hundred white bass with lipless crank bait in one day which is insane. It is not the only example, crank baits have been the powerful weapon of white bass anglers.
If you really want to try another thing after all these incredible options then you should go for rooster tail. Many anglers have been reporting good bites on rooster tails. But no specific color or size of the bait is necessary. It is all about testing a few of them until you find the right choice for your fishing spot.
