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Are the white bass smaller this year? I have been catching lots of ‘em this year but they are all smallish – average size is 5-6 inches. Are these small wb last years hatch or is the entire population stunting in size because of numbers? Years past I have consistently caught wb that were 8-10 inches long; haven’t caught one that big this year.
I did not fish the Mill Race run this year or the Provo River so wondering if there are any decent sized wb taken there? Ain’t complaining because the smaller ones make fine catfish bait. It might be because I seem to specialize in catching smaller fish.
The catching is fast and furious when there is a midge hatch in the rocks close to shore and the wb are snarfing them off of the surface... but all of the wb seem to be small. Just me, or are others catching mostly smaller wb this year? Maybe they just need a couple more months to grow?
Any thoughts or observations?
Wind go away!
BLK
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I think those 6 inch whites are a year old. From what I have read they don't grow much after 2-3 years. The older ones are the 10-12 we got most of last year. I still get about 30% of the fish being 10-12.
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Ima thinkin it is your speciality[  ] most that I caught earlier this year where of average size,
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I forgot to say I like this smaller year class. They are nicer for cat bait and they have a harder time inhaling chunks of their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents! They will be hard on this years YOY though.
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Hmmm... okay, so maybe I have been fishing in what amounts to a white bass teenage flash mob. Maybe someday I, too, will ketch a big one. Then again....
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When I was fishing the Spring and the LB Harbor after ice off most of the Whites were around 10”. Everything that I caught at the Mill Race were 6”-8”. Most of the fish I caught at Mill Race were pre spawn males. Never did hit the spawn at the right time.
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Your day will come and put us all to shame[fishon]
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I caught plenty of WB from Mill Race earlier so I have plenty. ?, how are you catching them now.
rj
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I have caught mostly small ones at the provo river inlet and every once in a while I will get a bigger one. But they do seem to be pretty small this year.
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In the last month, I have only tried for a few on the way out after cats. Last time out of Provo I got 1 on a Flicker Shad, 1 on a spinner, and 1 on a #14 bead head nymph with a bit of worm on it. All trolled about 1.5 to 2 mph. They came near the bottom, mid depth and on top.
One of my cat rods usually has a short leader about 2' above the weight with some blilng and a piece of worm. I gotten 1 or 2 on that last two times while fishing for cats.
I was mostly telling BLK that at both Lincoln and around Provo, about 1/3 of them are 10" or so and the rest are the 6" group.
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I have not caught a "big" wb this year. Attached pic is of the group that volunteered for service tomorrow morning. As can be seen, they are all juniors... longest is almost 7 inches. This size is just fine for bait; if looking for eating fillets, a little on the too small side.
I catch them by watching for midge hatches, usually in or near rocky shoreline. They bite aggressively on anything that moves through the water. A small silver spinner will produce on almost every cast. The midge hataches are sporadic and seem to occur when conditions are best. Early morning has been the best time for me to catch them.
Maybe by this fall these "juniors" will put on a few pounds.
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I've been studying the white bass for a while now and have found a couple of good sources. Fishes of Utah Lake https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/view...ntext=gbnm can be found online and is a rather exhaustive look at the history of all fish in the lake, plus specifics about each species. Its one problem is that it was published in the 70s, so some of the information is dated. However, I doubt that anything has changed much in regard to white bass growth. The studies show the following lengths-to-age:
1 yo 3.8 " 2 yo 6.5" 3 yo 8.3" 4 yo 9.8" 5 yo 11.1" 6 yo 11.5"
White bass in Oklahoma and Iowa were quite a bit longer than ours. The study says, "It appears that the lack of a suitable forage fish in Utah Lake is probably the limiting factor for growth." So, yes, our white bass are stunted. The fish in those states don't appear to live longer but they grow into the 17" range.
Brett and I fished through the ice this winter to try to get a white bass that was competitive in the ice challenge. I got an 11" and he got an 11.5". It doesn't appear that white bass here live longer than 6 years or get bigger than 11.5" (mostly).
Pisco and I caught same very little fish late last fall from the same dock at Utah Lake State Park. As I recall they were in the 4-5" range. I'm guessing that they were the young of the year.
I'm running a little low on my bait supply so if you or anyone has any that are too short or long, I'll take some[ ].
When people were reporting catching 5-6" bass at places like the Mill Race this spring I went to the mouth of the AF River and caught 7-8"ers. I'm wondering if those others may have just been eyeballing the fish and guessing the length. I just went down and measured my frozen bait fish to be sure my lengths were correct and they hadn't "grown" in the freezer.
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This morning going out of the State Park I stopped at 3 and went catfishing. 1 was 6-7", 1 was 8-9" and 1 about 10. I should have thrown a little silver spinner. Two of them hit a little bead head under a bobber, but they seemed finiky. There was so much surface activity I thought I should get tem every cast, but had to work for them.
How fast do you work the little spinner?
Here's a picture of the 10 and nymph. Sorry about the focus.
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One thing I've wondered about was the gadzillions of adults that were taken out of the springs over the winter.
I ice fished there and in the channel a few times last winter and early in the winter there were only a few under 8." Most were the 10-11 group. I know that some people took 500 or more in a day out of the springs and almost all of them were "big"
By the time I started catching them in the soft water, the smaller ones seemed to outnumber the big ones.
However, it seems unlikely that harvest in one area could affect the size over the rest of the lake.
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"However, it seems unlikely that harvest in one area could affect the size over the rest of the lake."
[#0000FF]Fish of a feather...or something like that. Most schooling fish tend to gang up with others of a similar size. Cuts down on bullying, intergroup predation and all that.
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[#0000FF]Wherever warmer flows come into Utah Lake during the cold months white bass will gather. And if the bigger ones keep others away, they are the most numerous...and get caught the most.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]There may be a dozen places around the lake that have whitey magnets (warmth) during the winter. The fish gravitate around them and for the most part the rest of the lake is empty. So those spots are where we see the happy harvesters loading up.
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[#0000FF]I have seen Utah Lake go through many up and down cycles of fish species populations. And, while I have seen years of fewer white bass, I have never seen the lake without a lot of them. Some more than others...and sometimes fish bigger than others. It's all a food chain thing. One thing is for certain, even if only two viable white bass survived...one each, male and female...the lake could be quickly repopulated when conditions were favorable.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I first fished for white bass in the early 1960s. As I recall, there was a good mix of sizes...but not nearly as many fish as there are today. In May they ran up the Provo River...most well over 12 inches. And in the fall I caught them in the lower Provo up to about 16 inches. Since then I have caught hundreds of footlongs and plenty of 13 and 14 inchers. One or two good years of high water, good spawning and abundant food and we will again be overrun with bigger fish.[/#0000FF]
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Quote:… I have never seen the lake without a lot of them.
That TD quote probably says it all. Seems like anywhere you go in UL you will have wb nearby. I have seen them all over the lake in almost every depth of water. They will try to eat any bait, even some that are bigger than they could possible swallow, and they can be a real nuisance in some situations.
I've joined the winter warm spring crowd many times just to savor the feel of a tug on the line. Catch one, shake it off, and catch another... some drop them in buckets, others drop them back in the water. Ubiquitous is the best word to describe the white bass in UL.
When they are schooled up and feeding aggressively, almost any lure movement that could be something edible will generate a quick strike. I have never found the wb all that good to eat but I know they are near the top of the catfish's menu. I see them as bait, lots of bait.
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