“It’s probably some of the hottest fishing you can do in spring,” said Garry Lucas, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks fisheries biologist for the section of the Mississippi River between Helena, Arkansas and Vicksburg. “You just run down the lake and cast out at the boat (launches) and you can catch white bass.”

In late spring, the fish also provide for some great action at night. At docks having lights, which serve to attract baitfish, white bass can be found hovering in anticipation of ambushing unaware prey. Here, a 1/8-ounce spinnerbait or small shallow-running crankbait can get the end of your line yanked quite reliably.

Throughout the northern part of Mississippi lie numerous reservoirs and sections of river excellent for finding white bass. Some of the most promising bodies of water are the flood-control lakes Enid, Grenada, Arkabutla and Sardis. Other noteworthy locations are oxbows such as Flower Lake, Horn Lake, and Tunica Cutoff, along with Whittington, DeSoto and Ferguson lakes.

But probably the heartiest action for white bass comes directly from the Mississippi River itself. Expansive and fast-moving, the river’s waters are home to some of the top white-bass angling to be had in the country. The fish here are not only plentiful but grow large as well, many running in the 2- to 3-pound range.

Rounding out the top selections in the state is Pickwick Lake, part of the Tennessee River System shared by Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. As with the Mississippi River, the fish here can be very large and the bite can be quite aggressive as well.

NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI

This portion of the state definitely has the most locations at which to catch white bass in the spring. Chief among these is the Mississippi River, reports Keith Meals, District 2 fisheries biologist for the MDWFP. In this area, the fish usually begin their annual migration upriver when the surface temperature moves from 50 to about 55 degrees. Then, once the temperature hits 60 degrees or so, the whites enter a spawning pattern, and should easily be found in any shallow area along the Big Muddy having a hard, sandy bottom on which to lay eggs. Small crankbaits, spinnerbaits and 1/8-ounce jigs are quite effective lures when fish are present here.

After the fish have spawned, look for them to move out of the backwater areas and tributaries along the Old Man River and return to the main flow itself. Here the dikes play a pivotal role in catching these fish, which orient themselves to this cover. Use small topwater baits near the dikes to see if there is any activity; if there’s nothing doing on top, use jigs and small crankbaits to draw strikes.

As good as the Mississippi River is for white bass, Meals says, the catch rate is currently on a downward cycle, owing largely to several years of high water in that portion of the state. According to the MDWFP biologist, white bass typically do better during years of low water, so the increase in the water has been a boon for crappie and largemouths, but not white bass.

“The fishing for them is up and down,” Meals noted. “Going out and getting skunked is as easy as going out and catching so many that your arms hurt.” And anglers fortunate enough to locate feeding fish here will indeed find it well worth the effort, as the white bass along the Mississippi River average better than 2 pounds each.

Another great spot for white bass action this month is Tunica Cutoff, an oxbow just west of the town of Tunica. Like many of the other oxbows along the Mississippi River, this one has multiple points, many of which have sandy bottoms. After the spawning activity’s over, look for the white bass to pull up along the points all through this lake. A savvy technique here involves trolling over the face of the points using small jigs bounced off the bottom. It’s likely that several of those jigs will be lost to snags, but the rewarding fishing you’re apt to find here makes it worthwhile.