"They're about as cooperative as any sport fish and I catch a lot of them while not even trying," said noted Mississippi guide Roger Gant.

Since he divides his working time between Pickwick and Sardis lakes most years, he affirms the large number of white bass in both of these lakes.

"Some days they become downright pesky, not giving the crappie that my clients want a chance to get to a jig or jig-and-minnow combination," he added.

In terms of where to go this month for the hottest white bass action, a simple answer would be just about any major waterhole in the Magnolia State. Besides the two lakes mentioned above, anglers can head for Enid, Grenada, Arkabutla, or any of the oxbow lakes along the Mississippi River. If that list doesn't include enough space to suit you the Big Muddy itself has tremendous "stripe" runs, especially from Vicksburg northward.

Since white bass tend to head up the current before spawning it is a natural fact that you find them concentrated near any dam of even moderate size. That does not mean that they are all right there in the swift stuff. But during the pre-spawn period and after the spawn, you can bet that enough are on hand around the concrete faces and wing walls to provide you with a fine mess of fillets.

These fish also turn up around creek mouths just about anywhere. On a couple of memorable occasions I have bumped into them well upstream in a feeder creek, instead of the black bass that should have been there in the early spring to take advantage of warmer water temperatures. Whites are not bashful about hanging around in what looks like black bass cover if the bottom is sand or sand and gravel, which is their favored spawning terrain.

When it comes to catching springtime white bass, there are a few options. In my part of the country, there are still quite a few anglers who start dragging crawfish over sandy-bottomed river stretches while wearing enough clothing to look like multi-colored blimps. By May, the craws still work, but artificial lures are just as good and much easier to find and use. They also don't smell as bad as dead mudbugs after they've been in your boat for a few days!

Leadhead jigs have long been the springtime artificial lure of choice. Many years back, I helped my dad, granddad and cousin mold and tie bucktail jigs and am happy to report that, if you enjoy making your own, they still work just fine.

If possible, get leadheads with bigger hooks than the dinky ones used in most "grub" jigs. Other finny denizens than white bass gobble jigs, and a healthy black bass, striper or hybrid is very likely to straighten anything smaller than a quality 1/0 hook. I use a 2/0 hook that costs a little more than the cheap kind, but provides insurance against heartbreak.