I've heard that white bass are a whole lot of fun to catch this time of year and decided to see for myself. It was still dark when I pulled out of the driveway this morning to make the hour and a half trip to the Llano river, with dreams of feisty bass and a full stringer keeping me company on the long drive. I was surprised to see that the wildflowers are already blooming, and saw plenty of Indian Paintbrush and Bluebonnets on my way there.



Today was the first time I fished the Llano, and although I didn't quite know what to expect I had high hopes for a good day.




I walked up river for about a mile until I found a likely spot.



I've recently started fly fishing, and the wind was so calm this morning I had no excuse not to get in at least a few hours of practice. I like to think that my casting has improved after today's session, but I still have a lot to learn as far as fishing with a fly rod. So after a couple of hours with no bites I walked back to the car to get my trusty spinning rig.

This time I walked downstream for a couple of miles, looking for the deep pools where the white bass were supposed to be holding. In short order I caught three bluegill, one right after the other, the biggest of the bunch about the size of the palm of my hand. I moved downstream to the next hole and started pulling in redbreasts.



After three or four of those, in varying sizes, I moved down to another hole and finally caught a white bass. It looked like a small male, no more than 8 or 9 inches long. He spit the hook at my feet, then swam back to his hole with a bad case of lockjaw. I think he told all of his buddies what the deal was, because that was my first and last white bass of the day.

At this point I'd been on the river for six hours and was starting to feel like an old man, so I hiked back up stream, fishing on my way back to the car. A few miles later I could see the car and decided that old man or not, I wasn't too tired to make a few more casts.



I threw my lure across the narrow stretch of water and let the force of the current carry it down stream. The river was clear enough to see this guy smash the lure.



This was a good day to be outdoors. I didn't get the stringer full of white bass that I'd hoped for, but came home with a smile on my face anyway.

Thank you so much for sharing an informative and pleasant entertaining journey of your day.
What a real treat !!!

Awesome Post Will! Good job.

Nice fish its beautiful country out there were u fishing public or private

Thanks psalty, Chuck and Wildman for the kind words. Wildman, I was at Kingsland Slab RV, which is one of TPWDs lease access areas.
I met a couple of fly fishermen there today, they didn't do any better than I did on the white bass, but had a friend call from Colorado Bend State Park saying that they were having good luck. I almost went to Colorado Bend instead of the Llano, but decided that white bass or not, the Llano would give me an extra two hours of fishing.

Great post. Love that part of Texas. I kayaked the Llano last year. Had a blast!

Thanks Laker! I've been thinking about getting a Kayak myself, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. On the one hand I love hiking to a secluded spot and doing a little wade fishing, but on the other hand I know that a kayak will open up a lot more water for me.

Academy will usually have a sale on all their kayaks in late August. You can get a pretty good deal.

Great post. What type of lure were you using?


Side note. I fished the Llano River two weeks ago around Llano. Did well on the White Bass. They should be spawning by now.

Thanks! On the fly rod I was using a white wooly bugger, as the fly shop was out of clousers. When I switched to the spinning rod I caught a few on a black and yellow panther martin with a gold blade, then switched to a black rooster tail with a silver blade. Had the most luck on the rooster tail. It's become a real "confidence bait" for me.

Do you have any recommendations as far as make and model? Will be using it almost exclusively for fresh water.

Thank you Sir! Those Rooster Tails are a great go to lure for pan fish.

I have both a Pelican Pursuit 8' and a Heritage Angler 10'. Love them both. The Heritage sits above water which I like. It is also a little bigger than the Pelican and handles better in rough water. I usually stay off the water if conditions are bad! Acadamey carries both of these.


Side Note: There is usually a Kayak sale that takes place in Mid to late August!

Of the two, which one would you say is the most stable? I'm not the most graceful person in the world, and would rather fish than swim!

The Heritage by far is the more stable! I have only been fishing from a kayak for two years and simply love it! You can get to fish very easily. I am still learning but have a blast at the same time.