I was wondering if I could get a few two cents thrown in about what we were seeing at Lake Georgetown, near Camp Tejas, on Sunday. The flows were a little low and the water was stained but you could see most of the bottom of the pools from the bank. I sight-cast to some of the whites hanging along the bottom, but they didn't so much as raise an eyebrow. We ended up catching three fish, but it was only when we cast into a feeding frenzy of a school chasing minnows. There couldn't have been more than a couple dozen whites in the two fishable pools before the low water crossing, and other than us, I don't think I saw more than five fish caught by folks all day.

What do y'all think? Is the run tapering off? Did we just not get there early enough in the morning? Is Lake Georgetown just not a great place to fish? Did we miss the peak? The weekend before the water was a lot higher and the amount of whites caught by us and everyone else was at least five times as much.

I've had similar times when they wouldn't touch an artificial to save your life. Most, were at times when a hi pressure front was moving through the area. When that happens, they tend to hunker down and pay no attention to anything but live bait. A few weeks back, on the Guadalupe, I couldn't buy a bite with a million bucks. I cast netted a few dozen minnows, went back at the whites and they bit. No fast and furious, but they bit. There just happened to be a front moving through at that time as well. The week before, with no front, I killed them on white curly tails.

I have fished at Tejas many times - I grew up in Georgetown and spent many of my spring breaks there. Those fish are the hardest white bass to catch out of any place I've ever targeted them. There were countless trips just like the one you described. With the crystal clear water, they are extremely skittish. If you can see them, they can also see you. While wrknonit offers great advice, sometimes those fish won't even hit live bait. I think they can see the hook...and the split shot...and the line. The best trips out there were when the water was higher, like you mentioned.

It has been over a decade ago but fished the upper end of Georgetown many times. Seems like the live bait guys always caught more than me, mostly on minnows with 6-8 lb test line. I've seen them headed upstream looking like a national geographic show, shoulder to shoulder with 1/2 of the fish exposed above water level, dozens of them pushing through the skinny water. When water level is low enough they couldn't get over low water crossing and would stack up just below it. Not sure what water levels are now, but evidently some have gotten above it. Clear water fish are usually harder to catch, no matter where you're at. White or yellow rooster-tails and small beetle-spins are what I did best on, never did pack minnows.

if you can see the fish then they can see you. The fish are very vulnerable in clear low water and they know it. The only consistent catching under those conditions is in low light or at night from what I have heard. I don't fish for whitebass at night but I know a few guys that do and they do catch fish when the day-timers do not. The only thing I've done that seemed to help was run a long leader, downsize my fly (#10 or smaller) and fish slow on the bottom. Highly pressured fish don't bite and I know that area from fishing it in the 90's and I'll bet there are fishermen crawling all over it now spooking everything that swims. You need good flows and slightly stained water with a lot of luck with the timing of the run and when you can fish it.

Please be careful when keeping white bass caught anyplace on Lake Georgetown. The lake has a large population of hybrid stripers also. White Bass and hybrids are easy to identify when you can compare them side to side. Follow the Parks and Wildlife identification guide and you will be fine. Right now I catch about 5 undersized hybrids to one legal white bass. There is also a slot limit for black bass on Lake Georgetown. I live about 10 Minutes from Cedar Breaks boat ramp. Be safe and have fun out there. Lake Georgetown does safety checks by the park rangers and by Texas Game Wardens.

Thanks for the input, guys.

@ifishlbj I was checking the tongues, and they all checked out. It always seemed tricksy to me, stocking hybrids in a lake with a lot of whites.

Sorry about the double post. Don't give up on the spawning fish yet. Last year, I caught female white bass with eggs intact on GT well into April. They don't all spawn on the same day or the same week.

I have had a hard time distinguishing myself. I fish granger for whites mostly and will find some whites with some broken lines. Yet there is no hybrid population on granger. I was fishing Georgetown this last week and was able to get 15 whites on each trip, this week was very different though. I was reading the river at 75 degrees and managed just 2 whites in slightly deeper water.

I was wondering though if you know the lake well enough if you could give me some advice on how and where to get into some hybrids (I dont believe I have ever caught a hybrid before)

The last time I was on Lake GT I was catching 5 undersize hybrids to one legal white bass. I was fishing in the area where the standing trees start in the river channel. All the hybrids were 14 inches. When you catch a hybrid you will know it's a hybrid before you see it because they fight much harder and stay deeper than white bass. I flat line troll small crank baits that are advertised to dive 6-10 feet deep. Color doesn't make much difference. When it's not too windy I fish some with a slab spoon. I don't know for sure but some of those hybrids from Lake GT could have made it all the way to Granger over time. There was a lot of high water on the San Gabriel River last year and most of it comes from Lake GT. Hope this helps some, Curry3pts.