Page 16 of Western Kentucky Fish Species by Kentucky's Western Waterland

white bass morone chrysops also called stripes sand bass striped bass bar fish streaker distribution large streams and rivers most major lakes description a silvery fish with several dark horizontal stripes along its sides the two dorsal fins are separated often confused with smaller striped bass hybrid striped bass and yellow bass see descriptions three anal spines are graduated in length there is generally a single patch of teeth on the base of the tongue white bass seldom grow beyond 15 inches in length habits white bass run upstream to spawn when water temperatures reach 50-55 degrees in the spring there is no parental care of the young and adults migrate downstream to deeper sections following spawning they are schooling fish and often chase schools of shad near the surface they congregate below dams on larger rivers during the early spring fishing white bass are excellent fighting fish especially on light tackle they are good to eat if the red meat is removed from the fillet minnows are the best natural bait artificial lures include spoons spinners jigs flies and small shad-like crankbaits casting topwater lures into jumps fish feeding on bait fish near the surface is the most exciting fishing however trolling over schools may be equally effective a popular method on lakes is fishing at night under lights with minnows small jigs or spoons.

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