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This is the second installment of the “Spring Fishing Frenzy" series of articles, detailing productive fishing techniques and opportunities across Kentucky. These articles will appear on the second and fourth Thursday of the month. The series will continue until early summer.
Looking back at old photos from the 1950s and 1960s in Happy Hunting Ground magazine, the precursor of Kentucky Afield magazine, you see old Ford and Chevy trucks with huge white walled tires, stepside beds and rounded features parked on the shoulders of KY 52 between Danville and Lancaster on both sides of the Dix River Bridge.
Anglers lined the bank of the Dix River in Rankin Bottoms in Herrington Lake’s extreme headwaters, casting minnows suspended under brown cork bobbers with metal fishing rods and catching fat white bass after fat white bass.
The redbud trees are beginning to pop in Kentucky and the white bass runs are upon us. Fishing for white bass in spring has a long and storied history in Kentucky and the next several weeks will provide fantastic fishing.
White bass runs typically peak in April in Kentucky. The Salt River above Taylorsville Lake, the headwaters of Herrington Lake and the upper portions of Nolin River Lake all offer excellent white bass fishing during the spring spawning runs.
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I’ve fished the runs the last 8 years and there is no definite schedule," said Chace Wallen, information center supervisor for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. "When night time lows stay above 50 degrees consistently for three or four days, that is when we’ve done best. There is no science to it. You have to play the weather and you have to play the water temperature. You have to scout and you have to put the time in and fish.
The white bass fishery in Herrington Lake earned a "good" rating in the 2021 Fishing Forecast with good numbers of 13- to 15-inch fish. Herrington offers anglers a good chance at a trophy white bass longer than 16 inches. Angler reports say the white bass run into Dix River hasn’t really taken off yet.
Boating anglers targeting white bass in Herrington may launch at Bryant’s Camp Boat Ramp and continue upstream until the lake returns to the rocky pool and riffle of the Dix River. They may encounter white bass anywhere in this stretch.
Bank anglers may access excellent bank fishing in Rankin Bottoms via the Rankin Bottoms Voluntary Public Access Area (VPA) near the KY 52 Bridge over Dix River between Lancaster and Danville, the area of the storied white bass fishing in past decades. The access is at the end of Rankin Road.
White bass showed up in Taylorsville Lake in the early 1990s. They didn’t appear in the early years of the lake, but now they make one of the strongest spring runs in Kentucky up into the Salt River above the lake.
I don’t think the peak has happened yet at Taylorsville, and with this current cold weather, it will put them off until at least next week," Wallen explained." On March 21, I caught some white bass in the Salt River, but that was pre-run. The temperatures projected near 80 next week may allow for a run.
Boating anglers after Taylorsville Lake white bass may launch at the Van Buren Boat Ramp and continue upstream and into the Salt River. Bank anglers may access the Salt River on River Road, via Palmer Road and Pleasant Grove Ridge Road. River Road closes to vehicle access for the spring turkey season, which opens this year on April 17. After the spring turkey season opening, anglers may park at the lot on Palmer Road and walk-in to fish the Salt River.
Anglers may also access the river at the KY 248 Bridge. These access points lie inside Taylorsville Lake Wildlife Management Area.
The spring white bass run into the headwaters of Nolin River Lake is arguably the best in Kentucky. The white bass fishery in Nolin River Lake earned an "excellent" rating in the 2021 Fishing Forecast. The lake holds high numbers of 11- to 14-inch fish.
The Kentucky Afield television show filmed a segment earlier in March on white bass fishing the Nolin River in the lake’s headwaters that will air this weekend. The Kentucky Afield television show airs on KET 1 Saturdays at 8:30 EDT and on Sundays at 4:30 EDT. You may also watch episodes of the show on the Kentucky Afield YouTube channel.
We fished from Bacon Creek to just below the bridge at Broad Ford and we caught a few here and a few there and ended up with 10 fish," said Chase Wininger, executive producer of the Kentucky Afield show. "We caught them on sheer drops. They wanted deep water and little current that day.
Wininger said Kentucky Afield host Chad Miles believes this run will peak in early April.
Anglers may bank fish the Nolin River at the Broad Ford Bridge on KY 1214. Boaters venturing upstream of the Bacon Creek Boat Ramp must tread carefully as Nolin River Lake quickly becomes the Nolin River, full of rocks, riffles and shallow shoals.
Other waters in Kentucky offer productive spring white bass fishing. They congregate in spring below locks and dams on the Kentucky River with some fish up to 12 inches long. They also show up below locks and dams on the lower sections of Green River in March through May. Other Green River white bass hotspots are the mouths of tributaries on the river, especially the mouth of Pond River on the border of Hopkins and McLean counties.
The white bass in Fishtrap Lake in Pike County earned an "excellent" rating in the 2021 Fishing Forecast. They run in spring up into the Levisa Fork around the Lick Creek boat ramp. The tailwaters of Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley also have good spring white bass fishing with excellent bank fishing access.
When white bass make their spring spawning runs and show up in numbers, the fishing can be practically non-stop. This is the reason for the enduring popularity of spring white bass fishing for generations of Kentuckians.
White bass at times churn the water surface when they get into the "jumps" and gorge on baitfish during the spring runs. Any lure cast into this frothy water is immediately crushed.
White bass hit small topwaters such as shad-colored propeller baits, chuggers and popping baits. When they are not breaking the surface, fish small silver casting spoons and white or chartreuse in-line spinners.
The most reliable and versatile lure is an old standby: a white 3-inch curly-tailed grub rigged on a 1/8-ounce leadhead. When you encounter a school of marauding white bass, work the grub near the surface first. If no fish strike, let the lure sink a few feet before retrieving.
A 1/32 or 1/16-ounce feather jig often used for panfish suspended under a bobber works well at times for white bass. Color combinations of black and white, chartreuse and white, and pink and chartreuse draw strikes.
If you love chasing white bass, you could hit Nolin River and you could hit the Salt River a week later and hit the Dix River after that," Wininger said.
The white bass runs are at our doorstep. Get out in the next few weeks and enjoy this Kentucky tradition.