Where the White Bass Wait

A quirk of nature keeps the Lake Pleasant white bass population in check, allowing individuals to grow to lunker size. Some anglers feel that this desert reservoir will one day be the scene of a new world's record white bass catch.

Photos by James Tallon

Text continued from page 14 fish-out such a prolific species. A single female may spawn as many as one-million eggs. On being enlightened, the caller admitted he had boated more than 90 fish. The apparent white bass bust had become a bonanza.

Lake Pleasant became instantly known not only for fantastic numbers of white bass and their easy catchability but eyebrow-raising size. Far and above they exceeded the national dimensions average. In places like Texas, for example, where everything is reputed to be big, white bass tend to be quite small. Much the same goes for reservoirs in the Midwest and South.

It takes a biologist or one biologically inclined to untie a gordian knot like this one. Al Essbach, fisheries chief at the AG&F, simplified it: Although white bass prefer big, clear-water reservoirs, they need moving water to reproduce. Wave action or current influences hatching of the eggs. In the non-Arizonan white bass premises spoken of earlier, most have dependable sources of replenishment. Some year-round. And that translates to a successful white bass spawn almost annually. Although that seems like the way to go, it is damning for white bass. Even though some years only one fish in 25,000 lives to the ripe old age of one, the overall result is to overload reservoirs with them. End result? The lack of growing space and insufficient food supply creates vast populations of Stunted individuals. Fishing for white bass in such a reservoir equates excitement evoked while watching paint dry.

The Lake Pleasant white bass pheno-menon, then, exists a clue was given at the beginning of this story, because of intermittent stream flow. The Agua Fria is a come-and-go river. Instead of an annual or near-annual reproduction, two, three or more rounds of seasons may pass before the river is wet enough to allow a white bass spawn. This quirk of Southwestern Nature keeps Lake Pleasant white bass populations in check and lets individuals within them get big.

How big?

In the spring of 1970, Essbach and a few helpers, using rods and reels like any fishermen might, caught 160 Lake Pleasant white bass weighing from 21/2 to 31/2 pounds. It wasn't for dinner and it wasn't for fun, although rumor says at that time considerable chortling was heard echoing across the lake. In con-junction with California fisheries, the AG&F intent was to stock the Lower Colorado River, near Blythe, with brood white bass keeping with the theme of optimum development and manage-ment of all fishing waters possible. Two years after the plant, on March 8, 1972, Norman W. Mize, a fisherman from Chula Vista, California, hooked and landed a white bass that weighed five pounds, five ounces. Unlike earlier catchers of such caliber white bass, Mr.

Mize calculated he had more than just a pair of heavyweight fillets. In fact, his fish was bigger than the biggest white bass ever caught and recorded. By just one ounce. Enough, though. No gold medal was awarded, no crowning of the new king. But quite a bit of prestige.

Immediately after word was broadcast of Mize's memorial moment, and apostles of white bass-dom positive his fish was a former resident of Lake Pleasant, a question surfaced: “Was there more world record white bass fin-ning about the depths of the desert reservoir?” Essbach added to the spec-ulation with “There are more five-pound white bass here than you would ever expect to find in a normal reservoir situation.”Thus began a rod and reel rush. And timing seemed perfect. It was the spring run, when most white bass are caught. Some near five-pounders are said to have shown up, but none reached the coveted poundage. And though the expectancy peaked a few years ago, there are still those fishermen who believe Lake Pleasant will eventually deliver a new world record white bass.

Among them is Floyd Preas, a skilled fisherman and fishing guide. He has hobnobbed with the fish species at Lake Pleasant for more than 16 years, even donned diving gear and met white bass face to face. Preas cannot tell us where the new world record swims. More important for us non-glory seekers,from him we can learn to score at a marvelous fishing hole that teams with three-pound fun fish and excellent table fare.

First he said that most Lake Pleasant regulars consider the white bass a sea-sonal fish. Once the four to six weeks of the spring run is over, white bass fishing is over for them until next year. “With a little know-how,” said Preas, “you can catch whites all year long.” During the spring run, trolling with shad-like lures white bass feed voraciously on Lake Pleasant's copious threadfin shad even the most amateurish of fishermen can load up. These fish travel in schools and will forage on the surface but often they'll be quite deep. Preas said the average angler tends to fish too shallow. Using large spinners with porkrind, he has caught white bass 40 feet down. He admits, however, that the best all-round lure is the lead-headed marabou jig, alternating between white and yellow.

As for something to hang on to the fish with, Preas likes ultra-light tackle. Unlike black bass, another Lake Pleasant dweller, the white is an open-water fighter and less likely to tangle in the brush. That means you can use a lighter line. Preas noted that when he dropped from 17-pound test monofilament to eight-pound, his catch greatly increased. Such details suggest the white bass is a suspicious, spooky species. And that it is. Preas recommends extreme quiet. No racing motors, no bumping boat decks with anchors and tackle boxes, et cetera.

To cut down on time expenditure hunting white bass schools, Preas has invested in a depthfinder, sometimes called a fishfinder, with a beeper. Anything picked up by the sonar cone projected into the water, registers on a screen. When the audio feature sounds off, the odds are excellent you've pinpointed your quarry. For some, the instrument may take the so-called “element of fair chase” out of the game. But once you locate the fish, you still have to entice them to strike.

Preas keeps a log on his white bass exploits at Lake Pleasant. “The fishing doesn't always pay off in large numbers,” he said. “One day I worked harder than I usually do and only boated four fish.” Then he tells you they weighed four pounds, one-ounce; four pounds, two ounces; four pounds, six ounces and four pounds, eight ounces, respectively.

Because of that kind of success, for some anglers, fishing for white bass at Lake Pleasant has become the 11th Commandment.