I love the first two weeks in May. Whitebass run like crazy on Pomme de Terre Lake in South Central Missouri. They would start running shad in the rivers that spill into the lake right about now and run them into open water of the lake till about the third week of May. Any shad look alike will do as they stike at silver/white combo or just about anything white! I like to use lipless crankbaits when the whitebass are running shad because it is a pretty versatile bait that will fall fast and can be run fast! I always have two other rods rigged with 1/4 or 1/2 oz crankbaits. I will also have a white 1/2 oz jig for vertical jigging when the action slows down.

The best times are first light and the last hour of the day. If a thunderstorm moves in the whitebass will turn on just before the front moves through. I can pretty much float in open water and watch for shad to break water and move the boat into position to cast into the wakes. I also use binoculars if there is no action close by. Look for wakes and listen for sudden surges of shad jumping out of the water. Whitebass will tear the water up then settle down. Another thing to pay attention to is your sense of smell.

I have read that when whitebass go into their spring feeding frenzy they will gourge themselves and regurgatate into the eater. They say it smells like cantalope but in my experiance it smells like watermelon. We have caught hybreds over 4 pounds doing this. We have also caught some pretty nice 4,5 or even 6 pound largemouth bass when the action slows dowm and start jigging. Be Lm love to hang down below annd pick up a free meal!