Cumberland River (near Clarksville) 4-5-13

[nomad60]

The day didn’t start out very good, as there was a very heavy and thick fog which lasted till almost 9. I stayed in the marina lagoon and fished there but all I caught was a dink bass and a few small white bass. As soon as the fog started lifting, I headed upriver a few miles with the intention of slowly drifting back down with the current. That plan didn’t work out so well as the current was moving right along today, and once again, there were lots of logs floating in the water from the rains we got yesterday - but the water was very clear. The current was so strong that I started thinking about a plan B; running back down river and finding a back bay or creek I could duck into to get out of the current because I wasn’t getting any bites along the laydowns and rocks bluffs I was fishing. It looked like the current wasn’t as strong on the other side of the river so I went across and started throwing a senko against the shore.
As I passed a downed tree, I threw my senko and something immediately grabbed it and took off, fighting like mad. I thought I had about a 3-pound largemouth on and I was very surprised to see that it was a decent white bass instead. I’ve never caught a white bass on a plastic worm before, I thought they usually hit minnows, crankbaits and spinners. So I put on a blue/silver Little Cleo spoon and it was game on after that. On a stretch of shore of maybe 250 yards, I caught some of the biggest and fattest white bass I’ve ever seen. I caught close to 40 before they suddenly stopped biting. After that I caught a bonus skipjack herring. Around 3, boats started showing up as people got off work so I headed back to the marina and called it a day. Today was definitely one of the better days I’ve had fishing here. Those white bass are some hard fighters, and I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time, with the right lure http://www.landinglunkers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/wlEmoticon-smile.png

[Alphahawk]

Dang.....the Cumberland has got some nice white bass. Congrats!




Regards

[commdd]

great job! fun times there. white bass in the spring.

[MNfisher]

Congrats! Gotta love white bass!!

[jad2t]

Man those are some big white bass!! I don't know if you eat them or not but I sure do, they're great!

[Travis C.]

Way to go nomad, how's the new boat doing?

[nomad60]

Alpha,

I'm glad those 4 guys near Nashville saved a few for me to catch :D

commdd & MNfisher,

Thanks, I love the way those fish put up a fight!

jad2t,

Is there a special way to clean them or is it a simple filet and fry? If I ever get lucky and run into them like that again, I may keep a few.

Travis,

The boat is great, but I'm still learning my new electronics. Yesterday, it was driving me mad because I could see lots of fish near the bottom on the drop-offs but I couldn't figure out what they were or what they wanted.

[Alphahawk]

You fry one of those up in your house with out cutting the red meat out you won't do it again..... LOL. Just filet and trim out dark red streaks. I really like them better than crappie.



Regards

[MNfisher]

Alpha,

Yesterday, it was driving me mad because I could see lots of fish near the bottom on the drop-offs but I couldn't figure out what they were or what they wanted.

This is very common, don't get too discouraged! I just convince myself they are rough fish if I can't get them to bite :D

[Alphahawk]

This is very common, don't get too discouraged! I just convince myself they are rough fish if I can't get them to bite :D

Hey...with the day you had I wish I had your problems...LOL. Love catching whites and you really got some good ones.


Regards

[jad2t]

jad2t,

Is there a special way to clean them or is it a simple filet and fry? If I ever get lucky and run into them like that again, I may keep a few.



Make sure you cut out the red meat on the back of the fillet. Other than that, they're a white, flaky meat so you have many options to cook it. My favorite way to make it so far is something I made up.

I ballpark my own recipes so I can't give you measurements but I can estimate how much I used. Last time I did it this way was with 6 whites. 2 tablespoons of butter, 4 garlic cloves minced, 2 lemons, a lot of fresh basil (I think I used a few cups worth), and about 1/3 cup of olive oil.

Lay the fillets in a baking dish and sprinkle with pepper. In a small pan, melt the butter, olive oil, and minced garlic and leave heating until it starts to simmer. Mince up the basil but not finely because you'll use a food processor to take care of the rest. Put the basil, and garlic/butter/oil mixture into the food processor, blend until its a paste. Spread it evenly on the fillets then cut the lemon into thin slices, thoroughly covering all the fillets. Bake in the oven and enjoy. Gives you a nice lemon pesto flavor.

[geckel]

Make sure you cut out the red meat on the back of the fillet. Other than that, they're a white, flaky meat so you have many options to cook it. My favorite way to make it so far is something I made up.

I ballpark my own recipes so I can't give you measurements but I can estimate how much I used. Last time I did it this way was with 6 whites. 2 tablespoons of butter, 4 garlic cloves minced, 2 lemons, a lot of fresh basil (I think I used a few cups worth), and about 1/3 cup of olive oil.

Lay the fillets in a baking dish and sprinkle with pepper. In a small pan, melt the butter, olive oil, and minced garlic and leave heating until it starts to simmer. Mince up the basil but not finely because you'll use a food processor to take care of the rest. Put the basil, and garlic/butter/oil mixture into the food processor, blend until its a paste. Spread it evenly on the fillets then cut the lemon into thin slices, thoroughly covering all the fillets. Bake in the oven and enjoy. Gives you a nice lemon pesto flavor.

That sounds really good. I'm going to give that a try.

[fisher01]

Nice size white bass, they are fun to catch. Congrats!

[agelesssone]

Good sounding recipe Jimmy. I'll have to try that. Sounds yummy.

[tkwalker]

Make sure you cut out the red meat on the back of the fillet. Other than that, they're a white, flaky meat so you have many options to cook it. My favorite way to make it so far is something I made up.

I ballpark my own recipes so I can't give you measurements but I can estimate how much I used. Last time I did it this way was with 6 whites. 2 tablespoons of butter, 4 garlic cloves minced, 2 lemons, a lot of fresh basil (I think I used a few cups worth), and about 1/3 cup of olive oil.

Lay the fillets in a baking dish and sprinkle with pepper. In a small pan, melt the butter, olive oil, and minced garlic and leave heating until it starts to simmer. Mince up the basil but not finely because you'll use a food processor to take care of the rest. Put the basil, and garlic/butter/oil mixture into the food processor, blend until its a paste. Spread it evenly on the fillets then cut the lemon into thin slices, thoroughly covering all the fillets. Bake in the oven and enjoy. Gives you a nice lemon pesto flavor.

Were going to give this a try ... <'TK><

[TroutFiend]

We not only have great fishermen on this site... But also great chefs!
Thanks for this recipe, I'll try not to screw it up.

[jad2t]

Yea I've become as passionate about cooking lately as I am about fishing! Hope you all enjoy it. Me and the future wifey ate them like that last time I got into the whites real good, we loved it!

[nomad60]

Make sure you cut out the red meat on the back of the fillet. Other than that, they're a white, flaky meat so you have many options to cook it. My favorite way to make it so far is something I made up.

I ballpark my own recipes so I can't give you measurements but I can estimate how much I used. Last time I did it this way was with 6 whites. 2 tablespoons of butter, 4 garlic cloves minced, 2 lemons, a lot of fresh basil (I think I used a few cups worth), and about 1/3 cup of olive oil.

Lay the fillets in a baking dish and sprinkle with pepper. In a small pan, melt the butter, olive oil, and minced garlic and leave heating until it starts to simmer. Mince up the basil but not finely because you'll use a food processor to take care of the rest. Put the basil, and garlic/butter/oil mixture into the food processor, blend until its a paste. Spread it evenly on the fillets then cut the lemon into thin slices, thoroughly covering all the fillets. Bake in the oven and enjoy. Gives you a nice lemon pesto flavor.

Ok, suddenly I'm hungry LOL. If I ever luck into them again like that, I'll keep some and give this recipe a try. Thanks!

[spottedbass]

I say cutting the red meat out is over rated and not nesessary. I never cut the red meat and they taste GREAT!!! Of course I like fish that taste like fish... tuna, mackeral, trout, sheepshead (with the red meat still there) and striper (with the red meat still there). To me crappie taste like whatever you batter it in or whatever you season it with. Might as well just eat the batter or the seasoning because there is no taste of fish.

To each his own....