Edited by: Kenneth Reaves
Reviewed by: Michael DarmontLast Update:
The Rundown
Best Overall: Mister Twister Lil Bit
“No other lure stands out better in sandy bottoms than the Mister Twister Lil Bit. It’s curly tail’s got a lot of action and its bright color works great in attracting any white bass hanging out at the bottom.”
Best Budget Option: Yakima Bait Spinner Lure
“If you want something with flash, action, and swift moves through the water like the minnows they feed on, you can’t go wrong with the Yakima Bait Spinner Lure. It checks all the boxes and comes in a variety of sizes and colors to match any fishing environment.”
Most Versatile: SteelShad Lipless Crankbait
“The SteelShad Lipless Crankbait is a reliable lure that you can use in almost any way and in any environment – giving you all possible outcomes out in the water. You can’t find a more versatile lure for White Bass out there.”
White bass is a blast to catch. Once you find a school, you can snag one on nearly every cast. The mild fish has tender and flaky meat, making it a great choice to target to put meat in the freezer.
White bass primarily feeds on minnows, so the lures you want to use will mimic their natural food. Try to use small lures around ⅜ ounce or smaller, as you’ll get the most success on these. They need to have plenty of action or flash, so once you’re on the fish they’ll readily take your lure.
To get you on the right track, we’ve put together this guide of seven of the best white bass lures. We’ll also be giving you some information to help you find, identify, and catch them.
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Table of Contents
Best White Bass Lures
Here are our top picks for the best white bass lures on the market:
- Best Overall: Mister Twister Lil Bit
- Best Budget Option: Yakima Bait Spinner Lure
- Most Versatile: SteelShad Lipless Crankbait
- The Classic: Acme Little Cleo Spoon Fishing Jig
- Best Premium Option: Googan Squad Scout Jr Crankbaits
- Easiest to use: Spro Bucktail Jig
- Great Soft Bait Minnow Mimic: Bass Assassin Tiny Shad
1. Mister Twister Lil Bit
Best Overall: A ton of action that fits in their mouths
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KEY FEATURES
- The 1-inch length is perfect for mimicking small minnows
- The curly tail provides plenty of action for attracting fish
- Comes in a variety of colors to choose from
White bass will readily take baits once you get their attention, and the curly tail on this grub is perfect. The colors it comes in include chartreuse and pink, making it stand out on the sandy bottoms and in deep water when the bass are hanging out there.
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Lure Details
The lure size is perfect for white bass, as they feed on small minnows and have relatively small mouths. Coming in at one inch, these grubs have a curly tail that creates a ton of action in the water to help get the fish’s attention. Rigged with a small jig head or just on a small weighted hook, this lure works in any situation you’re targeting white bass.
How to Use It
White bass spook easily, so with some lures you’ll want to cast beyond where the fish are holding and retrieve your lure into them. With this one, you should be able to cast right into the fish. Let the lure sink for a few beats, and then give it a steady, medium-speed retrieve. If you’ve found a school of white bass, you can expect them to hit this lure in almost every cast.
2. Yakima Bait Spinner Lure
Best Budget Option: Everything you look for in a white bass lure
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KEY FEATURES
- Flash plate creates noise and flashes going through the water
- Comes in a variety of sizes with ⅛ ounce being best for white bass
- Tail hair pulsates in the water, mimicking baitfish
When you’re looking for white bass lures, you want something with flash, action, and that moves through the water like the minnows they feed on. This spinnerbait checks all the boxes and comes in a variety of sizes and colors to match what works best in your area. This lure works for any fishermen targeting white bass, and in most environments.
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Lure Details
The lure comes with a flash plate and a hair-tail, that creates a lot of action and flash in the water. The tail pulsates on retrieval, mimicking the tail movement of small fish. It also has a thin body with an eye to help with it looking more realistic. The treble hook on the end is the perfect hook for this lure and will hook the hungry fish easily.
How to Use It
A simple retrieve is all you need for this lure, so it works well for beginners. Cast out beyond where the fish are holding and give your lure a medium-speed retrieval through their school. If you can get it across their faces, white bass should readily eat the lure up.
3. SteelShad Lipless Crankbait
Most Versatile: Any retrieval in any depth
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KEY FEATURES
- Blade body cuts through water and creates plenty of flashes
- Gives a ton of action with simple retrievals and low effort
- Stainless steel and coated hooks resist corrosion
If you’re looking for a versatile lure, look no further than the SteelShad Lipless Crankbait. They can be retrieved with straight retrieves, twitches, or even trolled. With very little effort, the blade lures act like jerk baits and swimbaits, making them rattle and move around like crazy to attract fish. They work in most environments, but because they cast incredibly far for their weight, they’re perfect for bank fishermen.
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Lure Details
The standout for the lures is that each one is made of stainless steel and features coated hooks that allow them to last longer than other lures. In addition to this, they wobble much more than you expect, creating a ton of action. You can choose from a variety of colors, and they’ll catch plenty of fish, even fish that aren’t white bass.
How to Use It
The great thing about these lures is you can use them in almost any way. Cast and retrieve, jig it, or even troll it at most depths. Again, try to cast beyond the fish, and retrieve it into them so you don’t spook the school you’ve found. Try out a few different retrievals, and then use whichever one produces the best results.
4. Acme Little Cleo Spoon Fishing Jig
The Classic: Spoons for any body of water
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KEY FEATURES
- Tried and true baitfish mimic
- Bright finish flashes in all water depths
- Treble snags fish on strikes
Spoons are classic fishing lures, used in all bodies of water. A small spoon like the Acme Little Cleo works great for white bass thanks to its flashy action in the water. They work great for beginner fishermen and kids as well since they’re easy to use and easily replaceable.
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Lure Details
This spoon is available in quite a few different colors and patterns. Nearly any of them will work, but we recommend either the gold or hammered nickel for their flash. The ⅜ ounce size is small enough to fit in white bass mouths and mimic their favorite prey.
How to Use It
Simple cast and retrieval will work well with a spoon. Throw in a few twitches to help get the fish’s attention. As with the other larger lures on the list, try to cast beyond the school you’re targeting and retrieve the lure across the faces of the fish instead of casting directly onto them.
5. Googan Squad Scout Jr Crankbaits
Best Premium Option: Hang a bait right in front of the fish
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KEY FEATURES
- Suspends in water like a natural baitfish
- Looks and moves like a baitfish
- Dual treble hooks work great for snagging fish
The best part about the Googan Crankbaits is that they suspend in the water when you pause your retrieval. This is normal behavior for prey fish and drives white bass crazy. While not cheap, the lure catches white bass and works best for fishermen on sandy bottoms and humps in lakes.
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Lure Details
Coming in a variety of colors, this crankbait can mimic different baitfish. The bone-white works well in most circumstances, but try to match colors with the natural bait in your area. It suspends in the water, making it look more like a realistic minnow. It also features dual treble hooks, which will help increase your odds of a hookup when fish strike.
How to Use It
This lure works best with a classic jerkbait retrieval, twitch-twitch-pause. Since it hangs in the water, the twitches get the fish’s attention and expect bites when you pause. The lure is a little large, so use it when you’re on bigger white bass to make sure they can get their mouths around it.
6. Spro Bucktail Jig
Easiest to use: Ready to go out of the package
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KEY FEATURES
- Ready to use out of the package
- Bucktail mimics fish tail in the water
- Jighead attached, and sinks quickly in the water
Bucktail jigs are easy to use since they come ready-to-use right out of the package and only need simple straight retrieves to be effective. You’ll want to use the smallest size you can find, at least the ⅜ ounce size when targeting white bass. The tail section pulses in the water and makes it look like a baitfish swimming.
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Lure Details
The one-piece lure comes attached to its jig head and ready to tie onto your line. It hides a sharp hook in its tail hairs, which pulse and move in the water looking like the tail of a small prey fish. It also has eyes on its body, increasing the lifelike look of the lure.
How to Use It
Bucktail jigs work on a variety of retrieves, but a simple straight one works well. Throw in some small twitches and pauses to help tempt fish into biting. This lure works exceptionally well in deeper water thanks to its fast-sinking nature.
7. Bass Assassin Tiny Shad
Great Soft Bait Minnow Mimic: Rig your small shad mimics
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KEY FEATURES
- Four colors to choose from
- Pair with a small jig head of preference
- Scented attractant helps get bites
These small soft plastics work great on a small jig head to mimic the minnows white bass are after. They have added scent to assist in attracting fish and can be paired with any small jig head of your choosing. Bass Assassin Tiny Shad works better for veteran fishermen, as the retrieval needs to be mixed up and it doesn’t come ready to use.
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Lure Details
The small soft plastics look like little minnow bodies in the water. They don’t provide action on their own, so the action is on the fishermen using the lure. What makes them stand out is the bass assassin scent added to them, which helps draw in the fish you’re after
How to Use It
Once rigged on a jighead, you can use standard retrievals with the lure, bounce it across the bottom, or twitch it back to you. Thanks to its scent, once you find the white bass, they should strike the lure easily, believing it to be a wounded minnow and an easy meal.
Different Factors to Consider When Fishing for White Bass
Season
In the Spring, white bass moves into smaller creeks and lake outlets to spawn. During the rest of the year, they spread out across larger lakes and bodies of water. To find them, look for birds diving and schools of shad. They’ll usually be on the bottom underneath the schools of shad.
White bass doesn’t look for cover but travels around in packs. Look for humps and ridges in lakes to help locate them as well. The best time of year to fish them is during their spawn when they’re more concentrated and easy to find.
Water temperature
When it comes to water temperature, white bass act much like other species of fish. When water temperatures are warmer, you can find them easier in shallow waters, especially when they’re spawning. During colder months, white bass migrates to the deeper areas of the body of water, staying where the water temperature is warmer.
Lures
Lures for white bass need to be small enough to fit in their mouth and match their typical prey. The best lures mimic the small minnows or shad they primarily feed on. Other lures with plenty of flash, action, and rattles that help attract the fish and tempt them to strike work well.
While white bass feed aggressively and in packs, they are still skittish. It’s important to avoid casting directly at them, as it can scare them away rather than trigger a bite. The best practice with any lure is to cast beyond where the fish are located and retrieve your lure through the school. Once you’ve found a school, you can hook a white bass on nearly every cast thanks to their aggressive feeding habits.
Types of Lures
Artificial
Artificial lures are what we’ve listed in this article. Soft or hard plastics, and fake baits made to mimic actual prey species. The best part about artificial lures is their reusability. You can use the same lure over and over during the day and on many fishing trips until it breaks beyond repair. Compared to the cost of natural baits, artificial lures are also typically more cost-effective if you aren’t catching your baits.
Natural
Natural baits are either live or dead fish or other creatures used as bait. White bass will readily eat shad and other minnows used as bait. Unlike artificial lures, you typically get one cast per bait, and over time it can add up to be more expensive. Some fish prefer natural baits and will hit real baits more readily than artificial baits. You can also catch your natural bait, whether you’re digging worms or netting small fish to use before you head out for your fishing trip.
Questions & Answers
How do you identify white bass?
White bass can be easily confused with striped bass and hybrid bass, thanks to them looking very much the same. To make sure you’ve just reeled in a white bass there are a few characteristics to look for.
White bass typically has a smaller head and a small hunchback. Unlike their cousins, they have yellow eyes and are mostly silver colored with dark green on their backs. If you’re still unsure, check the back of the tongue, white bass has one or two patches of teeth there that help distinguish them from other basses.
Where Do White Bass Live?
White bass is a common fish across North America. In the United States, they range from the Mississippi River Basin down to Louisiana and into the Rio Grande River in Texas and New Mexico. They’re also found in The Great Lakes and Canada, making them very widespread across the continent.
In each region, the spawning time is dependent on the season and temperature. This causes the bass to spawn at different times in the year. It also makes the best time of year to fish for white bass vary by region.
What is the Best Tackle for White Bass?
Light tackle is the best for white bass. They might be fairly strong for their size, but they still don’t put up too much of a fight. You’d have no trouble catching them on children’s fishing rods.
To get the most fun out of the fish, and to match the small lures needed, we recommend going with a light action rod and a light line around five to ten-pound test. For the most part, white bass only grows to around four pounds, so this should be plenty for you to bring them in.