Stark, actually: Where the white bass run

Tim Botos, The Repository
·1 min read
The sign in front of an Alliance-area bait and tackle store is an invitation to anglers to check out the annual white bass spawning run on the Mahoning River.
The sign in front of an Alliance-area bait and tackle store is an invitation to anglers to check out the annual white bass spawning run on the Mahoning River.

WHAT: Sign in front of Tall Tales Bait and Tackle says yard work can wait, but the white bass won't.

WHERE: 12016 Union Ave. NE in Lexington Township north of Alliance.

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WHEN: This photo was taken the afternoon of April 14.

White bass are easy to catch on flashy baits, such as inline spinners or brightly colored jigs and twister tails. They’ll also hit minnows under a bobber.
White bass are easy to catch on flashy baits, such as inline spinners or brightly colored jigs and twister tails. They’ll also hit minnows under a bobber.

THE STORY: Every year, around this time in April, it's possible to catch a white bass on nearly every cast in the Mahoning River.

That's because the species migrates by the thousands from adjoining lakes, into the river, to spawn. The glut lasts only for a week or two at most. After they've answered nature's call, they largely return to Berlin Lake.

A few decades ago, the magic time to catch them in the river was around Mother's Day. You'll still see cars lined up on the side of Union Avenue, and fisherman on the river banks below — but by then the run is probably over, said Mike DeBee, owner of nearby Tall Tales Bait and Tackle.

The simplest way to catch white bass is with small artificial baits. Small in-line spinners, such as rooster tails, produce the best results, but twister tail-style jigs also are effective.

DeBee said spawning white bass migrate as far south as Murphy Muffler, about a mile from where the river flows beneath Union Avenue.

In Ohio, the daily keeper limit for white bass is 30, with no more than four over 15 inches. The state record of four pounds was caught in a Cincinnati strip mine pond in 1983.

As table fare, white bass has a notoriously fishy taste, though it's sometimes available in local grocery stores.

Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 ortim.botos@cantonrep.com.On Twitter: @tbotosREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: For a week or so every year, white bass swarm into the Mahoning River