Fishing for white bass? Sabine River the place
OUTDOORS
From special reports

A MESS OF 'EM - Guide Jane Gallenbach and Zoe Ann Stinchcomb hoist a heavy stringer of white bass and crappie at the Black Shoal on the Sabine River.

The signs are popping up everywhere in East Texas: Redbud trees in bloom. Gaggles of vehicles at bridges over rivers and creeks. People wearing heavy jackets with shorts.

Those signs point to two things. Mother Nature is waking from her winter slumber, and the white bass are beginning their spawning runs.

Spring isn't here yet, and Mother Nature will be burrowing back under the covers from time to time for a nap, but white bass fishing will only get hotter and hotter for the next several months.

The first Monday in February found my wife and me at the Black Shoal on the Sabine River with guide Jane Gallenbach. The Black Shoal is a magical place where a coal seam crosses the river, forming a barrier that fish cannot pass when the water level is low. Thousands of migrating white bass stack up in the deep pool below the natural dam, along with smallmouth buffalo, freshwater drum, catfish, gar and crappie.

We hooked all six species, but the buffalo and gar broke our four-pound-test line every time. We landed white bass up to 2.4 pounds as well as a couple of 1.5-pound white crappie.

The Sabine River is arguably the best white bass fishery in Texas. Sabine white bass are typically larger than those found elsewhere- the water body record is 3.9 pounds. The reason lies downstream: Toledo Bend Reservoir.

"Toledo Bend is kind of an inland ocean with tremendous numbers of white bass and lots of food for them to eat," said Mike Ryan of Marshall, a former fisheries biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "The Sabine is a long river system with excellent habitat all the way up to Gladewater. We get high concentrations of fish in the river in the spring."

White bass need moving water to spawn, so they move into streams as the weather starts to warm- about the time redbud trees start to bloom. That's a signal to get out your ultralight fishing gear and go fishing. White bass will bite on live minnows or a variety of small plastic lures on a red jighead. White and chartreuse seem to be the best colors. The fish can be finicky feeders, so experiment with presentation and watch people who are catching fish to see what they are doing.

For information on white bass fishing on the Sabine, visit www.riverridgetx.com, or call (903) 693-4441.