Fish do the sprinting when the white bass run hits the home stretch at rivers and lakes around the Ozarks.

It's a marathon for these hard-fighting fish when they migrate for miles up up the tributaries of Beaver and Table Rock lakes to spawn each spring on gravel shoals. For anglers, the white bass run is one of the most exciting events of the fishing year.

Spain has its running of the bulls. We have our running of the white bass. In Spain, they know when the bulls are coming. Here, we don't always know when the whites will be biting. Fishing might be blue-flame hot one trip, cold the next.

The only sure-fire way to know if they're on is to go fishing. In April, we visited a pair of hallowed destinations for Northwest Arkansas white bass fishing -- the White River above Beaver Lake and the White River downstream from Beaver Dam.

First, we sampled the action below Beaver Dam.

Fish Run Big

The weather was more like winter than spring when Jeff Fletcher, Ed Kendall and your faithful outdoors reporter climbed into Fletcher's boat near Holiday Island, where the White River becomes Table Rock Lake. We dressed in layers for the cold ride upstream to the town of Beaver on tax day, April 15. The temperature was 40 degrees.

The water was tile-smooth when Fletcher, of Eagle Rock, Mo., eased his boat into the mouth of Butler Creek 1 mile upstream from the Little Golden Gate suspension bridge at Beaver town. Lots of sun and no wind warmed us when we stopped. It didn't do much to heat up the fishing.

Kendall got bit first, catching a 12-inch largemouth bass on a jerk bait. A fine first fish, but it was white bass we were after.

"I hate to wish for wind when it's this cold, but we need some," Fletcher said. Wind stirs things up and reduces the visibility underwater. Fish don't see as well and are more apt to strike a lure.

Another largemouth bit Kendall's jerk bait, and he deserved the action. He'd driven 450 miles from east Texas to fish with Fletcher before heading to Tulsa on business.

Fletcher kicked off our white bass party by catching 3-pounder. That's huge in the world of white bass. The lunker hit a Spro McStick jerk bait designed by pro angler Mike McClelland of Bella Vista.

Kendall worked a McStick as well while I chose a shad-colored single-tail grub. Fletcher got the breeze he wished for and the catching picked up. In no time, Fletcher and I had a double. Kendall worked hard to make it a triple but didn't get bit.

By noon we'd caught 15 white bass, all big ones of 2 to 3 pounds. There wasn't a dink in the bunch. A crappie and a 10-pound carp were welcomed aboard. White bass are fine to eat, but we released all our fish on this day.

White bass action in the White River below Beaver Dam starts about March 1 and could run into mid- or late-May this year. The cold winter delayed the start of spawning. Long periods of power generation taking place at Beaver Dam keep the river water cool and prolongs the white bass spawn, Fletcher said.

Land 'O Goshen

The stretch of water where Arkansas 45 crosses the White River at Goshen is the Bud Walton Arena, the Razorback Stadium of fishing fans during the white bass run. This is the hallowed "twin bridges" area that is the talk of the town at white bass time. It's named for the two spans that cross Richland Creek and the White River close together.

Russ Tonkinson of Rogers and I get our giggles catching white bass with fly rods. We fish the War Eagle River on most trips. We'd never sampled white bass fly-fishing at twin bridges. So last Friday afternoon we drove to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission access under the Arkansas 45 bridge and rigged our fly rods.

Wade-fishing is difficult right at the bridge, but there's a spacious gravel bar one-half mile downstream from the access on river left. Trails meander north from the access and fishermen can walk these to the gravel bar. The Game & Fish access has paved parking and a launch ramp for anglers with boats.

Clouser minnows are the fly white bass can't resist at spawning time. Yet those fish mustered enough will power to ignore our Clousers during two hours of fishing. We didn't catch one white bass.

Fishing has been good at twin bridges this spring, but sporadic. That was the report from Kevin Eubanks, Game & Fish wildlife officer, when we called him after our trip. Eubanks visits the river frequently during white bass time and gets an earful from fishermen, hearing the good and bad.

"Fishing has been pretty good, but it's been kind of a strange year. We've had rainy times and cold snaps, but I've seen some good stringers with 40 or better white bass," Eubanks said.

There is no daily limit or length limit on white bass at Beaver Lake or its tribuaries.

"The regulars have been catching more than people who just show up on the weekends," Eubanks said. The key this spring is to fish often, he added.

"The whites seem a little more temperamental this year. Some years they're easier to catch than others," he said. A lot of people fish too fast and don't catch anything, Eubanks continued. Fish slow for best results.

White bass are the bread and butter fish of the White River, but hybrid stripers and walleye are the real trophies.

"I've seen lots of good hybrids caught this spring from 4 to 8 pounds, but if you put that in the paper everybody will be down there," Eubanks said.

Walleye, too, bring anglers out in droves. "I've seen more big walleye this year than ever," Eubanks continued. "I saw one 30-incher, 10 walleye over 24 inches and 30 or more that were longer than 22 inches."

Walleye must be 18 inches or longer to keep. The daily limit is four.

The white bass run was more of a jog through much of April because of a slow start to the spawn. That could mean good fishing into mid-May or longer. Anglers should grab their tackle and make a mad dash for the river.

Outdoors on 05/01/2014