Where to start. I am new to this site but I have been "bed" fishing for years. The number one thing is always release the fish a fast a possible. Take a camera on a small tripod so you can take a picture of the huge fish you will catch. Bring a scale too.
Bass will bed anywhere from 1-12+ft deep depending on the water clarity. Find a hard bottom area that is protected from the north wind. They will bed anywhere, in open areas in the grass, around stumps, laydowns, even in the wide open. Just look for a round cleared out spot on the bottom. The male is usually on or arround the edge of this clearing and the larger female is usually hiding a little further away. Now some great peices of equipment to have on board is, a GOOD ($) PAIR OF POLARIZED SUNGLASSES, a push-pole and a two anchors. This will allow you to realy sneak up on the beds in the shallows and stay there. Do not were bright colored clothes. Tan or cream or any pale colors are the best. If you are bank fishing I recomend full camo.
Now for lures. I always have a tube jig on a spinning rig with 10lb test, a Mad Man crawfish on a stand-up jig head, and a Castaic baby sunfish or large sunfish swimbait on 25lb test (big fish bait!!).
Now for how to fish beds. Once you spot the bed (I stand on top of a milk-crate to get a little higher view.) push your boat as close as you feal comfortable. Get down low and either slide a anchor in the water or push the pole into the bottom and tie off. Now John is rite if the fish scatter and take a long time to come back don't wast your time. Move on to another one. I first flip the stand-up craw past the bed a hop it back till it is on the edge. I jiggle the rod tip for a few seconds then hop it to the middle and repeat. Pay attention to how the male reacts to this. If he is aggressive he should tear it up. If not I switch to the tube jig and bounce it off his nose a few times to tick him off. While doing this you should get the big females attention. If you see her moving in aggressively then flip to her but make sure you lure is heading towards the bed. She should show some intrest. If she moves in closer to the bed then you flip the craw back in and play on her bed. Now there is always a "sweet spot" on the bed. This is a place on the bed no bigger than a coffee cup that when you put your bait on, the fish will pay a little more attention to the lure. Play around on the bed untill you find it, then focus on just this spot. Bounce up and down and make sure the female can see the lure. Be patient this process sometimes can take a long time. When the fish picks up the lure make sure she has the hook in her mouth before setting the hook. If she doesn't than let her carry it off and drop it.
If you come to a large bedding flat with several beds. Grap the swimbait and start fancasting, reeling back as slow a possible. Now when the fish hit this lure they usually don't keep it in there mouth very long, and they usually swim straight at you, so a fast reel is very important. When the line goes slack reel as fast as you can and sweep the rod to set the hook. I have caught several 10+lb bass here in North Georgia with this swimbait. It is a great prespawn/spawn bait. Try it and you will be very pleased.
Now I could go on for ever and there is several more tricks that I could wright a book about. But this is the nuts and bolts of it. Keep your line wet and God Bless.
