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I can’t say I don’t like fishing the spawn but I’m not the biggest fan of sight fishing for bass on beds. Especially when I’m stuck on the bank. But we’re lucky in South Louisiana and the fish are on beds while some guys are still waiting for their lakes to thaw. Boat is in the shop so I decided to hit some of my old bank fishing spots this weekend. Started out with a topwater walking bait and a small popper to catch the early morning topwater bite. Gave up on that plan after about a hour. Something crushed my 1/2oz shad color Mini Max with a 6th Sense Juggle Minnow trailer. I’m guessing the fish chased it down and hit it from behind bc he knocked about 3 feet of slack into my line and the vibration stopped. I reeled as fast as I could and finally caught up with him and set the hook. Felt like I got a good hookset but I guess I was wrong. I could feel some of his weight on my line for about 5 or 6 turns of the reel handle but it felt like he was swimming straight at me. He came off and broke the surface and did a little flip just show himself and tick me off. It looked like a decent fish. At least a decent one for the area around 2-3lbs. This got my hopes of fishing my strength and covering water, so then I tried to force a reaction bait bite for most of the 12 hours I spent fishing and finished the day without a bass. A tiny goggle eye that bit my trick worm got the skunk off me about an hour and half before I quit. This morning I decided to go back to the same body of water but fish in a different area. I had noticed a few beds along the bank in the area I fished Saturday, but didn’t see any fish on them and the ones I did see didn’t seem to be locked on. The area I went to today had a few more beds, but they were in slightly deeper water. I could still see the fish, but it was much easier to lose them especially when they darted away to chase something or bc they were spooked. Fished a few different beds and couldn’t really get the fish’s attention. After trying almost every type of plastic know. to man, I finally got a little male that was interested. Lure was a custom deal made by a former sponsor who is no longer in business. Straight black beaver style bait. Similar to a Berkley Pit Boss with the four thin tails, but the body on this one is thinner and ribbed. Went through 3 lures before I caught the first bass of the day. He kept picking the lure up by the tail and when I’d try to set the hook my lure would come back missing one or multiple tails. I almost exclusively use a T-rig when I’m bed fishing, but I decided to change it up bc the bite was so finicky. I had a Dirty Jigs pitching jig tied on already, and he seemed much more irritated by the jig, but wouldn’t bite it. I figured maybe it was the profile so I tried a new jig I bought a few weeks ago and it was all the difference. A 5/16oz Black Blue Tip Evergreen IR Finesse Jig was the ticket. I made 4 pitches into the bed and he grabbed it. This time he got the hook right through the top of the mouth. I was using a black Zoom Super Chunk trailer, but the fish knocked it off during the fight. I took the plastics I was using earlier and cut a little bit more than half of the body off and removed the two middle tails and made chunk style trailers out of them. The jig was definitely the deal bc I went back to the fish that had ignored my T-rig earlier and caught 4 more smaller males that were 1-1.lbs. I did see a female sitting out a little deeper on one of the beds. She was posted up using an 18 wheeler tire right for cover. She was at least 4 pounder… maybe bigger. I caught the male and released him on the other side of the road to see if I could get her to bite without him there. She did move up and set up on the outside edge of the bed but she liked that tire and didn’t want to move. I did everything I could to tick her off trying to get her to bite. Pitched my jig right on top of her. Shook it in front of her face. I even used my “go to” move for when bedding fish are being difficult and not biting. I pitched my jig over her so that she was between me and the lure and pulled it so it was almost under her and picked the bait up with a little bit of force and hit her in the belly. I wasn’t trying to snag the fish…. Just tick her off. Well she was def ticked but it didn’t help make her bite. After I hit her with the “go to” move she took off into the grass out a little deeper than her tire. I left her alone and checked back about 45 mins later before I went home. I could barely see her, but she was back on the tire but this time she was on the opposite side away from the bed and had half of her body tucked in the grass.

Hey BR, I'm going to start with the best part about today... I finally made myself a bike rod rack. I decided to go bed fishing for the first time since a couple days ago I have seen some fish that where starting to make beds while I was biking. It started off as a great day with me catching a 2 ponder and a 3 pounder! Both off the same bed but they both went back to it right away. I tried to bed fish some other bass but many were still not locked on the beds. After searching for another bed I came across a 3ish and 4ish pound fish, one was on the bed guarding it from the dozens of bluegill and perch. I decided to try out this cheap swimbait that I got from ebay. HE or She HAMMERED that lure! I caught him and saw he had some like 10lb mono coming from his mouth, I tugged on it and huge jig started to come out. I immediately got my pliers and practiced the lure retrieving method through the gills. I kept him in the water reviving while I tried to get the lure out. The lure wouldn't budge. I decided I had to cut the line and just leave the lure there. I let him go and he swam off like a bullet. I waited a while to see if he went back on the bed, nothing. The other fish that was near the bed were nowhere to be found, they had vanished and left there bed. I watched as the bluegill and perch began to eat the eggs. I tried to throw the lure to keep them from eating them. I waited 15 min and the bass never went back to there bed. I honestly blame myself for interfering with the fish, is there any chance the fish will come back?? They were locked on when I first saw them. I later came back when I was returning home cause I had to go. I passed by and the bluegill and perch, and they were still eating the eggs. I want to try and come back and catch the fish if he ever comes back to get the lure out. So I have decided to not fish on bed for the fear of the eggs being eaten.

Hi! This is my first post here on BassResource, I hope this will be a great experience. I have grandparents living at a golf course in south Florida. I've been fishing there most of my life but could never figure out the spawn patterns. I'm visiting them next week. I've read a lot about how bass in Florida have a mind of their own and they spawn whenever they feel like it. I've been hearing different reports that they have been in prespawn, others that they are already spawning. I've never fished prespawn or spawn, would anyone be able to help me figure out what the bass are doing and some lure/technique recommendations? My trip and conditions: Mon 1/20-Fri 1/24. Rain showers Mon, Thu, Fri, otherwise mostly sunny. Temperature will be increasing throughout the week. West wind Mon, Tue, Wed, east wind Thu, Fri. Moon is waning until the new moon on Fri. Temp. will increase by the day up to 75F. Thank you for your help, and I hope I get to meet a few friends along the way! Henry

Hey guys, It's August, and I was recently out at a lake in NC. It's Muddy, with water temp around the 80s. I found two active spawning beds, one on the north end, and one on the south end of the lake. From the best view I could get (1ft visibility in the shallows with glasses) they appeared to be bed of either shad, bluegill, and/or crappie. As still a novice to behavior, what would be spawning in August? Would bass be opportunistic in going after beds in the summer? The beds are located close to dropoffs. Thanks all!

So I’m new here and I would really appreciate some help because I just can’t find that much stuff online about smallmouth patterns. I’m looking at getting into smallmouth fishing this spring and I know body’s of water near me but I need help on where to find them. It’s a large resivour and I have some decent electionics. I’ve heard to look for offshore humps in about 15 feet of water for spawning, is that true? Otherwise where do I find them in the spring? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks

Hey fellow Virginian's, anyone been down to Lake Chesdin recently? What's the water level like on it right now? Normal or lower? And anyone know where the lake is at spawn wise? It'll be the first place I'll be fishing once I'm back from some military training soon. Any knowledge would be appreciated

I’ve been trying out the wacky rig fishing for spawning bass, and I like this technique for when the bass are skittish. Very easy to make a quiet entry into the water, and easy to control when trying to place it in a bed. The slow fall really aggravates the males and females. My problem is I’m fishing around tons of grass, and the usual hooks I use for a wacky rig are pretty light wire. Not good for trying to stop a 4 or 5 pounder from darting into a grass mat. Any suggestions for a stouter hook that is good for a wacky rig? Thanks in advance everyone!!!

It may not be in the rest of the country, but the spawn is on in Southeast Louisiana. Figured I’d start a thread in here to see what everyone likes to use to catch bass off of beds. I personally like a T-rigged soft plastic, and my two favorites are the Zoom Baby Brush Hog or the 6” Lizard. I use a pegged tungsten weight, usually 1/4oz if I can get away with it but sometimes 3/8oz in the wind. Junebug is my go-to color year round down here because I am always fishing stained or muddy water. I suppose if I was sight fishing I might changed to a white or chartreuse or anything I could see in the water, but I’m pretty much always blind casting beds... or at least where I think there’s a bed. Go ahead ladies and gentlemen... share your bed fishing secrets!!!

Hello guys, I need some advice. I'm in the southern part of Indiana, and have been struggling to catch fish consistently. I am pond hoping around ponds I've caught fish from before. The water color isn't brown but is murky. I can see about six ft from the bank. The last week has had little rain and sunny days. I've tried many diffident baits like jigs, swim baits, soft plastics, spinners, cranks, and about anything else I have in my bag. As I look around the bank I see bait fish and bluegill. I have caught some fish on beds and around points. I just cant see to find them for the last few days. If you have any tips or tricks please let me know. I'm open to anything.

I am on chickamauaga lake and going fishing in the morning. The water temperature is right at or a little below 70. What depths and areas/ structures should I target for largemouths? Also, what top water bait would be good, or should I he throwing top water at all?

Recently while reviewing Toledo Bend Lunker Program (10#+ bass) I ran across what I believe to a rather interesting fact. Here's a list from TBLP by @FishNChip Went to the Toledo Bend Lake Association Lunker Bass page hoping to get some historical info. Unfortunately, they only have print outs for last year and the current year. They did however have a bar graph of lunker bass caught by month from 2012-2016. Here's my best attempt to read and add up the data. Please feel free to correct me if my eyes didn't get it right. 2012: 26 2013: 69 2014: 59 2015: 118 2016: 139 2017 to date (not on the graph): 69 2016 was is where I noticed strange about this banner year that set it apart from the others. On close examination the best month that year (May 2015-May 2016) was March, accounting for 48 of the 139. OK I'm thinking pre-spawn/spawn not unusual until it dawned on me what took place that March. The first week of March 2016 saw torrential rains hit the lake itself with 18" & the surrounding runoff areas with 26" of rain rasing the lake to historic levels. The effect on the numbers caught is there by why? Was it because it scattered the fish or because it consecrated em to a particular area? http://www.toledobendlakeassociation.com/lunker-bass-program.html

I fish a highland reservoir that is deep and clear. Much of the shoreline drops off sharply to the riverbed. Will Largemouth spawn on any of these ledges? The water is anywhere from 30' to 80' deep ten feet from shore. The lake was very low until a few years ago so all the ledges and shelves have lots of brush and bushes on them. In some cases the bass would have to cover miles to get to a shallow cove that I would consider typical spawning areas.

It's not too long before the salmon start running in Michigan. Im going to travel to petoskey to fish in the bear river. I will be using spawn sacs and a 6 6" med action ugly stik with an Abu Cardinal s60 with 20 lb mono. Anybody have and suggestions for me (lb test line, how to rig the spawn bag, hook size, how to fish, etc:

Does anyone know if the Berkeley big game rod is any good? I would be getting it in 8 foot MH for salmon and steelies.

Hello All, I am going back to one of our local lakes here in Spokane, WA. Newman to be exact. Apparently the state did a mil-foil treatment and the water is the dirtiest I have ever seen it. I would guess less than a foot of visibility. The lake is pretty shallow with a lot of elephant ear pads and obviously mil-foil around most of the lake. The lake has a lot of docks and there are a couple nice, steep banks that are rocky. The water temp is in the low 70s. I guess my question is, where should the majority of fish be located? I am pretty new to bass fishing as well, so any insight will help. I do have a boat if that counts for anything...

This morning I was fishing at a large pond in Colorado. Although I couldn't get any bites there were bass splashing right up against the shoreline in the shallows. It kept happening in the same places and it would be sometimes be for 10 seconds straight splashing right against the bank as shallow as you could get. Does anyone know what they were doing? Maybe something to do with the spawn?

Hey everyone, I will be headed to the Potomac River at the beginning of June. I plan on launching in Mattawoman creek and fishing there as well as the surrounding creeks such as Quantico, Aquia, and Potomac. I just checked water temps and was surprised to see that they are only around 60 degrees. That being said I was curious if anyone could offer any insight on what stage of the spawn I can expect to run into when I head there. My guess is the tail end of the spawn and definitely post spawn, any thoughts? Thanks!!

Not sure if it is pre spawn, or spawning time in my lake, how can I really tell?

I fish Long Island, NY, and wanted to know what are some must have baits for this time of year?

With the spawn coming upon most of the country and with it full swing and almost over in Flroida, this is a HUGE topic on a lot of angler's minds. It's always been a huge debate in bass fishing in ethical terms: bed fishing. Many are against it, thinking it hurts future bass population, but a recent study conducted by Florida Wildlife Commision (FWC) answered this dilemma. This past February at the Bassmaster Southern Open's captain meeting, FWC showed the results from an AMZING study. Every variable was perfectly covered. In summation, they studied spawning bass in multiple regulated ponds. They knew the exact amount, size, and length of every bass in them as well as being tagged. During the spawn they would troll and even snorkel/dive to find beds and investigate the spawning behavior of all the bass. In half of the ponds, they measured the amount of bass that spawned and the amount of offspring after one year. They did the same with the other half of the ponds but all of the beds were fished. They caught every bass that would bite. From what I remember, I believe they caught 1/4 of all the spawning females as well as a certain larger amount of males. All caught fish were immediately returned after data was taken. In the end, the ponds that were fished put out MORE offspring. They were even able to tell exactly what parents made each bass and what bed they came from due to the magic of genetics. This is only one controlled study and I'm sure there will be more to come. Also, it can be taken into consideration that these were Florida Strain Largemouth and the bass were released back to the same area as the bed they came off of as soon as statistics were taken of the fish. So there is reason to speculate other strains and species may have a different turnout as well as keeping a fish in the live well may cause a different result. What can be taken from his study however is that fishing for spawning fish may not be as bad for the species prolification as we may seem to believe. Something to take into consideration next time you're staring at a double-digit!

Here in central Florida the spawn is in full swing. Caught a handful of 4-6 pound class females and a ton of bucks. Spotted a giant in the 8-9 pound class range and gave it to my buddy to catch. Surprised I haven't seen any more Giants. Noticed that the majority liked to spawn shallower than usual. Caught all of mine lately on the Gambler Burner Craw. I fish mostly ponds and on the lakes I've noticed the spawn is mostly done with a couple stragglers although they do spawn all the way through August in certain places and can start as early as October on Okeechhobee. West Lake Toho had an exceptional spawn this year with a lot of big girls caught and all were insanely aggressive. Heard from pro "Big Show" Scroggins during practice for the Southern Open on West Lake that they were spawning so shallow you could cast on the bank, drag it in an inch and they would beach themselves to get it. How's yalls spawn doing?

what kind of fishing line should i be fishing during the spawn?

Hi all, . I live in North Georgia and don't get to fish as often as I used to, so I thought I might seek your advice. I've got a trip planned to a small private fishery (also in north Georgia) on the third weekend of April around the new moon and im expecting the bass to be spawning. The lake im fishing is about 20 acres, holds big largemouth, has a good mix of cover/structure (including blow downs and rock piles), and the lake has a lot of crappie in it. I have not seen shad on my previous trips. With this info, could you guys suggest some ways to target bass other than site fishing in these conditions? In the past I have had my best success there in the shallows on 6" Texas rigged zoom lizards. I have also had sporadic success on a spinnerbait, senkos, and a Devils Horse. I have caught several fish in the 3 and 4 lb range but none of the big females I know are in there. What would you guys do? Thanks so much in advance!!! p.s.(the attached picture is of my big fish from last year, caught on a devil's horse on a rainy day)

What are some good lures to use during the bass spawn in the spring?

What kind of braid should I use for the spawn. I have a braid setup right now but will they see it and will it effect bites?