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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.

So today I went out on my local golf course ponds to see if any fish were on beds yet. Sure enough 2 4-5 pound fish were sitting right where I could pitch to. Bigger of the 2 ate my jig immediately and I set the hook. My leader to main line knot broke and now the fish has a 3/8 oz black and blue AP jig in her lip. What I want to know is: -How necessary are leaders when bed fishing? (Is straight braid ok?) -Will the jig rust out? (Hate to see a fish like that have a jig in it for the rest of its life...) I'm really not too mad about losing the fish, more worried that it won't be able to spawn because of my jig.

Fished a few times in the last week and have only gotten a few of bedded bass to even look at anything i throw at them. Gotten a few mad enough to bite but others wont even notice my bait. I've been throwing chigger craws onto beds. What do you do or use to get these fish to bite?