Where to look for spawning bass

[Xyndifor]

I was wondering if anyone knew any articles on the science of why bass choose certain spots for spawning locations. Like what specifically they look for concerning sunlight, wind, cover, structure etc for bedding locations. This time period has always been one that has puzzled me and given me the most difficulty as far as finding fish so I wanted to try to get a head start to study where I should be looking for them in the spring when the water is close to 60 degrees. I looked at a bunch of articles on the site and didn't really see too much as far as what I'm looking for. Thank you. 

[Backwoods bassin]

Well,  many different things can play a factor in why a bass chooses the spot to make a bed.  Most of the time it's right in a good spot that they find just right on the thermocline and in different states it's different. They can be along a drop off of a bank or beside underwater cover. Where more algea   accumulates and thus more bait fish are. This makes an easy meal for the bass to snag while on the bed,  so bait fish are key in this as well

[Catt]

Search bassresource.com

[Turkey sandwich]

53 minutes ago, Backwoods bassin said:

Well,  many different things can play a factor in why a bass chooses the spot to make a bed.  Most of the time it's right in a good spot that they find just right on the thermocline and in different states it's different. They can be along a drop off of a bank or beside underwater cover. Where more algea   accumulates and thus more bait fish are. This makes an easy meal for the bass to snag while on the bed,  so bait fish are key in this as well

Man, how shallow are your thermoclines?!  There are a lot of factors that influence spawning beds, ranging from available bottom composition, relative depth, other species in the body of water, and proximity to deeper structure.  Both largemouth and smallmouth have some differences in preferred locations.  

 

 

[tbone1993]

Tight contour lines right near shallow flats.Most likely going to find bass spawning near to where they can get deep quickly. Bass are going to use channels like highways to move into the backs of coves. Pre-spawn you can usually catch them along tight contour lines and the last channel swing in the backs of coves. If you're catching them shallow and not seeing them on beds chances are you're still in pre-spawn and the fish are going to move even shallower in that area.   This will help show you what some of those features look like on a map.  

 

 That being said I have no idea why small mouth or even some large mouth spawn deep. I've seen bass spawning in 20ft of water and it blows my mind. I'm used to the typical 6in-12in of water , bellies in the mud, type bedding bass.