Bed Fishing

[njbassin126]

I hit the lake mid morning today to see if I could spot any bass sitting on beds. Sure enough I found a big bass within a few minutes guarding a nearby bed. However, I began pitching senkos, jigs, swimbaits, and creature baits without any luck. The bass did not even seem mildly interested. As I was about to give up I watched as a sunfish approached the bed, immediately the bass aggressively attacked the sunfish and almost consumed it entirely. My question is, why did the bass act completely different in response to the variety of baits I threw compared to when the bass encountered the sunfish? Was it that obvious to the bass that my baits were not realistic?

[MacBassin]

Throw a sunfish! How clear was the water vs. what lb test were you using?

[njbassin126]

The water is somewhat stained and I was using a fluorocarbon leader at the end of my braid. I believe the leader is 8 lb and the braid is 20.

[fishballer06]

Catching a bedding fish is difficult at times. It could be that the fish saw you and knew better to react to a lure vs a live bluegill in the area. 

[WRB]

Green sunfish and bluegill are egg eaters that bass must protect a nest site from entering 24-7. The key word is "entering" according to that specific bass. The nest threat zone is a small area the bass guards, not the entire bed area.

Obviously a live sunfish is well known to the bass, no recognition issue for the bass to decide what to do. It's up to you to choose a lure the bass recognizes and place it where the bass can't tolerate it being there. No reason to use finesse tackle when bed fishing.

Tom

 

 

[RoLo]

 

The primary chore of the "big bass" (female bass) is to deposit her eggs.

Although she can be coerced into remedial housecleaning,

it's the buck's job to defend the nest, which doesn't get into high gear until after the cow is gone.

 

Roger

[WRB]

We don't know the sex of the bed bass or how big this bass was; 18" or 24" long bass, can't estimate weight or sex without catching it first, only length and the op didn't provide that info.

Tom

[RoLo]

40 minutes ago, WRB said:

We don't know the sex of the bed bass or how big this bass was; 18" or 24" long bass, can't estimate weight or sex without catching it first, only length and the op didn't provide that info

 

Tom, in a very recent post, you & I agreed that there are no reliable field marks

that corroborate a bass's sex, that 'size' was one of the most reliable indicators.

 

The original poster offered the following:

"Sure enough, I found a big bass within a few minutes guarding a nearby bed"

 

Roger

 

 

[BassGirl71]

2 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

Catching a bedding fish is difficult at times. It could be that the fish saw you and knew better to react to a lure vs a live bluegill in the area. 

I would agree with this. If you can see the fish, it can see you, so it makes sense. They will still react to a live predator even when they will not hit your lure.

[frosty]

Get yourself a mattslure bluegill. Very realistic and you can get the nose weighted one that looks like it's eating off the bottom, perfect for beds

[WRB]

5 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

Tom, in a very recent post, you & I agreed that there are no reliable field marks

that corroborate a bass's sex, that 'size' was one of the most reliable indicators.

 

The original poster offered the following:

"Sure enough, I found a big bass within a few minutes guarding a nearby bed"

 

Roger

 

 

I agree Roger. Not taking you to task, the OP said big and that is in the eye of the beholder. Water tends to distort a basses size, however the length is usually easy to estimate. 18" or  foot and a half long bass could easily be big and be a 3 lb male or female.

Tom

[hunterPRO1]

zoom lizard.

[Catt]

4 minutes ago, hunterPRO1 said:

zoom lizard.

 

Liz-zard!

[the reel ess]

Because the big bass knows the difference between a real egg-gobbling bream and an artificial that she(?) associates with a person she can see.