Discouraged

[DrAloha]

Discouraging last week— I’ve probably seen a half dozen big bass with their noses to the bank.  I assume they are on their beds, as they will circle back to the same spot when spooked off.  But they won’t be in the same place the next day (and I thought they guarded their beds for a minimum of a few days).  I’ve thrown the kitchen sink at them for hours and have only gone 1 for 6.  They don’t seem interested in anything.

[NHBull]

Are you sure they are on beds?  You can usually see them.  What is the water temp and where are you located?

 

[DrAloha]

2 minutes ago, NHBull said:

Are you sure they are on beds?  You can usually see them.  What is the water temp and where are you located?

 

Couldn’t see the actual beds.  These bass have been posting up on rocks against the bank with a steep drop off behind them.  They will circle back to the same rock all afternoon, but won’t be there the next day.  I’ve only seen them on sunny days, too.  I’d say they’ve been between 5-8 lbs.  Not sure of the water temp— I’m in southwestern TN.  

[DrAloha]

I’m also not used to bass bedding in riprap.  Not really sure what’s going on 

I am catching smaller ones on Senkos throughout the lake.  Just not the ones I can see.  And my solitary sight fishing catch was on an orange square bill.  

[papajoe222]

They are sitting on or close to the rocks because the rocks hold the heat of the sun longer than wood, or weeds. Most likely on the days you didn’t see them, it was overcast, or early in the day before the rocks warmed sufficiently. That drop to deeper water combined with the rocky shore will be a good summertime spot. 
Early in the year and during the actual spawn, it isn’t unusual for bass to ignore your presentations. Hang in there. Things will pick up. 

[Beeno]

Depending on where you live a lot of the fish you seen could have been fry guarders and may have left by now if you only see one bass on the bed it may just be the male. I personally would not focus on the bedded bass anymore and would move on to catch those post spawners, I suggest you try a jerk bait and focus on the bass that are moving out from the bank. If this is the case a jerk bait will be your best bet.

[TnRiver46]

A live bluegill will catch them, especially if this is a small body of water. I thought they made nests up against rip rap rocks frequently 

[Hower08]

Sounds like they are sunning themselves. When this happens go back in a day or two and catch them.  They are d**n near impossible to catch when they are sunning themselves 

[CrankFate]

I don’t think they are on beds. I always see them nose to the bank During the times before and after they are on the beds. They are almost impossible to catch when they do that early in the season. And they almost always do this in groups of 2 to 4 (at least where I fish). Don’t be discouraged. I literally never caught a bass doing that before mid June.

[Hammer 4]

On 4/12/2020 at 4:16 AM, TnRiver46 said:

A live bluegill will catch them, especially if this is a small body of water. I thought they made nests up against rip rap rocks frequently 

Careful...In some states it is Illegal to use live bait, except for night crawlers..

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

Careful...In some states it is Illegal to use live bait, except for night crawlers..

Ya - Minnesota you can use worms, leeches, crayfish and minnows...specific species - no a 'baby bluegill' doesn't count as a 'minnow'.

[Koz]

On 4/11/2020 at 5:28 PM, DrAloha said:

Discouraging last week— I’ve probably seen a half dozen big bass with their noses to the bank. 

Fish have noses? ?

[DrAloha]

On 4/13/2020 at 5:32 PM, CrankFate said:

I don’t think they are on beds. I always see them nose to the bank During the times before and after they are on the beds. They are almost impossible to catch when they do that early in the season. And they almost always do this in groups of 2 to 4 (at least where I fish). Don’t be discouraged. I literally never caught a bass doing that before mid June.

This and the sunning hypothesis make sense to me.  When my wife sees them she says “Look, they’re sunning.” They are always facing the afternoon sun when I see them and there are almost always multiple big bass (strangely paired to almost the exact same sizes).  I pointed them out to another fisherman the other day and he tried throwing at one for the entire day without any luck. 
 

I’m more encouraged over the last few days— I’ve just gone back to blind throwing and have been catching a bunch (no monsters). 

[TnRiver46]

Every old timer I ever spoke with on the subject says “if you can see them, they can see you”

[BooyahMan]

Wanted to chime in with my 2 cents for what it's worth. I've seen this sunning behavior too and it's almost an artform to getting these ones to bite it seems. They are very tough to catch but not impossible. I have definitely NOT mastered it but a couple of things to think about. 

 

Main keys I have found to getting them are being as stealthy as possible (probably a duh moment, but even more so when they are "sunning"), light penetration, and weather. Mid day they are easiest to spot but man do they spook easy. If you know certain spots they tend to congregate I go back late in the afternoon, see if I can still spot them, and then hit them again. Casting nearby and obviously not right on top of their head and working slow.  The last big thing that I find to help, and this is totally dependent on the weather, is to hit them right before a front. I love those hot sunny days right before a front as that sun pulls them up shallow, but once the front starts to roll through they get bitey and are more likely to grab instead of run. 

 

Hopefully that helps a bit. Or someone can tell me I'm full of it, that works too!

[CrankFate]

20 hours ago, DrAloha said:

This and the sunning hypothesis make sense to me.  When my wife sees them she says “Look, they’re sunning.” They are always facing the afternoon sun when I see them and there are almost always multiple big bass (strangely paired to almost the exact same sizes).  I pointed them out to another fisherman the other day and he tried throwing at one for the entire day without any luck. 
 

I’m more encouraged over the last few days— I’ve just gone back to blind throwing and have been catching a bunch (no monsters). 

I don’t know what they are doing, but I see them like that too. When they do it, they are definitely not feeding.

[frogflogger]

I back off and throw a big noisy topwater - while not a very effective numbers wise it does catch large fish in a neutral mood when shallow.

[N Florida Mike]

Try a Zoom lizard! ? Weightless plastics in general do well for me.

I also make a mental note of where they are, and if they won’t bite then, I come back at a different time or two until they bite. 
You’ll usually find the little male to be more aggressive and they are very protective of the nest. It seems to me like they are the most aggressive at the start of the spawn, and get less that way as it continues.

When you think you have it figured out though, you will have a long stretch where you are unsuccessful. Keeps us humble.