Sight fishing

[JamesWatkins]

I was at the ponds yesterday and I was seeing all these bass from 2.5-5 lbs males and females spawning, some on nests and some that looked like big females depositing eggs. I was trying to catch them with soft plastics but they wouldnt eat anything. One of the females that looked 4-5 lbs was roaming around the bank pretty fast almost "gaurding" the males on beds near the bank. I am 90% sure that fish didnt know I was there the whole time of about 1.5 hours of trying to catch him. You have no idea how many soft plastics I cut up and tried to put on. Things with tenticles such as bandito bugs and lizards. Many other things like wacky rigging a lake fork red wacky worm and just a normal senko chartruese and black. A missle baits d bomb as well. I had a light wacky hook on for the whole time with no weight obviously. Does anyone know why those fish werent eating? For the females i am assuming its because they "had nothing to loose" almost, because they werent on a bed, and they are probably a lot smarter. But why wouldnt even the males eat? What could I do differently?

[gim]

The thing is with spawning bass...they aren't there to eat.  They are there to defend.  Agitation is the name of the game.  If you didn't anger one into biting after 1.5 hours, its time to move on.  You see pros try to catch one single spawning bass sometimes in a tournament for that long and they still can't do it...and then wasted that time during tournament hours.

 

I generally do not specifically seek out bedded or spawning bass but I will on occasion run into one.  I give it about 5-10 minutes and then move on.  Some consider it along the lines of being unethical to target a bedded bass but that is another topic for another day.

 

With the extreme heat in the forecast, this behavior will be over quickly.  Give it a few days and it will be all over and they will be heading into a summer pattern.

[WRB]

Bass are not emotional, they are instinctual. The only purpose during the spawn is procreation of the species. There is a spot in the nest that triggers a reaction to remove whatever it is. During the actual egg laying process the bass has no interest but egg laying and milt. Before and after is the time to try. Be patient, let the smaller size soft plastic or jig sit and only jiggle it a couple of times. If the bass shows no interest the lure is in the wrong spot.

Tom

 

[Team9nine]

They basically don’t eat because they are spawning and/or guarding, but will, at times, “hit” or pick up baits to remove from their nest and get caught. Every fish is different, and the more you fish during this time, the better you will get at “reading” their personalities and determining which fish can be caught, and which ones can’t. Most times you can determine this in about 5 minutes or less so you don’t waste 90 minutes on a single fish ? Often, it is the cruisers and the ones just starting to hang around shallow, or the fry guarders that are easiest to catch. 

[Catt]

@Team9nine

 

 

[Mike L]

As others have said you can’t “convince” them to eat. 
They have no interest to actively eat at this time. 

There are tiggers to look for and try to exploit but they won’t be force fed. Sometimes you just have to move on. 
I always seek bedding bass during the spawn so believe me when I tell you 
There is no magic bullet. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[DitchPanda]

I fished a bed fish a few weeks back...knew right away it would eat by the way it reacted to the bait from the first flip. Only fished it a few minutes and got him. The female was there and worked her several minutes but she wasn't into it.

 

Lots of good info above...I agree people waste a lot of time on bed fish. I rarely go over 10 minutes if that.

[TOXIC]

Here is a little pic of some lake St Clair beds that are in a hidden away bay off one of the channels.  You learn pretty quick which ones are just starting, in the middle of, or finishing the spawn.  If there is a pair then they are in the first 2 of those stages.  The female leaves after depositing eggs.  If there’s a particular fish I really want to catch and it won’t hit anything in the bed, I do a couple of things.  I will first throw a dropshot with a short tag line and leave the bait in the bed.  If that doesn’t work, I will actually try to drag my bait into the fish pushing it off the bed and then repeat the first step with the dropshot.  Scaring them off the bed sometimes kicks in their protective instincts.

[JamesWatkins]

35 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

Here is a little pic of some lake St Clair beds that are in a hidden away bay off one of the channels.  You learn pretty quick which ones are just starting, in the middle of, or finishing the spawn.  If there is a pair then they are in the first 2 of those stages.  The female leaves after depositing eggs.  If there’s a particular fish I really want to catch and it won’t hit anything in the bed, I do a couple of things.  I will first throw a dropshot with a short tag line and leave the bait in the bed.  If that doesn’t work, I will actually try to drag my bait into the fish pushing it off the bed and then repeat the first step with the dropshot.  Scaring them off the bed sometimes kicks in their protective instincts.

I really like that idea, sounds good. I cought my best smallie fishing a bed on the fly 5.5 lber

[Kenny Yi]

The last thing i do is let the bait sit there... Shake your moneymaker!!!  I use a SK Rage Bug primarily, cast past the bed, and barely shake the bait with the rod tip which eases the bait back into the bed.  The idea is to mimic a "rummaging" intruder.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs4TvdCmDIw

[schplurg]

I did my first bed fishing recently. Walking the bank and there they were, small males anyways. Not many.

 

I learned a lot. As said already, some fish are easier to antagonize than others. And there is also that magic spot on the bed where the fish will react to the bait. Anyplace else and they just watch. Learned that one pretty quick!

 

They didn't mind worms but when I switched to a craw they went on alert. It's interesting watching them nibble and "mouth" a bait to scare it off, and all the other behavior as well.

 

I found bluegill bedding a few years ago. I could tell pretty quickly which ones were more prone to bite. My fourth bait was the key. Some kind of a tiny hair jig. All 8 of those fish continued guarding and fighting for beds after they were released, so that was good.