During spawn, what’s your most productive strategy?

[clemsondds]

I know spawn fishing can be a touchy subject to some. But i just wanted to get your feedback. I know not all bass spawn at the same time…and so you can either bed fish or go after those that are pre/post spawn.  So for those that have no problem fishing both, which have you found to be more productive? Do you find you can locate and trigger bed fish easier or have you found that a waste of time and go after the others?  Thanks! 

[bowhunter63]

If they’re really feeding a Spinnerbait.I always look for active fish. I don’t bed fish  nothing against it i just don’t do it 

[WRB]

I have never caught a big bass off a bed that I could see !

Tired  but but  unsuccessful .  All  big bass were blind casting to area where big pre spawn females were located .  
Tom

[TnRiver46]

Get skunked 

 

weightless worm can be pretty good during spring but other than that it’s just not good fishing for me , I like hungry fish that are feeding

[Catt]

During spawn, what’s your most productive strategy?

 

Fish for pre-spawn bass ?

[Cbump]

Sometimes I wonder if people I know are lying about seeing bed fish. Yesterday I was on a local lake, water clarity about 2 foot when calm but there was a 15mph wind with gusts up to 25. Pretty rough. I couldn’t see anything. When I could see anything It was COVERED in carp.  
 

Talked to a guy at the ramp that was prefishing a tourney and he said he spent the day marking bed fish all over the lake. Supposedly found a lot. 
 

Maybe I just suck. 

[Bankbeater]

I don't worry about beds.  I look for the bass that are in the cover.  With all the rain we had last week, the water was up, cold, and murky.  The bass were buried in the grass and brush.

[scaleface]

I  hardly ever see bass beds in the dirty  waters I frequent . I'm fishing for largemouths and just go junk fishing shallow .

 

  Last year I caught a few spotted bass on an Ozark reservoir from beds with a tube but I had a difficult time getting them to strike .

[clemsondds]

5 hours ago, Cbump said:

Sometimes I wonder if people I know are lying about seeing bed fish. Yesterday I was on a local lake, water clarity about 2 foot when calm but there was a 15mph wind with gusts up to 25. Pretty rough. I couldn’t see anything. When I could see anything It was COVERED in carp.  
 

Talked to a guy at the ramp that was prefishing a tourney and he said he spent the day marking bed fish all over the lake. Supposedly found a lot. 
 

Maybe I just suck. 

Yeh I’m amazed at how good some people can locate and see them! I’m getting old and just can’t see as good as some I guess!  Kinda cool to see them though. 
 

[Deleted account]

I don't bed fish as a  matter of principal, but do occasionally catch some off beds while fishing an area. I like making noise with a large (really large, like off the salt water wall large) JB or top water around the spawn in the shallows. A large spinnerbait flashed by them will annoy them into a strike as well. I find fish in beds will either want to attack a soft plastic or not, and that can change from moment to moment. Sure you can sit over a bed for a hour or more and eventually get a reluctant one to bite, but I don't have the patience. 

[Mike L]

Starting in late November to around mid April I actively look for bedding bass. 
In the mostly tannic water of Okeechobee which I frequent more than any other lake, it can be challenging to say the least, but can be done if you know your waters. 
 

For me sight fishing for bedding females is the most intense, challenging and rewarding of all techniques.
No lying needed 

 

Overall to answer the OP’s question, I also agree that pre spawn is the most consistent because it’s the most predictable. 
Some, especially males who are actively guarding beds can be the easiest, but the females are the most challenging because they have to be coached into biting. 
Getting them to commit at all takes patience, persistence and commitment. 

 

Most would rather use that time to locate transition areas where they can be moving in and out for weeks and not be as finicky. 

 

The trick is combining all that factors into knowing when they move in, when and how aggressively they feed, and where they position before, during and after they spawn. 
 

Spending an inordinate amount of time to catch one fish isn’t for everybody as is always discussed on here this time of the year. 
 

 

Mike

[Catt]

One of the reasons I love Toledo Bend is I can start pre-spawn fishing in Mid-January on the north end. At 65 miles long I can follow the pre-spawn south until the first week of May.

 

Pre-spawn bass are way easier to catch than a bass on the bed. 

[Bankc]

Every time I've fished a bed, the best I can do is get the bass to bite the tail of a worm or whatever and drag it off the bed.  So I might see my line move, but they don't bite down far enough to get to the hook.  It's frustrating.  

 

Prespawn is much better.  As for my most productive, I'd going to go with a bright pink trick worm on a shaky head.  Though prespawn bass will bite lots of stuff, and depending on their mood, there are often better options.  But that one seems to be the most consistent and will often work when nothing else does.  

[gim]

On 3/26/2023 at 10:58 AM, clemsondds said:

Yeh I’m amazed at how good some people can locate and see them! I’m getting old and just can’t see as good as some I guess!  Kinda cool to see them though. 

I can spot beds pretty well.  I'm tall and have perfect vision (thanks to a high power laser).  I will often give a cast or two to the bed, even if there isn't a fish on it.  Rarely do I catch a fish there though.  I'm not against doing it, I just don't have the will power to sit there for however long it takes to do it.  I'd rather allow the fish to do its reproductive thing and move along to find fish that are biting to eat.

[papajoe222]

If I’m fishing a BIG lake, I look for fish that haven’t spawned. They’re more willing to bite than spawn ears, or those that have spawned already. 
If it’s a smaller body of water, I’ll still look for pre spammers, bu won’t waste the whole day looking. 

[RHuff]

On 3/26/2023 at 1:41 AM, WRB said:

I have never caught a big bass off a bed that I could see !

Tired  but but  unsuccessful .  All  big bass were blind casting to area where big pre spawn females were located .  
Tom

 

 

Annnnnnnd where are those areas, Tom?  

On 3/26/2023 at 4:38 PM, Catt said:

One of the reasons I love Toledo Bend is I can start pre-spawn fishing in Mid-January on the north end. At 65 miles long I can follow the pre-spawn south until the first week of May.

 

Pre-spawn bass are way easier to catch than a bass on the bed. 

 

  Would you agree that most of the prespawn action begins up river and works it's way back towards the Dam? 

[Bassbum1016]

Pre and post here

2 baits. A jig and a shaky head

 

i hate sight fishing and post spawn can be very productive if you find the right places 

[WRB]

1 hour ago, RHuff said:

 

 

Annnnnnnd where are those areas, Tom?  

 

  Would you agree that most of the prespawn action begins up river and works it's way back towards the Dam? 

Staging areas near spawning areas.

Major and secondary points where crawdads are abundant or predominate bait fish are located.

Everyone tends to think bluegill are a baitfish during pre spawn, being egg eaters bass will strike them but if crappie are spawning they are preferred as prey for bass to eat.

Tom

[Catt]

1 hour ago, RHuff said:

Would you agree that most of the prespawn action begins up river and works it's way back towards the Dam?

 

North end of Toledo Bend is shallow offcolored water, that warms fast.

 

South end of Toledo Bend is substantially deeper, clearer, warms slowly.

20 minutes ago, WRB said:

if crappie are spawning they are preferred as prey for bass to eat.

 

Kinda like eating em to!

[Bluebasser86]

I don't target bedding fish so I don't look for them. I will fish potential bedding areas and I'm sure I've caught them off beds, but not intentionally. I usually fish areas leading into spawning pockets where fish will be moving up to spawn. 

[Pat Brown]

The staging areas perpetually reload with pre and post spawners eager to feed and I like hanging out with them while the fish that moved up shallow do their thing until the water is too hot for it!

 

Here in NC there are pre and post spawners to be caught through about November and then it's just about all pre.

 

Bed fishing isn't as fun for me.  Don't really have the patience for it.

 

[Bird]

The water I fish is extremely clear and can easily see bed fish.....I avoid those fish.

But if you're asking what might catch them, aggressively worked Jerkbaits, zoom flukes.

[PaulVE64]

Half a white yum dinger on a  ned has worked, sometimes unintentionally.

I'm normally sight fishing streams for roaming bass but on occasion it'll cross a bed. I always throw at contracting bottom colours so its inevitable.

 

[PressuredFishing]

The cruising bass are hard to catch, the females looking for beds I think.

[WRB]

To effectively bed fish you need to be able to see the bed and bass.

White or pearl 3/8 oz jig with 3” single tail grub works good for me. Catching the make is easy, catching the larger female takes time. The male stays around the bed, may take off initially but returns if you keep quite and 10’ to 20’ away depending on water clarity.

You need the sun on the water and good polarized sun glasses plus a hat to shade your eyes.

Tom