Bedding Bass

[Bass Mekanik]

Today at one of my favorite lakes, I walked over a bridge to find a pair of bass sitting on a bed.  I could tell that the male was pretty aggresive because he would chase the talapia away whenever they neared.  The female on the other hand was lethargic to say the least and was pretty big( i would say 5-8lbs).  After seeing this I'm guessing the spawn is starting early down here in Florida.  I threw everything in my tackle bag at them and could only coax the male into biting a super fluke.  The female would spook very easily and seemed only interested in a t-rig trickworm but would shy away at it everytime.  I continued to walk around the lake and found 2 BIG females sitting on a bed in about 4 feet of water next to a wall.  They were spooked also and i couldnt get a bite if my life depeded on it.  I went back to where i saw the first two and when i got there the male looked like he was dispensing sperm and there were 4 females in the 6lb range swimming circles around him.  I was so amazed b/c i had never seen this before.  20lbs of bass in like a 4ft diameter circle.  Anyways my question is what type of bait and presentation should i be using to catch these bedding bass?

[SneakySnook]

Last year I did great pitching white horny toads and letting them drop to the bottom. Then, give it a little twitch and that will be when it hits.

[Mattlures]

If you want to catch the female than you must MAKE her bite. How do you do this? throw a bait that represents the biggest threat to the bed and make sure it is too big for the male to defend. If she thinks he cant do the job then she will do it. If he does get the bait out of the bed, put it back in and MAKE her bite it.The trick is to pose a serious threat with out spooking the female. This is usually because she is aware of the angler not your choice of baits. I honestly beleive if I can keep the female from leaving the bed I can catch her, EVERYTIME! there are a few that are soo spooky that no matter what will leave if you get within 100 ft but if they even look at a bait they are catchable.

[ga_hawghauler]

stay back from the bed as far as possible and make longer casts this will help you not to spook the fish.Try throwing a lizard either solid black or white. Throwing it on the outside of the bed are work it toward the bed very very slowly. Pausing it and barley twitching it from time to time.

[bass109]

they work.

[Bass Mekanik]

Well today I went to my lake again in search of the big females.  I came across two new bedding bass and was able to catch only the male again on a 3/8 oz booyah boo bug jig.  The females just don't seem interested in my offerings.  Tommorow I am thinking about catching a couple shad or bluegill and freelining them near the beds in hope of some better results.  The water is so clear in this lake which makes the bass so beautiful with the females having the most magnificant lateral line i have seen.  Heres an example of the male I caught today.

The females a saw yesterday were at least 3 times as big.

[wormfishin]

I like to use a lizard without a weight and fish it slow. Also I like to use A tube

that floats  c-riged, I did this back in the spring and done well.

Roy

[blue cat]

try putting a crawdad in her circle,works like magic dust.

tight lines

[fourbizz]

Think bluegill. Bass hate those egg stealing buggers, especially the big females.

[Supermat]

Fourbizzle hit the nail on the head! You said it yourself bro, they're chasing away the Tilapia! So... why not throw a bait that looks just like a Tilapia?! I know the baits are a bit pricey but if you pick one up and throw it into those beds you're going to see reactions you've never seen before. And I don't mean after 10 hours, I mean swim it through the bed a couple times then leave it in there and you're going to see a really angry female in a matter of seconds! Go big, they'll eat it! If price bothers you just think... how much money do you have invested in bass fishing? Is it worth 22 bucks to give yourself the best shot you've ever had at catching the biggest bass of your life?

http://www.mattlures.com/ultimatebluegill.htm

[Mattlures]

Your picture tells the story of why you arent getting the females to bite.

If the male cant do his job she will do it for him. It may take a little while for her to see this but once she sees he is failing she comes in and helps. By placing the bait over and over into the bed and if it is the right bait she will kill it. The only time I ever catch the male is if its the absolute last resort. this has worked twice for me out of hundreds of bed fish, TWICE. When ever I have accidentaly caught the male 99 times out of 100 the female is spooked and becomes very dificult to catch. You must learn to read the fish, they all have something that will get them to bite you just have to put enough of the peices together to figure out each fish.

[Bass Mekanik]

Thanks for the replys. I guess I am going to shell ou the 22 bucks for a ultimate tilapia or male bluegill those baits look sick.  If I do land these big females will they return to the nest after a qucik C.P.R.? I don't want to stress them too much.  I got 25 bucks at BPS to spend thanks to my better half for x-mas so i think im going to pick up some craws, lizards, and tubes.

[Guest Texas_Bass_Pro]

I like to use a lizard without a weight and fish it slow. Also I like to use A tube

that floats c-riged, I did this back in the spring and done well.

Roy

I like that technique as well.

[Supermat]

Bass Mechanik,

 After you catch them they SHOULD go right back to the nest. I've seen big females return as quickly as 2 or 3 minutes, some take a while longer. If she's still needed she'll be right back in there. Mattlures gave you some awesome advice on how to irritate the female as well as what not to do. Personally, I'd heed that advice and never forget it... that guy knows how to catch 'em! Good luck out there, let's see the photos when you stick all those big girls!  

[Bass Mekanik]

Just got back from some x-mas fishing and I got to try out my new digi cam.  It was real windy and overcast with water visability of about 2 feet.  I caught 5 keepers and 3 dinks but no big mommas. 6" red shad charlies worms were the ticket today. Heres a pic I took of my nicest today.

[Munkin]

Well this is going to make me quite popular but... How about just letting the alone so they can; spawn, defend their fry, and not have to worry about fisherman while they are vulnerable ? :-? Everyone talks about "preserving the resource" but in the time it takes you to land and take that picture the bluegill can destroy the nest. I am not some sleeper cell PETA member or anything I just believe in letting them spawn in peace so there will be more bass.

Allen

[Mattlures]

Allen you make a valid point that has been debated to death. The truth is spawn fishing has little impact if any on the fishery. We have no seasons here in Cali. You can catch and keep bass anytime of the year and the bass populations are always high. Water dropping hase a MUCH bigger affect on the spawn then fishing for them. People do catch and keep them but most prefer to let them go. The advise I gave was to help cacth the females. If they are caught and released quickly the male will continue to gaurd. He is the main defender. I rarley tell anybody my whole bed fishing technique because There are those who will keep the big girls. I dont want to help them.

[shtuka]

Well this is going to make me quite popular but... How about just letting the alone so they can; spawn, defend their fry, and not have to worry about fisherman while they are vulnerable ?  Everyone talks about "preserving the resource" but in the time it takes you to land and take that picture the bluegill can destroy the nest. I am not some sleeper cell PETA member or anything I just believe in letting them spawn in peace so there will be more bass.

Allen

DITTO

Where I live season is closed until last weekend in June. Frustrating and itching, but as a result we (L. Erie) have outstanding SMB fishery.

When I was younger, I was targeting bass in spring and I would usually stop counting after 50 fish/day (C/R only). For the last 10-15y, I respect regulations 100%, and honestly I do not see any challenge or thrill in catching bedding bass. It is just not contest.

[JT Bagwell]

How about trying a Yamamoto Lizard on a

drop shot rig? The drop shot rig is a very

neglected technique for catching spawning fish.

JT Bagwell

[Mattlures]

Shtucka, there is  a little chalenge to catching the males. It can be fun. Anybody can cacth them though. If you catch enough of them you will start to learn more about the females. I used to not even try for the big girls because they were to hard. Now I have learned how to read the fish, both the males and the females. It is an important step in learning how to cacth the big girls. I assure you catching the females is a huge challenge and definatley a contest. Of course there are always exceptions and every once in a while I will stumble across a gimme. But this is not the norm.

JT each fish(I am only referring to the females) is diferent and diferent baits will get diferent reactions.

Drop shotting is a technique I will use when my main go too's arent getting the reaction I am looking for. It does have its time and place. The biggest problem I have with it is, the males can too easily defend it. They can and sometimes do completly prevent the female from even getting close. Thats why I never start with it. However I have ended with it   I prefer the fat Ika over a lizzard though.

[Bud]

         Well this is going to make me quite popular but... How about just letting the alone so they can; spawn, defend their fry, and not have to worry about fisherman while they are vulnerable ?  Everyone talks about "preserving the resource" but in the time it takes you to land and take that picture the bluegill can destroy the nest. I am not some sleeper cell PETA member or anything I just believe in letting them spawn in peace so there will be more bass.

Allen                

If you opinion make you unpopular  them I am gong to be right their with you.   Allen   I wish they would close season thill the spawn was over.   I know here at Ky Lake they have caught spawning Crappie till the Crappie population is way down.   The same thing can and will happen with Bass.

[Supermat]

I don't think that your opinion makes you unpopular at all. Personally, I choose to fish for bedding bass under certain conditions and not under others. I don't believe that what I do is detrimental to my fisheries and that is my choice. At the same time I have utter RESPECT for any angler who chooses to leave bedding fish alone just as I respect any angler who goes out of his way to preserve bass fishing. Thanks for making that decision, even though we don't see eye-to-eye on the matter I will never bash a positive decision that promotes our sport and that guards the fish we all enjoy.

Matt

[Chris at Tech]

How about trying a Yamamoto Lizard on a

drop shot rig? The drop shot rig is a very

neglected technique for catching spawning fish.

JT Bagwell

Yeah, someone on this board showed me this technique...

The dropshot give you the advantage of being able to park the bait on the bed.  It worked pretty well for us.  Thanks Randall

[Banor]

How about trying a Yamamoto Lizard on a

drop shot rig? The drop shot rig is a very

neglected technique for catching spawning fish.

JT Bagwell

I dont see any better way to keep a bait right in her face for an extended period of time than this.  

It's been my experience with conventional methods that you perpetuate an endless cycle by casting/retrieving, casting/retrieving to the bed.  You get the bait in the bed for a few seconds - long enough to get her attention, start to tick her off but then you are out of the bed and she no longer feels threatened.... thus giving her a cooling off period only to try and work her up again.  She's not going to expend any more energy than she has to and has no reason to kill a bait that is only breifly in her bed.  By the time she's made the decision to kill the predator it's a moot point because the predator is gone.  Endless cycle.

With the DS you can pretty near keep the bait in her nose permanently.  Shakey head is not a bad option either.

Both of these will be my go to tactics for bedders.

B