Richmond Dogwoods in Bloom

[Sam]

Dogwoods in Richmond are in bloom.

Bass are on their beds.

Lets go fishing!!!!        

[SimonSays]

Heya Sam,

What lure have you had the most success with for bedding bass in Richmond?  I've never fished bed bass before!

[lightsout]

Sam have you spotted any bedding yet? The fish have been kinda boogered up in the ponds I've been fishing, but it seems like any day now. It's supposed to be 94 tommorow!

[JCrzy4Bass]

Sam's right on. As usual with his dogwood theory. Myself and two of my buddies found three males either fanning out nests or protecting them the other day. Couldn't get them to bite a thing though. All defensive strikes pushing the baits away or they were so fast trying to get the bait away that you couldn't set the hook. I tried on one by setting as fast as I could and the fish flew out of the water on my jig lol.

We put the baits right on their head (jigs of different sizes, worms, plastics) but nothing. They would swim right back up every time if they swam off too. Just roaming around the same spot. Should be any day now before the females move up and it gets good. That's just one pond though, haven't seen any activity like that on any other lake or anything around my place.

I'd imagine most of the ponds are gonna hit that time frame of the spawn before the larger lakes. Though obviously many factors are gonna play into that (water clarity and sun penetration, size of the lake, depth, etc). Any one else see any signs of bedding fish or at least the start of the process?

I may hit that pond again one morning or evening at low light here soon to see if I can get on some of the females.  Nothing beats sight fishing, except smallie fishing that is...

[Sam]

Fished the Blue Ridge School pond this AM and caught 7 black crappie off their beds plus two bluegills that were in the area.

Did not see any bass on any beds along the bank in the pond. Could not get a bass bite so they were either on deeper beds or still staging getting ready to move up to bed later this week.

The Dogwoods are a few days behind us in the Blue Ridge mountains north of Charlottesville so that could explain why no bass bites.

Have not checked the local Richmond ponds as have been too busy with work and Easter with grandog.We took him to the Richmond Easter parade on Sunday and son and daughter-in-law came over for dinner so that wiped out Sunday. Saturday is "honey dew" day so all I did was go grocery and shoe shopping.

Plan to hit one or two ponds this week.

As for what to throw????

Try a tube.  Throw past the bed, reel slow into the bed and let it sit in the bed giving it some slight twitches. The bass will pick it up and try to move it out.

Keep doing this to aggravate the bass.

If the water is clear, they can see you. But it does not matter. They will focus their attention on the lure even though they know you are there.

Same with a shaky head lizard or trick worm. Just be sure to get the lure in the bed and shake it slightly and move it around some within the bed. Repeat process.

Nothing big.  A small tube will do the trick.

Remember, they are not eating. They will pick up the bait and swim it out of the nest.

You have to be fast. Wear polarized sunglasses and a cap to block the sun and so you can see into the water.

Sunny side of pond will have beds first unless there are rocks or better bottom for them to bed somewhere else in the pond.

Crappie will be bedding, too. Use a small grub on light line and drive the crappie nuts by putting it their beds and shaking it so slightly. Otherwise, they will just ignore the bait.

Be sure to release the bass and crappie ASAP back into the water so they can return to their beds.

Have fun. 

[soccplayer07]

great post sam!

[lightsout]

I throughly checked  3 ponds sat/sun and other than crappie that appeared to be staging, nothing yet. Usually its crappie, then bass, then bluegill with the bass/gills interlapping some. We had torrential downpours last night so not sure how that'll affect things.

Great tips sam, the plan ol' shakeyhead has served me well the past 4 years or so.

[IMPY03]

I fished a small lake in carolina sunday and could not get a bass to bite but I did happen to see a very large male(5 to 6lbs) swimming around in the shallows along with a few other smaller bass and I'm guessing they too were also gearing up for the females to get on the beds. I'm going again tomorrow to hopefully catch a few if they are in fact bedding.

[Sam]

IMPY, yes they are bedding.

Friend found them bedding on Lake Chesdin this week so if they are on their beds up here in Richmond they should be a few days ahead of us in your area.

Let us know how you do. 

[cmatthews6485]

Just got out of a 5day in henrico county hopefully they are still bedding so i can get some action on them

[Sam]

Crappie and bass are on their beds.

Full moon this Wednesday so all bass should be on their beds. 

[heyitskirby]

Any ideas of where to find them on the river?  Planning on hitting the shad tomorrow and maybe making a run downriver to see what I can stir up.

[Sam]

Kirby, are you going on the upper James above Bosher's Dam or the lower dam past the fall line at I-95?

With the full moon on Wednesday the bass will be on their beds for sure.

As to finding them, look for the sunny side of the banks and other shorelines although you may not be able to see them that well in a moving river that is still high.

Barge Pit, backs of creeks, along the jetties and places that do not go dry when the tide goes out are starters.

Calm water with rocks or grass may be places to find them on their beds.

Finding the calm water will be the trick as the James River is still high and moving at a pretty good rate.

Double check the tide charts to make sure you will have the water flow you are seeking.

Let us know how you do. 

[NewAngler]

Just got out of a 5day in henrico county hopefully they are still bedding so i can get some action on them

Haha. They don't allow fishing breaks in jail?

[cmatthews6485]

haha i wish i didnt get to see any kind of sunlight or fresh air while i was in there. but it wasnt that bad, no more drunk driving for me i learned my lesson in february when i got the ticket and now after serving the 5 days the judge gave me it deffinately changed my mind on doing that again

[heyitskirby]

Sam - only went for bass for about a half an hour last Sunday before we realized that if we didn't get out of there we may be waiting in line at Ancarrow's for hours.

Did well on the shad, though. 

I may try and make it out to Watkin's Landing tomorrow if I have time...

[Fat-G]

Fished the Blue Ridge School pond this AM and caught 7 black crappie off their beds plus two bluegills that were in the area.

Did not see any bass on any beds along the bank in the pond. Could not get a bass bite so they were either on deeper beds or still staging getting ready to move up to bed later this week.

The Dogwoods are a few days behind us in the Blue Ridge mountains north of Charlottesville so that could explain why no bass bites.

Have not checked the local Richmond ponds as have been too busy with work and Easter with grandog.We took him to the Richmond Easter parade on Sunday and son and daughter-in-law came over for dinner so that wiped out Sunday. Saturday is "honey dew" day so all I did was go grocery and shoe shopping.

Plan to hit one or two ponds this week.

As for what to throw????

Try a tube. Throw past the bed, reel slow into the bed and let it sit in the bed giving it some slight twitches. The bass will pick it up and try to move it out.

Keep doing this to aggravate the bass.

If the water is clear, they can see you. But it does not matter. They will focus their attention on the lure even though they know you are there.

Same with a shaky head lizard or trick worm. Just be sure to get the lure in the bed and shake it slightly and move it around some within the bed. Repeat process.

Nothing big. A small tube will do the trick.

Remember, they are not eating. They will pick up the bait and swim it out of the nest.

You have to be fast. Wear polarized sunglasses and a cap to block the sun and so you can see into the water.

Sunny side of pond will have beds first unless there are rocks or better bottom for them to bed somewhere else in the pond.

Crappie will be bedding, too. Use a small grub on light line and drive the crappie nuts by putting it their beds and shaking it so slightly. Otherwise, they will just ignore the bait.

Be sure to release the bass and crappie ASAP back into the water so they can return to their beds.

Have fun.

Also cup your hands around your glasses.

[cmatthews6485]

caught two 2lbers on beds this morning at innsbrook my dad didnt want to stay long so i only could fish 1/4 of the lake and not much time anyone else want to go out in the richmond area today?

[VAfishin]

So I've been seeing a lot of bass on beds, but I can't get them to hit anything.  Any ideas?  I've tried dragging some tubes, senkos, lizards, lipless cranks through the bed, but I can't get them to hit it.  I can literally stand over the fish and see them ignoring my bait even when I move away behind a tree or down the bank or whatever.  It's cool watching them chase off bluegill but I'd rather them hit my bait hahaha

[cmatthews6485]

at first they wouldnt hit mine either but then i sprayed garlic on my soft plastic and walked down the bank some and had a white senko on a shakey head and caught one that way and the other one i caught on a bed was a white super fluke on a shakey head

[Sam]

You have to aggravate them into hitting your bait.

And that may not work.

Get a tube and drag it into the middle of the bed and shake it and let it sit.  Sooner or later he will pick it up to move it out of the bed.

Then again, he may not.

As you know, they don't eat while guarding their beds so no matter what you do some just will not be interested in your bait.

Keep trying is all you can do.