What to use for big spawning bass???

[Zac_White]

What kind of baits should be used when fishing prespawn-spawn???(iv got a pond with alot of bass in it(including 5-8lbers) but i need some info on what to use for um)

[Nick.Culver]

Lizards, tubes, and craws are my favorite. Use a craw with a 1/16oz bullet weight and pitch or cast on to their nest. Big female largies can be testy. So stick with them a while. I've crawled a bait over their back and they didn't take it. Also for prespawn fish, I like to throw jigs and tubes at isolated cover. So stumps away from everything else. Any cover thats different typically holds larger fish.

[JT Bagwell]

I like to use Lizards, Senkos and Jigs for bass around the spawning season.

JT Bagwell

[Nick.Culver]

Good to here a pro agrees with me about the lizards. You made my day JT.

[playmaker47]

Jigs, Lizards, Worms, & Crawdads

[ernel]

I've had luck with a slow walking spook before they get on there beds some. Other than that I agree with everyone else said also.

One of my favorite things for when they are on the bed is a horizontal dropshot. Throw the whole rig up on the bank and drag it back in so there is no splash. Start dragging the rig back untill the lure is in the nest. Keep a little tension on the line and make it bounce up and down in the nest. Then let it settle to the bottom for a few and then repeat. All this activity in a bass' nest will make it so mad that it has to bite something. I normally use about a 4 feet seperation between the weight and the lure. I also use a heavier weight to help hold the lure in place. If the weight moves forward then the lure will come out of the nest.

[Will]

For bedding fish I throw tubes, jigs, crawdads, lizards, sof jerkbaits, dropshot, finnesse worms, and senkos. One trick I use to tempt the bass is hook up a tube weightless and throw just past the the bed, slowly reel the tube so it is floating above the bed. Just let it sit their and wait for water to get inside and sink the tube which is very slow, while it is sinking then air bubbles will be escaping sometimes triggering the bite.

[earthworm77]

This may sound ridiculous but I throw 1/16oz hair jigs in white for visible bass in the spring. Kills them! The trade off is the light line you must utilize but a 4 or 6lb Yo Zuri Hybrid is very strong.

[thewayweball02]

Out here in the West some guys use big Blue Gill swimbaits on beds to catch the bigger females.

[Big_Bass_Rich]

It's rare that the season ever opens up here while bass are still bedding, but when it does I have never had a bass turn down a weightless 5" plastic worm on a bed.

[Chris]

If your fishing stained water a spinnerbait will work or a jerkbait.

[Nick_Barr]

soft jerkbaits, crawdads or creature baits are my favorite

[Nick]

1.  Use a bait that you can see. 2. Hook it weedless if necessary.  3. Try different profiles of soft plastics. 4. Use a heavy sinker 1/4 to 1/2 oz. to keep the bait in the bed longer to agitate the bass.  Occasionally rub the sinker and soft plastic on the fish to make it angry.  4. Learn to find the sweetspot on each bed where the bass gets most irritated and keep pitching back to that spot. 5. Have patience.  Somethimes a choreographed 10-50 minute "dance" is needed. 6.  Learn when a bass is "locked on" and catchable and not locked which may be a big time waster.  7. If the male is caught on one day, don't expect the female to stay on the nest much longer.  Males are more aggressive and easier to catch. 8.  Learn to spot beds that others miss in deeper water.  9. Put all of the bass caught back!  You can catch them again the following day usually.

[LUNKER]

In Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin I was nailing the smallies with a Rapala natural shad jerkbait. They were on the beds and I would cast past the beds. And used a jerk jerk pause jerk long pause retrieve. Normally getting the kill on that long pause.  The next tournament day, they wouldnt hardly look at the jerkbait and had to resort to a tube and a plastic crawfish. A lot of guys were doing well on the white tube. They could see it was on the nest and just pump it up and down until the fish got mad. I made 50 casts to a bed that had a male guarding and a female on it. After the 50 tries it finally paid off. I got the male. Vaulted me into third for the tournament. Just some of my tactics. I like the drop shot idea. I think I will paint some of my drop shot weights white. Then I can see the location better. As long as the weights on the bed, the lure will be above it.

Good Luck, I look forward to hear more ideas here.

[roadwarrior]

I think you all should leave nesting fish alone.

[jbrazWI]

Hey all, first time replying so be gentle!!!

I will have to agree with what roadwarrior said.

These bedding fish are too protective, fishing for the females right before she lays her eggs takes precious energy away from them during the most important time of the year (in my opinion).  Once the spawn has taken place, a male bass two minutes removed from the nest can result in some fairly harsh concequences.  I can try to find the literature that cites these scientific findings, but I know it was an article in In-Fisherman about a year or two ago.  

I understand a lot of tournys take place during the spawn--to each his/her own if they choose to fish beds.  I don't tourny fish, I just have a fishing addiction, so I would like good fisheries to continue producing.

Again, not trying to bash nest fishing, but rather:

A.  giving my $0.02...and....

B.  make other anglers aware that there has been some solid scientific studies/data out there about fishing for bedding bass.

jb

[LUNKER]

Good point about leaving them alone. Just one problem with that. Tournaments are normally scheduled around spawning times.  Its a choice you have to make for yourself. I am sure this is a hot topic. Its the DNR's job to manage and mine to catch the fish. I personally believe that the advent of Catch and Release will keep a healthy habitat and survival rate. Have a great day.

[roadwarrior]

I'm NOT on a crusade and it's NOT illegal so as Lunker says, you gotta decide for yourself. I know tournament fishermen need to catch five fish to make their 10-15 lb daily goal, but I'm not a tournament fisherman and I ONLY want to catch one, TEN POUND fish. So those little 3-4 lb bank runners that are guarding their nest are of no interest to me. Whether it hurts the general health of the fishery when you take that little guy off the nest and kill 5 or 10,000 eggs is subject to debate. What I do know is that all fish do not spawn at the same time and while some may be nesting, others will still be in deeper water in pre-spawn mode. Those monsters are the ones I want to catch and QUICKLY release so they can go about their business and produce the next generation of trophy fish.

[squid]

I tried to catch one while sitting on the bed and it was funny to watch it rub against my bait....like it was mating or something...so, since we couldn't get it to bite we left it alone.   Sat right under the prop of a pontoon boat.

[Mattlures]

out here in Cali the tropky hunters throw bluegill swimbaits.

[tritonman]

I was told the best way to geta spawning bass to hit while she is on her bed is to take a tube and insert a alka-selzer inside, drop it front of her and let the bubbles do the work. It may make her think that it is a threat to her nest.