bedding bass in clear water?

[ga_hawghauler]

the lower part of the lake i fish the bass are on bed right now. the water is clear and the bass has seen a good bit of fishing pressure. I have tied several tactics but none has really produced. looking for suggestion??

[babytorpedo]

If you mean they are spawning on a bed, that means inclear water you see them on the bed? That would be the male fish? You could put something close to the bed like a small rubber worm or a jig and the fish will pick it up and move it or just want to kill it. You could try a broken back rebel or rapala in the silver/blue(finess topwater over the bed)

[tbird]

One of the lakes I fish regulary the fish also spawn in clear water . Try a tube bait in watermelon or green pumpkin with an 1/8 oz weight. Put this in their bed and they will eventually have had enough and attack.

[Bassbum80]

These are all true, but you often hear about pros in tourneys spending way too long trying to entice one of these bass into striking without success.  It is very difficult to leave them alone when you can actually see them but sometimes you just have to move on.  A perfect example is a lake we were on this week, there was a nice 4-5 pounder sitting there in plain view on a bed & we threw everything we could at it to get a strike.  It wasn't interested in any of them.  We were hoping that it would at least try to pick the bait up and move it so we could set the hook, but it wasn't having it.  We finally just had to move on and within a little while, we caught some others.  It would have been nice to get her in the boat, but you can only spend so much time on a single fish.  

[babytorpedo]

When catching these fish ethics come into play. You should probably release any fish you catch off a spawning bed right? Most likely it's a male fish, although I have caught large females on a spawning bed. You could try a small 4" plastic worm, texas, carolina, or no weight at all directly on the bed with minimal movement.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

These are all true, but you often hear about pros in tourneys spending way too long trying to entice one of these bass into striking without success. It is very difficult to leave them alone when you can actually see them but sometimes you just have to move on. A perfect example is a lake we were on this week, there was a nice 4-5 pounder sitting there in plain view on a bed & we threw everything we could at it to get a strike. It wasn't interested in any of them. We were hoping that it would at least try to pick the bait up and move it so we could set the hook, but it wasn't having it. We finally just had to move on and within a little while, we caught some others. It would have been nice to get her in the boat, but you can only spend so much time on a single fish.

If I was fishing a tourney .... that would be the case.  I llok at that as a challenge though.  There is something sooooooooooo rewarding to me to catch a bass that is stubborn as hell like that.  That being said, I will only stay as long as needed for a bass that I think is in the 5 lbs. range or bigger.

[Mattlures]

I have never not got a bass to bite that was locked on the bed. They can all be caught. No such thing as uncatchable. I rarly spend more than 15 minutes on one fish and I am not talking about the males. Each fish is diferent. learn their body language and you can catch them. I do not teach people how to bed fish because too many people keep the big females and I need every advantage I can get out here. But believe me they can all be caught. I even cath most of the ones that are just hanging around the area. The only fish that I dont usualy catch are the ones that have hook marks in thier mouths. People think all baits are equal whwn it comes to bed fishing. not true. I use 2 baits, My bluegill and a simple jig. Thats it.  The most important part of bedfishing is being able to read the fish. The longer you do it the more you will lern.  as long as you are trying to lern.

[Gatorbassman]

The most important part of bedfishing is being able to read the fish.

Ditto!!!! Every fish is different. With some experience yow quickly know what do.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

The most important part of bedfishing is being able to read the fish.

Ditto!!!! Every fish is different. With some experience yow quickly know what do.

That's what I love so much about bed fishing.  Every fish you see has a personality and it has certain things that pushes it's buttons.  It awesome when you can see the routine of a bass and almost predict when they are going to pick your bait.  

[dodgeguy]

i've heard it's more important to put the male back to guard the nest.i heard a female caught and released during a tourney will spawn somewhere else.the theory behind that is the female doesn't stat and guard the eggs but the male does.anyway.i find lizards and jigs to work good for me.

[ga_hawghauler]

hey guys appreciate the info. i believe fishing pressure combined with the ultra clear water has a lot to do with these fish. this past weekend i threw carolina rigged lizards and a weighted jig but these fish never made any notion of going after them. Ieven tried backing off and throwing  a weightless fluke. i had a few slight hits more like they were trying to nudge the bait instead of striking at it. i have caught bedding bass before but these is presenting a tough challenge.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Try this, what works very well, though I don't pass it on locally since too many folks keep what they catch and taking a guarding male off a bed is simply not good conservation. Put a bullet sinker on the line then tie on a 3" floating minnow lure. Make sure you use just enough sinker to hold from flaoting up. Stick the sinker about an inch or two away from the lure line eye to hold the lure nose to the bottom, tail hanging up. Pitch the lure past the bed then hop it onto the bed. Once there leave the lure in place barely vibrating it, what appears to be a fish (shad, bream, bluegill, darter) eating the eggs. Get set for a smashing strike. Release the bass immediately, catch him again on the same lure as soon as it gets on the same bed again. But you really ought not bother Mr. Bass, because every minute you take him off the bed egg robbers go to work doing what he's supposed to prevent happening. Try going after the larger females downstream waiting for some male to come escort them to a new bed.

Jim

[BD]

I JUST got back from Broken Bow lake last saturday. We used a white salamander, and MADE her take it. One female took like 35 minutes, and was circling the bed very widely. We would let the bait hit her, and eventually she stayed tight on the bed, but still wouldn't take it. If you work it over and over, I can ASSURE you, she will eventually hit the lure.

[bass89fisher]

bisty tube made by strike king in white pepper w/ a 1/8 jig head you can swim it or fish it like a jig.

[Matt Fly]

Learning the signs a bass gives off is part of the equation of "if she is locked" or "catchable", what part of the nest is she guarding, and you determine that by the way she postiions herself and her reactions as you probe her nest with a bait.   If she is more concerned with you and the boat, she's has possibly been hooked, is not locked.    I will make repeated casts with my first choice, and that is dictated by water clarity.    I will change baits often, lizzards, tubes with fiz pellets, flukes, floating strikeking 3X baits, and the Xrap, but I use a carolina weight over the bullet, line slides easier, and I don't peg it.   By lowering my rod tip, the bait backs off the weight, I will let float up to six inches off bottom and twitch the bait, and it works the same as Ouchitabasser mentioned.

I like this one the best because bass bite the tails and carry baits out of the nest, and when they nip the tail with the feathered treble, they get hooked the first time with out me waiting for them to aggressively bite.    

The only time I go after males is when they both are present or the male itself it huge which is a rareity, males do not get half the size of females, and its a tournament.    Other wise, I've caught tons of average fish and leave them for someone else to beat up on.   Sight fishing is the chance to set your personal all time best, or encounter much larger fish easier than other times of the year to find and catch.   Would your wife like to be bothered during child birth?  No way!!!!   Not much difference, this is why, when I do sight fish, its for true trophies mostly or a tournament.  I'll pass up hundreds of catchable fish looking for that one special fish.

[doog]

try a rig out of bassmaster that i found to work take a 3-4 ounce pyramid sinker and ty it in front of a floating crank bait in bluegill color. flip it to the bed let the crankbait float to the top. then reel it in it will look like a bluegill swimming to eat the eggs the bass will go nutz and try to kill it

                                                                       doog