Bass didn't return to the bed

[Avalonjohn44]

I caught a nice 4 pounder on a bed yesterday, the only bed I saw on the small lake I fished, on a shaky head yellow/black fleck bass assassin.  She was right at my feet for a half-hour before I noticed her, it took me another half hour to catch her... I knew a bass would lip a lure and move it, but had never actually seen it before last night.  She must have moved a dozen different lures before the shaky head got her.  

After catching her, and releasing her immediately, she did not return to the bed.  I left and came back two hours later, and she still had not returned.  With the size of her gut, I would bet that she hadn't spawned yet, and there was no male hanging around.   Will she go back?  If not, will she find another bed?  Will she drop her eggs somewhere?  I tried to get her back in the water as fast as I could, but now worry that I screwed it all up.  

[T-rig]

You probably caught a male then the male is the one that makes the bed and then waits for a female to come along.

[Bass Smacker]

Ya thats what I'm thinking. You hooked into the male and he went off to make another bed. Don't sweat it. He will find a girl and make lots of babys  

[RoLo]

In my opinion, a four-pound bass in Virginia is almost certainly a cow (bucks top-out around 6-lbs in Florida).

In any case, I would not be concerned about disrupting the egg-laying process.

Cows spend a surprisingly brief period on the bed, and she may have already done her thing.

More than this, a ripe cow is normally coerced into several nests during the spawning season, not just one.

Roger

[Avalonjohn44]

I think it was a 'she' too.  The bottom was pretty rocky right there, and the tail was not bloody in the least which is why I initially though it had to be a female.  There were no eggs on the bed yet, it was only about a foot and a half of water, and it was pretty clear.  I'm going this evening to take a peek to see if she, or a male is on the bed.  I'm crossing my fingers.

[captaininsaneo]

Even if it was a female, and she was full of eggs, those eggs are going somewhere.  These fish naturally NEED to release their eggs and the males naturally NEED to fertilize them.  Most likely you will spot her sometime when you check, if not dont worry.  There may very well be another nest you missed, she probably retreated to deeper water to recover from the fight.

[Fedxpress]

Another Family displaced!!!!

Fish the post spawn fish and leave the others to raise more for us to catch. Who know what will happen and I don't think you did anything wrong but unless I'm fishing a Bass Master Classic for 100G I pass on the beds.

Fedxpress

[justfishin]

Let me make this clear first, so I do not ruffle any feathers. If you fish for bedding bass, that is your choice and if it is legal in your area then have at it. It does not make you a bad person. Everyone has a choice. That being said, I have been pounding the DNR to get off their butts and have each bass holding waters to have off limit areas for at least two weeks during the spawn. I want these places posted on a website and any local paper for that area. I have been a advocate of this practice for a long time. Now, I will also say, I used to fish for bedding bass many years ago and it was a blast and I had caught some monsters while doing this so, I am as guilty as the next guy. Before you write and tell me how big a idiot I am I do know one thing for sure. Take a bass off the bed and the bluegills and perch will eat every egg they can, period. If I was in a tourney for 100 grand and were it legal to do so, would I fish for bedding bass?, you bet I would. On a strictly going with a buddy day would I fish for bedders?, NO. It is tempting, I admit but, I would suggest that we as fisherman should set a example for the next generation in order to make it a common practice not to fish bedders. JMHO. I did not write this to judge anyone, I just wanted to make a suggestion in a friendly manner.

[Avalonjohn44]

No offense taken.  In theory I am against bed fishing too.  Problem is, I am a world-class rationalizer and have very little will power when it comes to fishing.  I couldn't help but throw lures at that bass.  I feel guilty as heck now.  

[T-rig]

No offense taken. In theory I am against bed fishing too. Problem is, I am a world-class rationalizer and have very little will power when it comes to fishing. I couldn't help but throw lures at that bass. I feel guilty as heck now.

Dont feel guilty because if you dont do it someone else will!

[Catt]

FYI: The male bass will fertilize the eggs and then guard them until they hatch. He runs off all intruders like bream and crawfish that want to eat the eggs.  When the young hatch, he stays with them, guarding them for a few days until they  are able to swim fairly well and hide.  Then he becomes a predator and will eat his own young!

[justfishin]

Dont feel guilty because if you dont do it someone else will!

[T-rig]

Dont feel guilty because if you dont do it someone else will!

Do you carry that attitude over in other aspects of your life as well ? I don't think that is a very good representation of your country ( Switzerland ) sir and I am a little taken back that you made a comment like that considering your age group. That being said, I did not even know they had bass in Switzerland. I find that interesting. Could you tell me when they imported them and how they are fairing there?

[justfishin]

Touche' T-Rig. First of all what I was saying did not sound very nice and I apologize for how it came out. Secondly, I think maybe after all these years of attempting to get " Zones " instilled to guard bedding bass, at least in some areas of each lake, it all seems for nothing. Here I am typing while there are a ton of guys out there this morning pounding the beds and just slaying the nice big bass. I have gotten some calls the last few days on some of my friends outings and they have caught some big females off the beds. Maybe you are right T-Rig, if you can't beat them, join them. Have a good year and thanks for the interesting info.  

[Guest avid]

Just fishin - I never heard of "off limit" areas for bass.  Is this something they do in your area?

My guess is that if the F&W people get concerned about bed fishing damaging the bass population then they will impose a closed season.  Bass will bed in many different areas.  A closed season would guarantee that no bedding bass are disturbed and would be much easier to enforce.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Here in PA the Season for keeping Bass is on the 2nd Sat of June. You can fish for them before this,but you have to put them right back I C&R anyway.

 Now they do this to protect the spawn and once again they will fail. This year Ice out was only 2 weeks ago and when i went fishing last week the avg temp was 52 degrees the lake will be in full spawn around the last week of May No matter how they do it nothing is perfect.

I fished Beds for the first time at the Fork trip it was fun, and from the looks of things there doesnt really affect the Bass population there. I am not an expert and dont have an opinon on this , just relaying my experience.

[cullin8s]

Another thing (may have been mentioned above but I didn't read everyones reply lol) is that the fish only has to have 1 of its offspring live during its entire life to replace it when it does to maintain the number of bass in the lake. A lake will only support a certain number of fish, and bass have 1000's of fry each year, missing one year is only going to hurt if there is something else wrong in the lake. Sometimes due to a drop in water levels you can lose most of the eggs from an entire year, but overall it doesn't hurt the lake like you might think. Releasing the fish was the most important thing, nature will take care of the rest.

[justfishin]

Hey Avid,

  No, there are no real off limit areas except for two that I know of in the spring. We have a season like most states where it is catch and release only. The two places I am speaking of could have been a experiment  for all I know. I fished the Federation trail for a lot of years and I remember making a 25 mile run from Gunpowder near Baltimore to Havre De Grace on the Upper Chesapeake Bay and they had a place marked " NO FISHING " in which is a spawning area. This same thing happened to me when we left Washington DC and ran to a creek called Nanjamoy on the Lower Potomac River and it was marked as well. My big push was after the floods in the Upper Potomac around 96 when we had a fish kill of over 50% because the fish got trapped in the C&O canal and died. We wanted a no spawn bed season for at least 5 years but, it never came to pass. I went today and the smallies are looking healthy and we had a lot of 2 - 3 lb fish. I would like a happy median between bed fisherman and the ones against it. I would just like to see maybe one or two bedding areas per body of water shut down around the month of May here in which would keep everyone happy. Does it hurt fish to pull them off the bed? I guess I cannot say either way. I still believe in my heart that leaving at least some of the fish alone would help. JMO. I have received  a lot of negative feedback on this. The guys like to catch those easy big fish to brag about. I still think its like shooting fish in a barrel but, I used to do it and I am not a bad guy so what can I say? Like I said earlier, if you can't beat them join them. I am awful tempted but, I know, at least for me, I would not feel right about it. It would be like shooting a ten point out of the truck window. There is no satisfaction in that. JMHO.

[Garnet]

I wouldn't feel guilty because it's not against the law and if I was fishing a big money deal guess were this cat would be fishing.

I went to B.A.S.S. Ontario Canada Conservation Seminar it was mostly Master degree scientic presenting there findings.

1 was about bed fishing and the effects on successful spawning it was set up with Sir Sanford Fleming here and a university in Illionis they had test lakes here and there. It was all % and data but the bottom line was both here and in Illionis there was a very negative effect on spawning success.

They projected the effects to the southern waters as even worst. That Norreen Cloth from B.A.S.S. was there and you could see her stress at this research.

I believe most of your people are elected so nothing will change.

Just to blow Sir Sanford Flemings horn that FLW in water weight system was evented there with research dollars coming from Shimano Canada.

If anybody is interested in this research I will look thru my trash or get the info for you.

Garnet