What does a bass bed look like and how do you see them?

[jax]

Ok. I'm still new enough that I have to ask. A guy fishing a tourney asked me this yesterday as he was puttering by. He asked me if we had seen any beds. I feel like an idiot asking this question. It is one I have never thought of.

So canyou actually find bass beds? How can you see them if they are in water that is not clear? Is this a learn to read your sonar thing or a visual thing? I realize that if you find the fish you more than likely have found the beds but he was specifically asking if we had found the beds. Not the fish.

Is this one of those go find the paper stretcher questions...

Thanks

[Derek Chance]

You can;t see beds on sonar.  You need a good pair of polarized sunglasses and just visually see them.  they look like light circular spots on the bottom.  Usually about a foot or 2 wide. Many times if you find one, you will see a fish sitting right on top of it.  In dirty water you will only see the ones really shallow.

[WRB]

To see a bass bed you must be able to see the bottom clearly at the depth the bass are bedding and that can be anywhere from 1 foot to 8 feet or deeper. Start looking in the shallower 1' to 5' depth range.

You can't see into the water well at low light periods and need the sunlight at least up high enough to penetrate well. The water must also be calm enough so the waves do not refract the light.

Located a calm cove where bass are known to spawn, put the sun over your back so no glare is on the water. Wear a large brim hat to shade your eyes and wear good quality polarized sunglasses. You should be able to see the bottom clearly and fish moving around. Bass beds are not easy to see. The bed can be nearly any shape, usually round 12" to 36" area cleaned of any debris and usually will have something on the shallow side; brush, rock, tree, dock post, anything that helps to protect the blind area. It's easier to see bass movement, so look for a bass that swims off quickly from a spot, make a quite circle out towards deeper water and slowly come back to where the bass darted off from and look closely for a bed or the returning bass or another bass sitting near the bed site. When looking for bass, look for anything that moves, a flash of white or black straight line in the water. Fish look like skinny sticks in water from a distance, go by length, not girth to determine size.

WRB

[jax]

Thanks for the help.

I had never thought of looking for bass beds.

Now I just need a good reason to leave work to go find bass beds...  ;D

[Tucson]

With polarized sunglasses and assuming fairly clear water, just look for little headboards with a half-dozen pillows on it.  

Hope this helps.

[Under the Radar]

With polarized sunglasses and assuming fairly clear water, just look for little headboards with a half-dozen pillows on it.

Hope this helps.

X2

and if you see a "Do Not Disturb" sign, just keep on going. They're locked on and doing their thing. ;) :-[

[mrlitetackle]

With fairly clear or even slightly murky water you can recognize them from the shore quite easily (polarized glasses will greatly improve this).  You will notice a change in the bottom, it will look like a cleared patch of sand usually 1-3 ft wide.  Most of the time you will see the male sitting on it and the female is usually near by.  From my experience the males are the aggressors, so you can literally drop a worm right in the bed and the male will pick it up just to move it out,,, bam catch him and hold him to the side,,,, then the female will get aggressive... do the same while the male is not on the bed and you will net the larger female as well....(please always throw all spawning bass back and try not to harm them too bad in the process..)

[DINK WHISPERER]

I have found a lot of them but they are all empty?

[kms399]

Here you go

[.dsaavedra.]

With fairly clear or even slightly murky water you can recognize them from the shore quite easily (polarized glasses will greatly improve this). You will notice a change in the bottom, it will look like a cleared patch of sand usually 1-3 ft wide. Most of the time you will see the male sitting on it and the female is usually near by. From my experience the males are the aggressors, so you can literally drop a worm right in the bed and the male will pick it up just to move it out,,, bam catch him and hold him to the side,,,, then the female will get aggressive... do the same while the male is not on the bed and you will net the larger female as well....(please always throw all spawning bass back and try not to harm them too bad in the process..)

sometimes it is better to just let the male pick up and play with the bait because if you pull the male out of there, the female is less likely to bite. i'd just let the male play with it and then when he fails to remove the pesky foreign intruder, the female will step in, and then when she picks it up, set the hook.

[Paul Roberts]

Male is locked. Do you see the female? Typical pose, between mating bouts.

[.dsaavedra.]

that male better step up his game! those bluegills are all up in his turf.  ;D

[Wesley]

that male better step up his game! those bluegills are all up in his turf. ;D

Thats what I was thinking.

[Paul Roberts]

.dsaavedra. wrote on Today at 12:07am:

that male better step up his game! those bluegills are all up in his turf. ;D

Thats what I was thinking.

The male actually is on the job. But he is harried some. Neither the bass nor the 'gills are unfit for their jobs.

I posted this photo once before in a 'strike zone' thread. Here's how I described what's going on in the pic:

Here's a photo of a 15" male closely guarding a bed. There are 9 'gills in the image. However, none of the bluegills are in immediate danger, and they know it.

Several are picking about the edges of the bed for loose eggs, or insects, off to the side and rear of the bass. The largest 'gill is in the most potentially dangerous spot, but he's too big to be concerned. The three bluegills behind the bass are in a very common arrangement, a semi-circular array directly behind the bass -the very safest location near that bass. Although the photo doesn't quite give the coverage in front of the bass, rest assured there are no 'gills within his strike window.

It's pretty common to see 'gills move out ahead of a cruising bass, circle around behind, and watch it leave the area. Bass cannot catch 'gills at will, they must use honed judgment, appropriate actions and approaches, and take advantage of opportunities. As much as bass are "honed" to hunt bluegills, conversely bluegills are well honed to evade bass.

[MaineBassMan]

You can;t see beds on sonar. You need a good pair of polarized sunglasses and just visually see them. they look like light circular spots on the bottom. Usually about a foot or 2 wide. Many times if you find one, you will see a fish sitting right on top of it. In dirty water you will only see the ones really shallow.

Around here our beds come in two different colors depending on the lake, Some lakes they are light in color and other lakes they are dark.

[Paul Roberts]

Around here our beds come in two different colors depending on the lake, Some lakes they are light in color and other lakes they are dark.

Same here. The dark ones are dug into substrate that has a layer of black organic (and I assume anoxic -by the smell) muck. The light ones are pale soils/gravel/cobbles that are just swept clean, exposing the pale substrate.

[Dalton Tam]

Ive come to fins that if your in clearer water you may see a mirky area in the water where the female has been fanning her bed. Sometimes if you sight fish along a bank and watch carefully ahead of you, you may catch a female chasing baitfish off her bed. You may see a wake and a few flickering baitfish jumping ahead. Most of the time, if your careful not to spook the female with your trolling motor you may flip into the area where you spotted this and catch a fish off the bed.  Also sometimes its been known for bass to drop off to outer trees where I live and you may catch a small etti in the water caused by a female fanning and you can throw beside the tree with little splash and catch them that way also.

[CFFF 1.5]