Bed Fishing

[tcain38]

Ok guys need some help. I love to bed fish. I fish a few tourneys during the spawn in Kentucky. I catch fish but they are all the average size 2-3 1/2 pounds. This is not enough. How do I catch the bigger females instead of the little males. I find a few bigger males sometimes but I just dont know how to catch those big females that you see swim by every now and then. I would like to know what you guys do. What baits do you use, your approach on the bedding fish, how to catch the big females, where do you look, these types of things. Any info would be great.

-Thanks Travis Cain

[Fish Chris]

Hey Travis, right on, I love bed fishing too

I'd say the first thing is, you have to find a big female glued to a bed ! I know it's hard sometimes to pass right by beds with catchable fish, but if you want a big one, don't let yourself get sidetracked for anything smaller.

I find that the bigger fish often spawn a bit deeper than the smaller ones, especially in clear water.

As far as the actual lure, or color of lure, it's not usually that important.

The big thing is to be persistent. I really don't try to hook the little male if I can help it, and won't purposely set the hook on him, if I see he has got my lure, but instead, I let him carry it out of the nest, and spit it, then I quickly reel in and get it right back in the nest ASAP ! Sometimes the female will get fed up with the little male which doesn't seem to be doing his job, and she will step in to show him what's up !

Oh, and here's a really juicy tip for you

If you find a big female glued to a bed, but just can't get her to bite, then take a length of fishing line, and tie a weight to one end, and put a bobber on the other to make a marker. Take it out a few feet past the nest, from a direction which you will remember, and drop the weight to the bottom. Now, slide all the slack out of the line, so that the bobber just barely makes it to the surface, but can't drift off one direction or the other.

Now, completely leave the area and let the fish rest in peace. Sneak back up several hours later..... or best of all, right before dark, when direct light is off the water. Stop a long casts distance from your marker, and start fishing Not only should she have dropped her guard, but she will be way less spooky as the light gets low anyway.

This works SOOOO well I promise

Again, the hardest thing is finding a giant in the first place.

Hope this helps,

Fish

[5bass]

Oh, and here's a really juicy tip for you

If you find a big female glued to a bed, but just can't get her to bite, then take a length of fishing line, and tie a weight to one end, and put a bobber on the other to make a marker. Take it out a few feet past the nest, from a direction which you will remember, and drop the weight to the bottom. Now, slide all the slack out of the line, so that the bobber just barely makes it to the surface, but can't drift off one direction or the other.

Now, completely leave the area and let the fish rest in peace. Sneak back up several hours later..... or best of all, right before dark, when direct light is off the water. Stop a long casts distance from your marker, and start fishing Not only should she have dropped her guard, but she will be way less spooky as the light gets low anyway.

Good stuff right there folks 

[Bluebasser86]

Another thing that works sometimes is if you female is around the bed but not glued to it like Fish Chris said is to try to catch the male first. Sometimes if you pull him off the bed and toss him in the livewell she will take over his spot guarding the nest and be more catchable. Just make sure if you catch her to get the male back in the water quick to guard the nest again, otherwise it will be destroyed and all those good big fish genes will be gone!  :'(

[J Francho]

Tomato stakes and a GPS waypoint are what I use to mark them.  Where I fish, a bobber would pretty much attract the attention of other anglers.  The tomato stake blends in.

[tcain38]

What in the world are tomato stakes?LOL

[bassfisherjk]

Well, Chris did a good job covering the bed fishing thing.I'll tackle the tomato stake's(don't mean to but in J).A tomato stake is a piece of wood anywhere from 4' to 6' long.Some folks make their own or you can get store bought ones.As the plant grows,you tie it up to  the stake to keep the tomato's off the ground.This keeps the fruit from rotting on the ground,plus helps to keep bugs off.

[Fish Chris]

Well I said a bobber just to explain the principal... and I have used them. But I've also used pieces of stick, or a branch, etc. to be stealthy .....not with the fish, but rather, the fishermen ! 

Oh, and one other thing I might not have made totally clear > By marking the bed, and staying way away from it when you come back to fish it again, you don't have to be, and should not be able to see the bed ! If you can see the bed, big momma' can certainly see you, and you have alrerady killed your advantage. I know I can typically fish from 3 to 4 X's farther away, as long as I already know exactly where the bed is, without actually having to see it. Water glare is such a PITA ! 

BTW, Here's one that I found at about 11am, and she acted SOOO interested ! I must have gotten her to nip at the tail of my Basstrix Bluegill 6 or 8 X's.... but she just wouldn't eat it So, after messing with this 1 fish for like 5 hours, I finally marked the bed at about 4pm. Left for a couple hours until right before dark.

This time when I came back to it, I actually beached my boat about 150 feet away, and even around a corner. (she had no clue I was back .....and preceeded to fish for her from the shore. Took all of about 5 minutes, and POW ! Fish on !  Whooo Hooo ! She went 12.4 and fought REALLY hard !

Peace,

Fish

[BassThumb]

Ahaha, nice job, Fish Chris! Great advice.

[paul.]

right on to what's been said so far.  however, assuming i read your initial post correctly, you are looking to be able to catch bedding fish in a tournament scenario.  i'm not sure i'd bank on this strategy if i was fishing a tournament and the clock is ticking unless i already had 5 in the box and was just looking to upgrade.  if you are still trying to get your limit, your chances are probably better targeting pre-spawn fish.  you have to catch spawning fish on their terms and their timetable.  sometimes that's a matter of seconds.  more likely though, it's considerably longer, particularly when we're talking females.  the one tip that i would offer here is that when you are bed fishing, you are not trying to coax, entice, or tempt the fish into biting.  you are trying to aggravate it into biting.  do not be afraid to get aggressive with your tactics.  one thing i've found that will QUICKLY get bedding fish fired up is to sneak the lure in behind them and when their back is turned, pop the rod and whack them in the tail with the bait.  done properly, this will usually prompt the fish to instantly whirl around and see what's up.  twitch or pop the bait in their face again instantly when they spin around on it, and many times they will eat it on the spot.  they don't have time to think about it or study it.  it's almost like a reaction strike kind of deal.  even if they don't eat it, they will usually go from neutral to red hot very quickly after you've done this a few times and it greatly reduces the time it takes them to bite.  now many times you have to do this with the male before the female will get even remotely interested.  i can't think of a single big female that i've ever caught without first getting the male involved in the game.  but the above trick will get him involved much quicker, thus saving you time in a tournament. 

flipping flooded bushes in the spring on ky. lake is a surefire way to catch a nice sack.  it is bed fishing without actually bed fishing since the fish are in the bushes to spawn. 

[TimJ]

can someone please direct me to the article that was posted some time last week pertaining to bed fishing. I think it was reprinted and maybe from a magazine...had info about escape routes, etc. and incl a diver in the research.

thanks

TimJ