# Bedding bass



## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

Does catching bed fish mess them up with spawning and what not?


----------



## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

I'll add that the bass in the small pond behind my house have turned OFF! Slow normally in the winter, but NOTHING in the past 2 weeks. Can I assume they are beginning to bed? It's a small pond, full of millfoil and in the summer normal pond scum.

I cannot see any bedding going on so I assume it's toward the middle of the pond. I've floated around in my kayak and never seen any obvious bedding locations... VERY weedy pond.

Any advice on how to stir a strike? Any natural predator imitationsfor the eggs that might work?

It's no more than 6' deep anywhere...

Truly a "pond".

Jim

PS... It's all catch and release for my pond. On a golf course, WAY too many chemicals leeching in to keep anything.


----------



## Midnight Rider (Sep 30, 2007)

As long as you dont throw them in the greese they should be fine.oke An old wise tale is that the bass dont go onto bed until the dogwoods bloom. Not a big bass fisherman so have never really tested this theory. Maybe someone else has herd this before and can confirm.... Maybe a show idea for the myth busters.


----------



## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

Thats what I figured.I was just makin sure


----------



## Deeplines (Sep 28, 2007)

It's been a LONG time for me and bass fishing but I'm pretty sure that bass bed in the spring. YOU WILL BE LUCKY to get a female during that time that is on the bed, almost impossible to tell the truth. Most likely on 3% of your catches will be FEMALE. 

You will be able to get male bass though. 

Back home it was in April but down here, being warmer, it may start in March. I can almost bet that they are not on the bed in FEB. and especially with this cold weax. 

As far as messing them up, well of course if you catch the female ( WHich is unlikely) Far as the male, no ( unless you catch every one of them). 

When the fish comes off the bed that is why bass fishing is so great around Late may and June or roughly 2 months after they bed. THEY ARE HUNGRY THEN. :angel

JIM T - Bass fishing is ALWAYS harder in the winter for folks that don't understand bass. I have lost so much knowledge on bass fishing it is a shame. One thing you you know is that it takes a REAL good bass fisherman to catch them in the winter. Think about it, how many times do these bass fishing shows have the PRO in winter cloths?

And your are correct, most bass beds will be in 4' of water or less. It is a killer to see a big ol 8lber on the bed and throw a worm right in front of the girl and she WILL NOT MOVE. A male will attack it IF you bug them enough though or present the bait as a threat somehow???????


----------



## Sequoiha (Sep 28, 2007)

Hey Murph, thats when you need to change from a worm to a lizard or salamander, and drag it across the beds... big female will pick them up and move them away from the bed, they think they will eat the eggs. when they pick it up and move it set the hook... I have caught many bedding females.. of course i let them go though... just my .02

:usaflag


----------



## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

Jim...Like Murph said. The males watch the beds, unlikely to catch a female. Worms will aggravate them and will just get picked up and moved. Try a salamander. The salamander will be most effective as they are a natural predator...and will eat the eggs. Bedding time is when I'm most productive with salamanders otherwise I use worms, spinner bait, and top water plugs(my favorite). Look in my photos..one June 10th, Joe and I hit them coming off the beds...caught (boated) 57 without moving off of a old road bed in a quarry. No telling how many we hooked and didn't make it to the boat....if I remember, all in about a 2 hour period.


----------



## navbass09 (Oct 30, 2007)

They usually start heating up around here early march when the water gets mid 60's. And pay attention to the moon during this time as well. Full moons and New moons are key. The idea is to catch the male and stick him in the live well cuz he is the main protector of the nest. HE makes it and protects it, then the female comes in and lays the eggs, and he guards the nest and the fry after they hatch. So catch him first stick him in the livewell then it leaves the female to guard. If she spooks super easily, you're wasting you're time. If she hangs around you can usually coax her into eating though it may take some time. From what ive found is that smaller bass have more shallow 3-5ftand round perfect shaped beds. The bigger bass spawn a little deeper say 4-7ft and its usually not as defined. its like say around or betweenthe roots of a stump or along the side of a log for example. WEAR POLORIZED GLASSES! and catch and release of course, especially the male because he guards the nest.


----------



## BassHunter (Dec 29, 2007)

catch the male get him off the bed then go after the female she will bite after the male is gone and like they said the salamander will normaly do the trick. then take a picture and throw both the male and big female back please


----------



## countryjwh (Nov 20, 2007)

i mainly saltwater fish but i love to catch bedding bass. i am in mobile alabama and the bass in our pond have already spawned. i have been catching bedding bass the last two weeks. i go everyday to the lakes i got permission to fish and walk the edge to look for beds. the above post is right. you mainly are going to catch the males that are gaurding the bed. the females will show up though, you just have to keep after them. when you do see them though you have only a little while to catch them being a day or so. it masy take hours but it is a blast. my brother and i have caught over 10 fish that are larger than 6 lbs in the last two weeks. i imagine though some have not spawed yet though. i will be hard at it for the next few weeks though. try a big salamander if you want the job doen. if you hit that sweet spot on the bed when that female is there she will hit( picking it uo and moving it out of the bed). i am waiting to post pics after they have quit bedding. i have some good ones too. good luck.


----------



## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

Raising trophy bass is like raising trophy whitetails. Once a bass reaches a trophy size, (over 10lbs in our area), then keeping one to mount is not really a problem. That female's offspring/genetics are all over that particular lake anyway. It's like killing a buck once it reaches a mature age. To answer your question; As long as you catch a beddingfemale bass and return it safely to the water, it will typically return to the bed and go through the spawning process. I would strongly recommend that you return all bedding females back into the water unless you catch a truewall hanger. The 4lb. - 8lb. bass are your main breeding stock and it's important to let them grow in age - just like you would a whitetail buck.


----------



## kennethmandel62 (Oct 3, 2007)

If anybody around milton is wondering they are starting to bed up on blackwater. I found a small male probably2pounds sitting on a bed over in a corner by hawkins recreation thursday of last week. With my kids in the boat wanting to get into everything I didn't spend much timetrying to catch him (which means I couldnt get the damn thing to bite). I cast on him a few times and played with him to no avail and then moved on. I didnt try my weighted down bed digging crank bait that to my memory has never failed because the kids were getting bored which meant I was getting aggravated and needed to take them riding.


----------



## jpaul (Oct 2, 2007)

Fishing a tournament on Blackwater on March 29. This kind of 411 will be very useful in the coming weeks. 

JP


----------

