Are These Bass Beds? 2024
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
With me bass fishing for a little over a year I have yet to see my first bass bed. The temperatures here in North Carolina have climbed to the upper 60s and low 70s this last week. I went to some local ponds and lakes that I fish and I found these images. Are these beds? Did I do a good job sight fishing? Lol
In one of these areas I dropped a swim bait minnow out in front of the fish and after three attempts it took it. My pole with a lizard was not close by and swim bait was all that I had.
SPEEDBEAD. reply :
Most definitely beds.
That fish on the right in the last pic would be your female. 
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
I scared her away when I came by. :-(
I was on the bank. If I had my boat I could've snuck up behind her trolling and cast into it.
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
How long will these beds be there for? A couple weeks? Months? I dunno. :-(
MarkH024 reply :
Definitely beds. You have to be a ninja to sneak up on them. Best bet is to stay a distance and cast at an angle from further back if you're attempting to bed fish.
SPEEDBEAD. reply :
She won't be there as long as the male will.
Might be already gone from the bed, but she won't be far away. Check out the first dropoff away from the bed.
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
I saw those and I thought someone dropped a trash can lid in the water. I walked closer and saw the fish. I almost had a heart attack.......
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
So to be blunt, when they are in the beds like this, have they already "had the mate process" or is this before or after?
SPEEDBEAD. reply :
Hard to tell honestly.
Could be before or after. That female isnt locked on the bed, so you could be on either side of the process.
5 Dollar Fishing Game reply :
Cool. At least they are in view. :-)
BrettD reply :
The male makes a bed for the female to deposit eggs on then the male will fertilize the eggs and guard them until they are fry. Females will go from bed to bed leaving eggs at each one. This is natures way of making sure the genetics are mixed.
WRB reply :
Those are not the only spawner's in the pond, there should a lot more!
Stand back and cast into the center of the bed with a drop shot worm and don't more. The bass will return and wait until one checks out the worm, then shake it slightly, not a lot and the bass should strike it....takes patients!
Tom
slonezp reply :
The beds themselves will be there forever barring any change in the bottom. The bluegills may or may not use the beds once the bass are done and the bass may or may not return next year. They tend to spawn in the same areas because of the correct bottom composition. A trick for you so you won't spook the fish. If you're able to reach, take a stick and stick it in the water to mark the bed. Walk away. Give the bass 5 minutes to get back to the bed. Stand far enough away so the bass doesn't see you but close enough to see the bed and cast to it.
J Francho reply :
Here's am article I wrote that might help you catch those suckers.
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/dropshot-bedding-bass.html
Fishing Rhino reply :
If there is a tree nearby, get behind it, and peer out from the side. Stay still and you may see two or more fish getting onto the beds and then moving off them. It doesn't take much to spook them.
tbone1993 reply :
On 4/3/2013 at 10:52 PM, J Francho said:Here's am article I wrote that might help you catch those suckers.
http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/dropshot-bedding-bass.html
That was a great article. Never thought about using a drop shot this way.
J Francho reply :
It's something I've been using for a few years now, and it works. I think some bass begin to respond negatively to the plop of a lure near their nest. This gives them time to forget about the plop. Glad you liked it!
senile1 reply :
To avoid spooking bass, I have found this tool to be very helpful.
jhoffman reply :
gentlemen, the word is patience
patience - the act of waiting under difficult circumstances
patients - a person who goes to see a doctor
Darren. reply :
On 4/4/2013 at 1:41 AM, J Francho said:It's something I've been using for a few years now, and it works. I think some bass begin to respond negatively to the plop of a lure near their nest. This gives them time to forget about the plop. Glad you liked it!
Very good article, John. I might just try it this year.
TiNuts reply :
On 4/4/2013 at 4:55 AM, jhoffman said:patients - a person who goes to see a doctor
Actually,
Patients - People who go to see a dr.
WRB reply :
Sight fishing requires a good pair of polarized sunglasses to see the bass better.
Use soft plastics with high visible colors like white/ chartreuse or chartreuse tail so you can see it easily. The bass isn't interested in eating your lure, they want it out of the bed, so they strike to kill, not eat, hook sets takes practice to time right.
Tom
slonezp reply :
On 4/4/2013 at 4:55 AM, jhoffman said:gentlemen, the word is patience
patience - the act of waiting under difficult circumstances
patients - a person who goes to see a doctor
I have no patience. I won't fish a bed unless it's the end of the tourney and I need something good. There are prespawn and postspawn fish around the same areas at the same time that are easier to catch.
WRB reply :
Bass, LMB, SMB and Spotted bass, in most lakes spawn in cycles and in different locations around the lakes protected areas suitable for successfully spawning. Some bass prefer to make nest sites in very shallow water, others in water deeper than 8 feet, depending on the depth the sunlight effectively warms the water.
Male bass select bed sites and do all the work cleaning the bed area from silt that can smother eggs, female may do some house cleaning.
Not all the males are successful at bed making. Not all females are successful at egg laying. Few eggs survive compared to the billions laid. Egg eaters like sunfish, bluegill, a wide variety of minnows, salamders, crawdads, carp, catfish and other egg predators feast on bass eggs.....it's survival of the fittest.
Add man to the predator list and survival rates drop with every bed bass caught.
Bream, sunfish, bluegill and crappie are all egg eaters, only the crappie spawn before bass, bluegill, red ears and green sunfishes spawn later as the water warms above 67 degrees. The smaller super dish size beds close together are bream beds, not bass beds. Bass beds are spaced far enough apart so they can't see each other. Beds silt over or fill in each year and are made fresh each year. The bream have the same problem with egg eaters as bass, except the bass eat the bream, not the eggs.
Female bass do not stay around the bed sites for more than a few days, however they may return to lay eggs in more than one bed. There can be up to 3 waves of spawner's in larger lakes, small lakes and ponds usually have one cycle.
Hope that helps a little.
Tom
Hyrule Bass reply :
On 4/3/2013 at 10:56 PM, Fishing Rhino said:If there is a tree nearby, get behind it, and peer out from the side. Stay still and you may see two or more fish getting onto the beds and then moving off them. It doesn't take much to spook them.
ahhh, the old sasquatch tree peeking method lol
Glenn reply :
Pic 1 and 3 are definitely bass beds, but i'm not so sure about the middle picture. They look more like bluegill beds to me. Why? Largemouths typically don't like to build nests that close to each other, but bluegill do. And bluegill will often spawn at the same time largemouths do, so it's common to see both types at the same time.
I once read that largemouths don't like to create beds in sight of another. I don't know if that's true, but it seems to support what I've observed over the decades.
Topwaterspook reply :
While bank fishing recently in Florida, I found lots of beds with fish on them. I though I'd died and gone to Heaven. Turns out they were all Talapia!!
WRB reply :
You may have read that in my post!On 4/5/2013 at 1:07 AM, Glenn said:Pic 1 and 3 are definitely bass beds, but i'm not so sure about the middle picture. They look more like bluegill beds to me. Why? Largemouths typically don't like to build nests that close to each other, but bluegill do. And bluegill will often spawn at the same time largemouths do, so it's common to see both types at the same time.
I once read that largemouths don't like to create beds in sight of another. I don't know if that's true, but it seems to support what I've observed over the decades.
Tom
cdaggett reply :
At least your bass are up shallow... I have been fishing since last Friday and have not caught a single fish. I am beginning to become so frustrated with the fact that I have not caught a single thing. The water is below 40 degrees and the bass just wont bite. Im waiting to go to florida oon, and hopefully I can fish some beds!
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