What month is the best time to start fishing for bedded bass. I fish a 160 acre shallow lake and last year I fished the spawn for the first time. I started fishing in mid-march and did fairly good. I am wondering if I would be on the fish better if I start in late feb. Also what is your guys favorite lures for bedded fish. I had good luck with a yamamoto hula grub last year, it's small and easy to flip in quietly. Does anyone ever throw a swimait and let it just sit on the bed, I'm thinking of trying this technique.

The best month is no month. I don't bed fish so the spawn can take place as it should. I guess fishing in spring is bad period but I do it preferring to blind cast for strikes as opposed to harrassing a nest. Just my two cents.

I'm in the same boat as Fongster. I cannot ethically let myself fish bed fish specifically. I am not trying to say how one should fish,and when - but I have seen way too much damage done to fisheries when the bass are on the spawn. Now if the lake you are thinking about has little pressure during the spring and alot of catch & release is done, then hitting it during the spawn can be fine. Finding the warmer section of the lake will produce fish first and easiest. Long flats with gravel or mud bottoms and tules nearby work well for me. Using basically any bait when it is dropped on the nest will work. But if you want to try something more exciting, try using soft jerkbaits - slug-os,bass assasins,flukes and blind casting along these shorelines that I described. Using flukes in early spring can produce some huge fish and it is way more exciting than bed fishing. Good Luck.

I can't help it, I fish 'em on beds- I fish out of a little pond jumper with no live well, so I release the girl right away, after a quick photo- I love sight fishing. last year I got a fat one, 9-6 on a Berkley scale that when calibrated was about 1.8 pounds off (she looked over 10, easily!), she is still a 9-6 to me but a pig. I could have cruised over to the other side of the cove I was fishing to get a guy to take a photo of me with the fish, or cruised farther to get her real weight, but I just clicked it myself and let her go on the spot- would have been nice to have me in the photo with the bass, but it wasn't worth it to pull her out of the water for a few minutes. I think if you use some common sense you can fish the beds and not wreck the fishery. Just my 2 cents-

http://www.momentoffame.com/snapshot.html?id=11093

quick pic

I did see her (or her twin) in the same spot a few days later, I think she did just fine

When you have a small body of water like that, it can be really responsive to the weather. If we start warming up in the next few weeks, I would be looking for bed fish in early February. Since the lake is small, it will warm up to spawning temperatures quicker than a larger reservoir. The Gitzit is what I catch 90% of my bed fish on, but I will use a large swimbait, or jig to fire-up a bass that is not paying attention to the Gitzit.
As for the bed-fishing debate, for me it is not the most enjoyable way to fish. However I don't believe that fishermen can ruin a spawn by sight-fishing. The mortality rate of fry that does hatch is still nearly ninety-nine percent, and most of the lakes I fish, Casitas, Castaic, Cachuma, and Perris all have incredible fish populations in spite of heavy bed fishing pressure each spring.

CJ -

What kind of Gizit? And how do you rig it, if you don't mind me asking?

CJ made some good points. It could be as early as February if things are right. More likely it's going to be happening from March all the way through May and even June up North. All it takes is 2 or 3 days of very warm water to get the fish up and cruising shallow. If it stays warm fish will lock on and start spawning. If a front blows through it might move the fish off the bank for a few days. They can be pretty catchable then on rip baits and trouts.

I personally do fish for bass on beds. To me it's a challenge and a chance to fish for trophy fish that might not be very catchable otherwise. I'm not going to spend my time harassing 2 pounders, but if I see a good fish on a bed, I'll probably fish for her, maybe catch her, get some pics and release her right back. I caught some fish like this at San Pablo last year and they went right back to their beds. They were skittish afterwards but I'm pretty confident they still spawned successfully that year. It's a personal choice I guess. Some people won't like me because of it, but I just don't believe that I am hurting the fishery by doing it.

I like the Smoke hologram, and Clear hologram tube baits (Gitzits) made by Big Boys Baits. They make a standard 3 3/4" bait, and also a nice 3" skinny tube. The hologram flake baits seem to reflect different color flashes even when the bait is still, giving the illusion of subtle movement. I rig them Texas style with a 1/8 oz. tungsten bullet weight and a 1/0 Owner Rigging hook. The hook is pushed through the bait and the tip is skin hooked.
While many anglers use white or chartreuse colored baits for sight-fishing, I think these more natural colors work better for spooky bed fish.

I just got some pearl senkos and ikas in the mail today, might have to try them out in the deeper water this spring for the big girls- the prespawn seems to be shaping up early this year.

CJ what rod and reel do you fish with the gitzit?

fishtrax_65

i don't look forward to spring. i look forward to post spawn when only the diehards are left. to me catching a toad during spring is like having sex with a girl passed out drunk.it's almost but not quite the real thing. to me bassfishing begins during postspawn and ends after prespawn. spring is nice for the hookups but i get more satisfaction hookin up quality in the fall or the dead of winter where structure and skill come in to play. there is skill to bed fishing. drop a tube on a bed, walkaway, eat a sandwich, smoke a
cigar then twitch once.

I like to fish the beds, but I never nailed a passed out girl, how is that? `

it was a hypothetical senario basically saying that the bass this time
of year do not have their heads on straight.there is nothing wrong with bed fishing it's just that they will hit the tackiest lizard in walmart and any knuckle dragging moran will eventually piss a fish off enough to strike.it's true that larger fish are more wary but they will give in. i feel that you took my post as negativity. just voicing an opinion on the topic. i think this site is great
and thing that makes interesting is the different takes people have.
i myself enjoy finding patterns,structure and presentation aspects
of bassfishing year round and prefer to fool a trophy on its own
terms instead of ripping a jerkbait 50 times over a bed.
regards to all,
rohypnal bandit

No worries, bro, I couldn't resist the comment about the passed out chick. We're all on the same team, this is a great spot for info. Talk to you later.