Working a bed fish

[BASSTUD]

Yesterday on the Delta at the end of the day we go looking for bed fish. The first marina we start in my buddy spots a giant. Since he spoted the fish I let let him work it, I put my rod down and keept the boat positioned. I told him to put his bait on the bed and just leave it, just giving the bait some movement every now and then. He worked the bed for about 15 minutes before we decided to leave it and come back to it about 45 minutes later, when we return, the female is just sitting there, now he works that bed for about 30 minutes making 3 pitches to it and leaving his bait there. During this time the fish would circle the bed, then swim off, then reappear, then swim right on top of his bait look at it and swim off again then reappear, ( I gotta tell ya this was our first time seeing a bed fish, much less working one and it was both exciting and torchuring at the same time) During this time we seen the male only one time as he swam through the bed and was never seen again. Given the info on the behavior of these fish does anyone have an idea on what stage of spawning these fish were in at this time, and how long will these fish be on this bed?....I know the weather plays a big factor but keep in mind this was after a week of fallen temps and periodic rain showers.

[Doug Warren]

That fish is in the boat stage

[ASD]

you gave up to soon!!!!!!!!! u need to just keep buging them and he/she wil bite!

As to what stage I would gess pre

[JT-Madera]

If the fish comes back to the bed after I throw my bait in.........I will own that fish..everytime..if you don't know when that is, stop wasting yours and the bass's time..
it comes with experience, the way the fish angles it's body at the bait.. there is always a very sweet spot in the nest, all you have to do is learn to recognize that spot.. and be using the right bait. when I bed fish I "always" have three different bed baits tied on..one of them will always catch that fish..

JT

[JT-Madera]

The very best advice I can give you is find someone local who really knows how to catch bed fish and go out and spend a day with him and if he is really good after one day you will think he can walk on water.. I have been fishing for then for soooo long that sometimes just to be honery i will wait for another angler to give up on a bed fish he has been working and when he moves away i have a little bait that works so well that usually one cast and he is mine..99% of the time.. ya I know I have an ego about bed fishing..

JT

[stickbait]

That fish was very catchable.. next time work the bait faster.. faster pitches .. get that fish moving!!! Bump the fish with the bait.. piss them off.. get em moving.. you'll catch them..

Remeber, once you get that fish moving and circling the bed.. it's game over real soon !!

Every fish is different.. takes a few minutes to figure them out sometimes.... letting the bait just lay there NEVER works for me..I well I guess I should not say never.. that is just not my style.... takes to much time!

Here is a little video w/sound I did a while back.. not that good as we did it with a aqua view and a dig. camera.. but you casn get the idea

[Leon Pugh]

Well kept secret, try a large swimbait, Drag it onto the nest and shake it with minimal movement. Be sure to have a stinger treble rigged in the head/gill area. That gets them going faster than anything. Change up baits often even a small 4 in bait. Repeated cast work best for me. Occasionally try to drag the bait in such away as to bump them in the tail, many times they will instantly turn and attack it. Most times it seems that casting past the bed and controlling the baits action as it moves on to the bed works best, other time dropping it straight on the bed gets a reaction strike. Watch the reaction of the fish carefully. Most bedded fish can be caught, just a matter of how long it takes. If the fish circles the bed or looks at the bait in a nose down attitude it won't take long.

[tunaman]

You need to find the sweet spot on the bed - each one has it, and once you find it the fish is easy to hook.

Somewhere on the bed is the spot they are actually planning to place the eggs - could be a root ball, could be a stick, could be something else, but there's one special spot on the bed that they will protect above all else. It is rarely in the middle of the bed, either. You have to work your bait all around the bed pad to see what area gets the fish really excited, then isolate and narrow it down until you find the location the fish won't tolerate having the bait near and it is only a short matter of time.

If the female is locked on the bed, she's pretty close to spawning as far as I've observed and careful consideration should be made whether to hook her or not. The males do all the work, as far as making the bed, and are much easier to hook when learning to work a bed.

Find a small buck that doesn't spook easily and you've got a good classroom to start. Most of the time you can catch the male several times in a short period if they're really locked on. Be gentle - don't use a TV hookset as you will undoubtedly hurt the fish as that close range.

If you do decide to hook a female, please give serious consideration to a quick photo, measurements if you want a replica mount, and quick return to her environment so that she can continue and complete her very important business. Always ask yourself how important it is to hook that fish and possibly prevent that fish from contributing to that year's gene pool, and if it isn't so much then consider leaving her to do her business in peace?

Roger

[macinckirk]

is it that time up there now I'm thinking 4 more weeks easy

[Sinjin Kim]

From my limited experience in bed fishing, when I wasn't able catch the fish on smaller baits (especially when the fish shows no interest), I used a Huddleston rigged with a trap hook right at the tail and almost every time, the uninterested fish would slam the larger profiled bait. I suppose the theory to this is that the bass would find a larger swimbait more of a threat than a smaller T-Rigged plastic. Imagine a big grown man getting pestered by a small kid. The adult would just ignore the kid. Now if a larger man would throw a punch, that grown adult is more than likely to punch back. lol

[Dom]

That fish would have been mine if she kept coming back and then noseing the bait and the male was to scared to defend. The trick is forget about that sweet spot when that fish nose down on that bait you swing the rod and hit her where ever nose side etc. after you get some exp. you can read the fish when they are getting ready to bite thier tail will wave from side to side in short burst the pictoral fins will be going fast back and forth.

The idea is to get her to strike out of anger you get hit with a white 1/2 oz. jig a few times and you'll be ready to bite back to.

Its timing on everything you dont want to snag the bass so when you hit her give a hard jerk to get the lure off the ground then just gently swing it at her. When you see RED set the hook thats her gills flaring as she opens up to suck the lure in.

Again this only works on the fish that are LOCKED meaning they dont swim off and stay off for to long. Same tech works for the male then put him in the live well leave and come back if the female is there she will then be watching the bed unless she is just relentless and I have been on Clear lLake and seen the female be just as agressive as the male.

Meaning she will pull up on the bed and lock. But most will stay just off the bed just out of site I will pick up a big blue gill bait and toss it on the bed and just let it sit when the female is off the bed she is harder to catch if I had them fish fiqured out I would have won some tournaments. hope this helps, give it a try next time it works trust me.

And just FYI in the early spring when you see the males cruisin the banks looking to make a bed toss a 4" split shot worm on 8 lb in front of em right in the path they are swimming stay backed off they are up shollow and can see you but them bucks will take it.

[Steve]

The first mistake you made was keeping your bait in the bed. You do not want that fish getting used to your bait. Pitch it in, get it out, pitch it in, get it out. And only pitch that bait in when the fish is there. And dont throw at the fish when she is out of the bed. Have patience, let her return, then work her. You will know when the time is right to catch her, and based on your description that fish should have been an easy catch. Where did you say she was?

[elfish16]

based on what you explained the female was going to eat and could have been caught ASAP! What I would have done differently was tossing a swimbait, hookless, in the bed to really get her fired up! when she starts nosing hard bump her in the head with the bait. once she's pissed from this, turn around with a big white tube or a white jig and hang on. She would be done.

without a swimbait, a jig bounced off her chin will trigger a very upset reaction from the fish. She will swim off and come back right away to destroy the bait. Once you knock her, pull the bait out and pitch in once she's back on the bed. More times than not...that jig won't make it to the bottom as she will inhale the bait before it hits the bottom!

[Ron C]

You need to find the sweet spot on the bed - each one has it, and once you find it the fish is easy to hook.

Bingo!

[stickbait]

What I would have done differently was tossing a swimbait, hookless, in the bed to really get her fired up!

Very good idea.. as most of the bed fish I find, are up next to some kind of structure, wood, roots. stumps... tullies, old tires, pipes, walls either wood or cement so tossing a hooked swim bait would surely be snagged and spook out the whole nest..So a hookless big bait would be a ticket and get them circling the bed

Most all fish don't spawn out on a beach where a big hooked bait will catch them and no chance of snaggin....