Considered to be
an art by many, bed fishing is often a sight fishing venture that can test an
angler’s patience. With select gear and a stealthy approach, the results can be
extraordinary. By sight fishing and witnessing fish behavior firsthand, the
takeaways and experiences will greatly improve your knowledge of largemouth,
smallmouth and spotted bass across the board.
Gear
Depending on the
approach, the majority of anglers rely on baitcasting gear. From creature baits
to jigs, casting gear easily allows for pinpoint accurate casts. A substitute, such as the dropshot, has become
increasingly popular around areas with sparse cover or minimal break off
hazards. Both types of gear are best utilized depending on the angler’s
confidence level.
Your favorite
jig rod or flipping/pitching setup should be well suited for bed fishing, if
casting gear is of preference. There are many power and action combinations,
but utilizing fluorocarbon is highly recommended. While bass tend to lose their
line-shy propensities during the spawn, I have found that by using
fluorocarbon, it often takes less time to hook a committed bed fish over
braided line. Switching to Seaguar InvizX 17-pound test gave me the opportunity
to reduce line diameter over other fluorocarbon brands and remain confident in
the line’s ability to help me quickly land the fish.
Speaking of
landing, super high speed reels are increasingly becoming popular for bed fishing
just as they are for other situations. The Lew’s Team LITE Speed Spool is built
to be lighter, faster, stronger, but a slightly smaller frame allows the reel
to be easily palmed. Since turning the fish away from
rocks or laydowns is important, the 7.5:1 gear ratio snatches up a greater
amount of line. This is where Inches Per Turn (IPT) can help you land the fish quickly
and without incident. Look to all new gear ratios to expand your bed fishing
capabilities.
Location
Spawning beds
are easy to locate with their tidy appearance, but not all locations are
created equal. Some of the larger fish often choose locations that might not immediately identify as a spawning location.
Break walls,
offshore structure and holes within lily pads are great starting points for recon,
especially when competitors hammer the same old spawning locations over and
over year after year. Bed fishing success begins with identifying your targets and
working efficiently to maximize fishing time. Not all fish spawn in like-areas,
so exploring uncharted territory can often pay big dividends.
After finding an
area with multiple beds, many anglers take to casting at the targets without
much strategy. Those who excel at bed fishing know that shadows and trolling
motor movement can be detrimental to successfully landing multiple bed fish. By
being aware of the sun’s angle, you can work left to right or vice versa
without spooking the next target.
Trolling motor
noise and vibration can also wreak havoc on your success. With Power Poles and
Talons, many anglers are now able to fish completely silent. For those without
the convenience of a shallow water anchor, time is the only aspect that we can
rely on if wary fish swim paranoid around the bedding area. In such cases, the
male and female fish may both return together, or individually within a few
minutes of being spooked.
Language
Bed fishing
experts are interpreters. By understanding fish movement, sight anglers are
often able to make an informed decision on whether or not a fish is catchable
just by looking at how the fish is reacting to their presentation. While fun
fishing may allow for extended time, tournament anglers must be able to quickly
and efficiently dissect bed fishing opportunities on the fly. Since the
technique involves sight and sound from the fish’s and angler’s perspective,
the tables can turn in an instant.
Fin movement is
a tell-tale sign that agitation and aggressiveness has set in. Upon finding a
bed and making it count, presenting your lure to the bed and receiving this
type of communication is almost always a certain strike waiting to happen. The
fish that swim off and continue to circle your boat are often uncatchable. As
always, anglers will witness behavior that falls in-between. Learning this
language comes with practice and earning experience with each and every catch.
Common Mistakes
Bed fishing
anglers often choose stick baits or lizards as their weapon of choice. I
generally go with the opposite, because those two soft plastic baits are easily
moved without much of a commitment. For example, using a lizard might seem like
a logical choice, but after visually watching a female bass gently lift my bait
from the bed numerous times without me having the chance to feel the subtly of
the bite, I generally stick to ½-ounce jigs or short creature style plastics.
Last but not
least, using dark colored baits can often make your job of seeing the strike
much more difficult. Using white jigs or chartreuse plastics will allow you to
see the fish pick up the bait, even if water conditions are less than perfect. By
preparing your approach and understanding their language over time, fishing the
spawn can be a tremendous teacher of how to interpret the varying conditions
that seem to change day to day. These learned lessons can not only be applied
to bed fishing, but to bass fishing as a whole.
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