Question: Spawning Bass On Beds??

[mlsjs2]

Hey guys,

i went out today and did some fishing..it was 56 degrees or so in Pa. here...no bait fish to be found and the lake seemed dead.

Anyways, while walking along the shoreline i noticed a bass in maybe 8 inches of water literally 1 foot from the shoreline just sitting still assuming protecting her nest. So i go to entice a bite..first i toss a Zoom Trick worm close but didnt want to spook the bass no go..couldnt get the bass to chase it. repeated this 2 or 3 times but couldnt get her to chase it. So i make a pitch literally in front of the bass's face assuming the bass will scurry off instead the bass hammers it and i landed it.

Did this one more time today except on a zoom Speed Craw..

are spawning bass always that inactive? i mean i couldnt entice the bite until i was literally inches away from her bed. Could this still just mean the water is cold and they are inactive? Cuz that bass was so lazy she wasnt going to move a foot for that lure.

[JB]

the smaller male bass guard the nest and big mama comes in to do her thing, most of the time before the spawn ritual begins for days the bass feed and once on the bed they dont go after food to much, just pick up the lure and move it out of the nest.
The anglers most of the time will try to agitate the bass into hitting with lures like floating worm, a bluegill swim bait, or a lizard a few days after the spawn the fish begin to eat and remember, not all bass spawn at once, its sometimes a 2-3 week time period before all sizes have done thier thing

[mlsjs2]

yeah JB i guess it took me by surprise at how inactive the bass were..i def. got a strike cuz she was defending the nest.

i think i could've thrown anything in there and would've gotten bit.

[jooleyen]

Wow. I actually saw that yesterday. The bass was like 6 inches and had it's head almost out of the water.

[3dkicker]

Originally Posted by mlsjs2

are spawning bass always that inactive? i mean i couldnt entice the bite until i was literally inches away from her bed. Could this still just mean the water is cold and they are inactive? Cuz that bass was so lazy she wasnt going to move a foot for that lure.

I'm doubting that they were on beds (unless you saw the bed - I've been wrong before). If it was only 56 degrees out then the water is probably still much colder than that. Spawning the first week of April is very early for PA bass.
I only found two areas with 60 degree water yesterday with most of the lower end of the lake in the mid to high 50's (that end warms first). I didn't see one bed and I checked some spawning sites that have held bass in the past. It's still a little early here and we've had a couple 70 degree days.
If the fish had pulled up and found a warm spot and wasn't feeding then why move? Unless a meal dropped in front of your face.

[mlsjs2]

3dkicker,

very true..but why do you think these few bass would be in 6-8 inches of water and that shallow?

[S4il]

he was getting some Sun..




Or maybe that was the male who was looking for a good nesting sight, to bring the female into, to start the spawn., did u see anything that looked like it was the start of a nest? any structure around the spot where you caught em, stick, wood, weeds, pea gravel, sand,.... any kind of change in the bottom content of that particular spot?

that would be a spot for a bass to seek out.

also maybe by throwing that trick worm, in his face, you got a reaction strike out if it, since that worm really doesn't make a HUGE splash when it hits the water, it may of been a quite enough pitch that got him interested in the bait, instead of swimming away from it (i know what u mean by that, they get spooked and never come back) were u working it weedless with like a EWG gap hook with no weight?

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by mlsjs2

3dkicker,

very true..but why do you think these few bass would be in 6-8 inches of water and that shallow?

some fish (usually big fish) will spawn way earlier than the majority of the fish in a body of water. but these fish also usually spawn a little deeper than most of the other fish will. so i guess it is possible that they were spawning but i agree with smitty when he says that he doubts they were spawning. there could be several reasons for the fish being that shallow. the wind could have had them up there looking for food, or maybe the sun warmed the shallow water up and they were up there because of the warmer water. either way you caught a few fish so that is a good thing but i would really doubt they were spawning.

and like mentioned above, spawning fish aren't really active. they will usually bite out of anger and to protect their beds. sometimes it seems like you could pitch any bait in their bed and get a bite but a lot of the time it takes a certain bait to provoke them into biting. i usually have 3 rods rigged up when i am bed fishing. 1 with a tube, 1 with a jig, and 1 with a salt craw type bait. if the fish isn't responding or quits responding to a certain bait then i pick up another rod and give them another look.

[dietz31684]

I am in the Pittsburgh area, the water is still COLD here. We have had a few very nice days, but still going down into the 30's at night regularly. I did manage one small bass on a spinnerbait, but I have been out 3 times and that is the only fish that I have seen. On the other hand, some guy where i fish said he caught a 4lb lm the day before....

[CCbass]

I agree I do not think the bass were spawning more likely sunning to warm up. In colder water they don't chase as much, if a golden oppertunity to eat happens why not. Might be why swimming it by a few feet away might not provoke a strike but landing right in front did.