I caught several fish on the damn at Fayette this week. Most were very shallow, 1 to 2 feet, on the rocks. Many had not spawned yet and was wondering if they could be on shallow beds on the rocks. Also, many of these bass were jet black. Any idea what causes this?

I've never seen bass spawn on rip rap, but oftentimes rip rap only extends 20 feet into the water, and then in 6-10' its clay/sand. I have seen them spawn there, on the transition.

Jet black, the darkest fish I've caught came from very thick vegetation, deep hydrilla, in clear water. With the water being clear, I think they just get dark colored to blend in to the grass/shadows

Bass do spawn on Rip Rap. At Bachman, you can see the beds in the rip rap by the Love Field runway and at the dam.

Yes

Yes, Hubbard is a prime example..Fatties come up and start clearing the tops of rocks..their life cycle primarily is the rocks, or other structure..

A friend of mine just sent me this pic and asked me to post it.

This was a fish caught off some rip rap in the Spring..

They certainly do at Lake Conroe.

Yes!!

Yes Sir they do. Have also witnessed one on top of a dished out stump at 3 ft deep!

No question, bass adapt, that is why they are one of the most succcesfull fresh water species..

Yeah, I've seen some spawning on rip rap a few years back, but the majority look for the clay, sand shell bed areas to spawn, they like to fan their area out and flatten it. That's why their tails get so bloody, knocking everything off their bedding area.

+1

What's really odd......seeing them spawn in tree tops in 25' of water..