2/23/14 Sunday was a really nice sunny day. I headed to my local golf course and bass were in the shallows of 2ft of water. I could not get them to hit a spinner bait or even a wacky hooked senko. They would not even follow it. Two bass were chasing each other and sitting on beds.
Please help me figure out why they would not bit or even look at the bait. Are we still a little early? Any help will be appreciated. JP.

Use a soft platic crawfish or other critter bait that is known to eat fish eggs and throw it right in the bedding depression and move it slow through the bed. The male bass will be the 1st to pick it up and try to keep it out, You might need to put the male in your live well to make the female irritated enough to strike the invader. Practice catch and release so the mom and dad can get back and protect the eggs or fry depending on how far along the spawn is. Predators will be watching the bed intently don't waste time returning the bass to the water so they can go back to protecting the nest.

drop shot. just let it sit in front of their face.

Use a very light weighted (if weighted at all)Texas Rigged 6' Lizard. Pitch it to the outer edge of the bed and slowly work it onto the bed. Remember that the Bass is not going to hit you bait to feed, it is just protecting it's bed and will pick it up to move it out of the bed.

It really depends on the fish. Some fish are very hard to get. Some are very easy. I've seen them caught on cig butts, business cards, plastic bags... You name it. But a go-to for me is a 4" Fat Jack tube by Prowler Lures. I try to get colors that imitate a perch, so watermelon/red is probably my top choice for the big ones. I usually throw something lighter for the males. I like my 1/4 oz flipping jigs in white or black and blue for the males.

If the fish weren't hitting your bait, it's likely that the female had not dropped eggs yet. Males will move in before females, and they will be difficult to catch at this stage. I would recommend contacting Richie White and grabbing a copy of his e-book. I had never caught a bass by sight fishing before last year, and the book helped me understand the different stages of the spawn and how to approach each.

Good luck! I can't wait for them to get on beds in North Texas!

in a word ...PATIENCE


pa�tience

noun
1.
the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

I usually have three or so baits rigged. Sometimes, one will peak their interest then a bait change will cause a strike. Keep bait in bed as long as possible using the rod tip to give a little action. I usually pitch past bed and crawl in. Patience is key

All depends on the fish. I've caught fish on the first flip into the bed, and I have spent as long as two hours on a single fish. In any situation my go to baits are a white lizard, big bite bait warmouth, or a drop shot with a finesse worm.

Each one has its own personality in how it reacts. Some want no to very little bait movement and others you have to swim bait over the bed or bump the bait into them. Usually you can tell if a fish is catchable fairly quick. they have signs they give off and little quirks you can pick up on. Once you notice them getting darker or kinda flaring their gills and getting more animated its about to happen. get one to turn and swirl at the bait and its about to be caught. That is the fun part of bed fishing in reading them and making the right adjustment. there is no set answer or any do it all bait. each fish is different. There is an art to being a bed fisherman. A 10lber is my PB from a bed and I can't wait till I get a shot to break that mark.

Try a white roadrunner

White tube on a shakey head stand it up and shake the tail. You shake it long enough and he'll eat it. As said earlier patience is key!

This! That big bite warmouth is money. Shakey head with a bubble gum trick worm or a brush hog is great as well.

I like to pitch Jigs over the bed and SLOWLY drag it across the floor till I get to the bed and start raising my rod to shake the jig and let it fall till I get that bite.
I like to use a Dirty Pitching Jig in the "Go Too" color when I'm looking into catching a bed fish. Good Luck!

Best advice so far. Everyone has their favorites, but lizards/salamanders actually raid bass nests and steal egg to eat, and bass know this. During the spawn, for a bass, the lizard is public enemy #1. I use a tiki moko 6" lizard thats red with a white tail, t rigged with a 1/4oz weight, maybe down to 1/8 if theres not much wind. Bass freaking hate it.

Throw it in the bed and let it soak, for minutes if necessary. A little chartreuse spike it on that white tail doesn't hurt either and makes it easier for YOU to see.

when bass are in the right stage of spawning, most of them are fairly easy to catch. the hard one to catch are the ones that are not really locked on, and scurry away and return to the nest after a bit. you have to aggravate these bass into biting. i will not go into detail of just what i do to catch these bass, but will just give the hint that you have to get them mad. all of us can shake a tube drop shot or whatever in a bed. the better bed fisherman are doing something that you are not, and that is to make a bass mad. you figure out the rest of it.

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