There has obviously been a lot of talk about sight fishing and the spawn. Tom Reddington's article got me thinking. I have caught a lot of bass in the spring that I assume were on beds but I couldn't see them. Question is: What % of bass do you think spawn where they are never seen? I know in a lake like Fork there are millions of bass and even though they spawn at different times there would still be a ton visable if they all spawned shallow.

51.8%

Nice answer Doug! I was actually thinking 52.3

On Rayburn, I would say 90-95% of the bass are never seen during the spawn. I also think a lot of people miss the spawn on Rayburn because they can't see them.

In clear water I see beds in 7-8 foot sometimes.

I have even SEEN them deeper up to 10' in lakes that had Hydrilla filtering out the water and making it super clear. You could see long "tunnel holes" to the bottom in the grass and the fish on the beds. As long as the eggs receive enough warmth, the fish can spawn at any depth.

A large percentage for sure and the warmer the water or later in the spawn the deeper they go. We were sight fishing 7-8 ft on Toledo and there were a lot of beds you could barely see.

I think it's been especially difficult to see them this year, because of the strong and shifting winds. The banks are protected and clear one day and the next they have three footers rolling in and have become muddy. My guess is the percentage of fish that came and went without being spotted is much higher this year.

Lake Jacksonville is about 4 to 5 foot visability and there's no grass whatsoever. Most spawn in the 2-3ft range but some spawn where you can't see them. I've fished Joe Pool for years and never found one on a bed. It weird.

I have seen bass on beds in 25ft of water on amistad back when it was ultra clear

Me too

I say this every time I am out, they are all around me I just can't see them!! I believe there is probably more bass a little deeper than the ones that use shallow water. I was bed searching one day in 1-3ft water, saw 2 trees behind me, flipped between them and caught a 6 lber full of eggs and a little bloody. I was for sure she was on a bed. I went out to see how deep it was and and it was 6ft. So I spent the rest of the day flipping the trees in that area in that depth hoping to catch a real giant.

I believe weather conditions , lake fluctuation,and even fishin pressure or boat traffic can influance how deep bass spawn but I also that some bass always spawn deep or even in forks of big trees in deep water

100% of the bass in my local fishing hole, the Sabine River, spawn deeper than I can see; of course, the visibility is only 6 inches!

I have a lake house on a clear water lake in east Texas and I can show you fish on a clear day in 10+ feet on beds. As long as there is light penetration and good bottom they will spawn. I have side imaged areas where you can see beds in 15ft of water. I have also noticed that when they spawn deep they tend to spawn in tighter clusters than if they are on the bank. You may have 10-20 fish spawning much like crappie do if they are not shallow. IMO its because they are not as worried about preadtors or other fish in their bed when they are deep.