As Tripp Ward, a local angler from Gainesville, Florida fishes along a bank, he sees a shiny spot on the bottom. You can sense the excitement, as he reaches for his trusty bed fishing set-up, and immediately, his stance and attitude changes. He has become a stealthy warrior, on a mission to see what it will take to get the fish to bite. Tripp fishes the BFL circuit, and has been a member of Bassmasters of Gator Country for several years. He currently is sitting in 2nd place in the BFL Gator division. He spends several hours donating his time to teaching youth and fellow anglers how to improve their fishing.
As Tripp explains, there are several ways to spot a bed. In general, try and keep the sun behind you which gives you the best angle at seeing into the water. One of the most important tools an angler can have is a good pair of sunglasses. He recommends Amber for stained water conditions and blue lenses for clear water. You have to keep an eye on your shadow while doing this though as it might spook the fish long before you can see it. Any shallow water has the potential to be a spawning ground. For someone who hasn’t sight fished a lot, Tripp suggests starting in clear water area so it is much easier to see the beds and then progress in their abilities, move to the stained water areas. Most of the time, the beds will be lighter than there surroundings and generally odd in shape. Though bass will bed on logs, rocks, and in areas where the bottom doesn’t get lighter as they fan, I suggest the beginner stick with looking for the beds that have the typical sandy bottom in contrast to a darker surrounding. Upon seeing the bed, I always look for a shadow, or a tail fluttering rather than an entire fish. It is normally difficult to see the entire fish but much easier to see odd shadows which would indicate a fish there or next to the bed.
There is a saying about fisherman being stubborn, and never giving up, well when you are bed fishing this becomes very apparent. I personally have witnessed several anglers sit on 13″ fish for several hours, having said that, you need to know when to move on. The hardest part of Bed fishing is determining which fish can be caught and are worth spending the time on. In general, if you move to a fish on a bed and that fish doesn’t move off, you can almost always catch it (the only time this isn’t the case is if one was already caught, sometimes they won’t bite again but will remain on the bed). If a fish spooks off as it sees you but returns immediately, it can likely be caught too, it will only take a short while for it to get used to your presence. For those fish that spook, and return after long periods only to spook again when it sees you or your bait in the bed, MOVE ON.
Some real important things to keep in mind are, that the fish can see every movement you make on top of the water, and short accurate casts are very important. You can make extremely small movements in the rod tip can provide some great action by the bait. You should always use an attractant like Producto Lunker Lotion; this can help make the fish commit to the bait a little easier. You can also sometimes roll the bait right on top of the fish, to aggravate them into biting. Using a push pole can surely help you sneak up on the beds once you have them spotted. Donât be afraid to try different boat positions, the fish may be respond better.
When fishing for bedding bass, pitch past the bed (unless prevented by an object) and bring the bait back to it. The fish’s movements when it sees the bait will tell you a lot. If it immediately approaches the bait, or begins fluttering its fins erratically, it’s about to bite. Be patient, a lot of catchable fish aren’t caught on the first cast. It sometimes takes a few casts to annoy a bass into biting. That’s all fishing for bedding bass is, annoying the fish into biting. Once the bait is in the bed, if the fish has spooked, leave the bait until the fish returns and just as the bass enters the bed, slightly twitch the bait and watch the fish’s reaction (it will sometimes entice an immediate bite). If you aren’t getting bit on particular bait but the fish isn’t spooking either, try different baits until you find the one that works. Look at what the fish are chasing and try to mimic that bait if possible. I always start with a Producto Tournament lizard or Producto crawdad and change from there; if you see the bedding fish chase bream or shiners from the bed, than you should switch to a Producto buzztail shad. As for color, well, anything with Watermelon is Trippâs favorite, but he has had some great success with solid white baits.
Once you get the bite make sure the fish has the bait well. The first few bites from a bedding fish are generally a bite and spit reaction so when you set the hook, the fish no longer has the bait or doesn’t have it good. If the fish and bait are very visible, wait until you no longer see the bait. If you only see portions of the fish wait until to feel the bite and see the fish or line moving off the bed with the bait, then set the hook. Don’t be discouraged if you miss though, I have found that if you do set the hook and miss, almost all of the time you can continue pitching at the fish and it will keep biting. The only problem is when you actually stick the fish but it pulls off. Sometimes those fish won’t be able to be caught again.
Sight fishing can provide you with some great quality fish, and some great stories to go along with them. So the next time you are fishing a row of docks, and you see a shiny spot on the bottom, take a couple of minutes to examine it. It can make the difference of winning a tournament or finishing second.By: Tripp Ward and Jason Howe
