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We received a great reader question about catching bass spawning on beds, and wanted to take a little time to answer it today.

Here is the question:

Hey guys, I wanted to ask you about catching bass on beds. It’s definitely spawning time around here (I’m in Southern California), but I just can’t seem to get them in the boat.

I’m wondering if I’m just waisting my time sight fishing for these bass because I can spend over 30 minutes on one fish only to come up empty. Any help you could give me would be great and I would appreciate it!

Jason M., Ventura California

This is a great question, and has a few different facets to the answer. First, let’s look at how you know when you are waisting your time going after a bass on the bed.

Bedding Bass Behavior

If you pull up to a bed, shoot your bait out to it, and the bass immediately swims off and doesn’t return for a while, you probably are not going to catch that fish.

Not only is that fish not in feeding mode, but they also are not very committed to that bed. If this happens, move on and find another bed.

However, if the fish skirts off, but gets back to the bed in fairly short order and is giving your bait the stink eye, you are probably going to catch that fish.

What you need to understand is that bedding bass are not in a strong feeding mode. They are not going to hit your bait because they are hungry—they are going to hit your bait because you’ve made them mad enough and they want to protect that bed.

If a bass scares easily and doesn’t return to the bed for 5 minutes or more, they are not committed to protecting. Since they aren’t committed, and they aren’t wanting to feed, this fish is not going to be caught.

What If I Miss A Fish?

Let’s say you miss a fish that was protecting a bed, what should you do next?

When bass are committed to protecting that bed, they will return to do their job. Give the fish a good 20-25 minutes and circle back to that spot.

You can absolutely get that fish to bite again if he bit once. Don’t be afraid to target that fish again.

Best Baits For Spawning Bass

What types of baits are most effective for catching bass on beds? You want to do your best to mimic predators, not prey.

To put it another way, you want baits that look threatening to the eggs the bass is protection.

In this vein, these baits tend to be the most effective:

Crawfish baits

Lizards

Heavy Jigs

Lipless Cranks (particularly the Aruku Shad Jr.)

Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list, but it is a great place to get you started. You should do your best to mimic the kinds of predators you have in your own local water.

Once you get a good approach and technique that works well for you, site fishing for bass spawning on beds is some of the most fun you will ever have on the water. Good luck, and keep those questions coming!

See ya on the water…