Thread: Bed Fishing

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  1. #1
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    Bed Fishing

    With Spring right around the corner, all I can personally think about is Bed Fishing. To me, its one of the most exciting ways to fish other than Topwater. But I think that a lot of people wonder why they are not catching fish off "Beds" like others. I have three tips to give you: Change Baits and colors, Be Stealthy, And stay calm. Its really as simple as that. Don't get me wrong, you can be pretty technical about it but its not necessary. Ill Break in down in detail for you though.

    1. Changing Colors and Baits:
    If you are wanting to be a successful Bed fisherman, you will have to do this. Some of my favorite baits to throw on Beds are Poor Boys Tubes with a weedless tube head, Zoom Finesse Worms with a 1/16-1/8 ounce weight with an Owner 3/0 worm hook, and a Zoom Speed Craw rigged the same as the Finesse Worm. There are many more baits that work but these are the ones that have always worked for me. As far as colors go I ALWAYS start off with a straight white. This reason is because it tells me if the fish will hit the bait I am using or not. When I get dialed in, I use more natural colors like Green Pumkin, Watermelon Red, and Alabama Craw.

    2. Be Stealthy:
    This category is just as important or maybe more important than the baits you use. If you are making a lot of commotion, chances are you going to scare the fish away. One of the easiest ways to prevent this is to keep your distance away from the Bed and keep your trolling motor on low. Usually when you spook a fish its because you were either to close to him or it heard your trolling motor. But another big reason a fish gets spooked is because it see's your shadow. Always try to keep the sun facing you and hitting you right in the eyes. Now I know that you will not be able to see the Bed as well but a good pair of polarized sunglasses will fix that. Lastly, when possible, CAST ON THE BANK. This will create a more natural way for your baits to hit the water. It is not natural for a bait to land on a fishes head and you will not catch the fish if you do it.

    3. Stay Calm:
    You always want to stay calm, The worst thing you can do while bed fishing is get to excited. Now don't get me wrong I know what it feels like to see a 9 pound fish just sitting there waiting to be caught. But the best thing to do is remain calm, stay stealthy, and don't look your focus. You don't want to make the mistake that will cost you a tournament because that leads to loosing money and none of us like that.

    I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something about bed fishing. Just remember the three simple things I told you, and you will be successful. Tightlines!
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  2. Banned
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    #2
    I'm pretty good at catching them once I see them. But I have a hard time seeing them. Even with a partner pointing at them sometimes it takes me a while to see what they are seeing.

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    #3
    The best tip that I can give you is to make sure you wear a good pair of polarized sunglasses. Personally, I wear Bolle sunglasses and I think they are the best on the market. They stare down glare like its nothing!
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    #4
    Good tips. One thing I'd add is that depending on what stage the fish is in will make a lot of difference in how you should try to catch it. The ones that are locked on the beds and won't leave it no matter what can be the hardest to catch. In those cases, I've literally smacked them in the head with my bait until they finally get pissed and eat it. I've also found that adding a little red dye to the tentacles on a tube bait works good, no matter what the color of the bait. Also, I like to use a drop shot with a fairly heavy weight rigged about 8" from the bait so it keeps the bait in front of their face. Like you said, try different things. It's a blast!

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    #5
    Personally, I use pretty much one bait, and one bait only, a Zoom ultravibe Speed Craw, predominantly in White. I like to say that I catch 90% of the catchable fish. Some may take considerable time, but I'll eventually catch it. Some good tips above. For someone just learning how to sight fish, the best advice I can give is to understand what you're trying to do. You're NOT just trying to put a bait in the bed, and hoping that the fish will just eat it, although that does happen on occasion. For most fish, that won't work. What you're trying to do, is MAKE the fish eat the bait. Understand that and learn how to do it, and you'll be a good bed fisherman. As above make an accurate cast, and always cast past the bed whenever possible and bring the bait into the bed. A lot of times I like to bring the bait from behind the fish to surprise him and get a reflex strike. Spend enough time doing it and you can read the fish if it's catchable, and by it's "body language", even tell when it's ready to bite.

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    #6
    what about the guys like me where I dont know where to even start looking for bedding fish? Do bass go into little creeks off the river to spawn, for example on mississippi river?
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    #7
    When bed fishing I always time myself to allow the fish a chance. Our tournaments start after the spawn. As I go to their spawning areas I usually start at 15 minutes max for a big fish, then depending on the fishes mood (if aggressive cut to 5 minutes) if I don't catch that fish It Wins! My main rule is after I have caught a fish off the bed I never fish for that fish again!

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    #8
    Quote Originally Posted by kercha83 View Post
    what about the guys like me where I dont know where to even start looking for bedding fish? Do bass go into little creeks off the river to spawn, for example on mississippi river?
    I've never been on the Mississippi River, but they'll spawn in backwater hard bottom areas out of the current. Just looking at Google Earth, in the Dubuque area, I can see a lot of potential spawning areas.

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    #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Bstandiford View Post
    When bed fishing I always time myself to allow the fish a chance. Our tournaments start after the spawn. As I go to their spawning areas I usually start at 15 minutes max for a big fish, then depending on the fishes mood (if aggressive cut to 5 minutes) if I don't catch that fish It Wins! My main rule is after I have caught a fish off the bed I never fish for that fish again!
    Good rule about only catching the fish once, no reason to abuse the fish. Especially Smallmouth who'll bite over and over. Have to be careful when sight fishing in a tournament. Time can get away from you real quick without catching a good bag. 15 minutes for a big fish is really not that much time.

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    #10
    dpoe1012 great topic!!! Smallmouth are much easier than largemouth to catch off of beds, if water is stained a fluke will get them to show themselves then pick up a small worm and throw right where you saw the fish and hold on!!!

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    #11
    Bass will mostly spawn in creeks. The main reason is because of current.
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