Fishing tip of the week: – 04/22/20

Fishing Tip of the Week

Tuesday, 21 April 2020 13:24

Habits of bedding fish
by Captain Mike Gerry

As we approach the bedding time of the largemouth bass, I thought I would spend some time talking about the habits of bedding fish as I see them on today’s crowded lakes. Make no mistake about it, the habits of bass on today’s busy lakes is quite different than it was ten years ago – maybe even fewer years than that. Today’s bass are much more pressured than ever before, and finding what was once easy bedding locations is now difficult.

The basics of bedding bass have changed considerably. We used to be able to bet on the fact that the bass would bed in many of the same locations year after year. Today, that is not necessarily true. What was once a good bedding location has changed considerably for many reasons. Not only the fishing pressure but the enormous amount of rain we seem to get in the spring changes where the bass bed, because it causes much more current than we used to get in the pre-spawn era.

The current changes the bottom. It pulls out the structure and moves what was once the ideal bottom area for fish to spawn on. It moves around the silted-in areas, pulls bank rip rap off the edges and changes to where the bass move for their annual spawning ritual.

It is also obvious to me that the depth in which bass spawn can change drastically on a lake. To me, this is a direct result of fishing pressure. If you are used to fishing an area that is constantly being pressured by fishermen, I find that the bass move to depths that are away from the heavily fished areas for the spawn.

his may only be a depth of four to five feet in depth, but it moves them off the banks where the fishing pressure is consistent. It’s always been a well-known fact that bass like to spawn on hard bottom areas. Many times that hard bottom can change, as one year it might be around stumps, but the next year it might change to shell beds, lily pad stems or clay banks. I’ve seen them change to under boat houses one year, and the next year they can’t be found around them. Point being, change with the bass and examine different areas for spawning bass.