Join the Discussion "Up here in Washington State it seems that the Largemouth will spawn right around when the water reaches about 60 degrees. Usually around mid May to the end of June. Some people say that it coincides with a full moon, but I am not sure of that." Jerisco

Related Resources • Bedding Bass • Fishing for Bedding Bass • Eufaula Bedding Bass • Fishing Bedding Bass

Past Articles One Year Ago -   4/25/00 - The Details Two Years Ago -  04/19/99 - Georgia Bass Federation Top Six Three Years Ago - 04/20/98 - Bedding Bass Four Years Ago - 04/21/97 - It's Time for Topwater Poll Should fishing for bedding bass be banned?

When several people told me last month they had seen bass on the bed, I was not too surprised. Although most people think all bass bed in April, I think about 20 per cent will bed in March, 60 per cent in April and the remaining 20 per cent in May. And that is during a normal spring,

Water in some coves was 64 degrees in early March in some mid-Georgia lakes. That warming water drew in the early spawners, and they may have been too far along in their cycle to stop when cooler weather hit a couple of weeks later. Although the folks talking to me said water temperatures were back in the upper fifties where they saw bass bedding, the should have a successful spawn, especially with the warm days later.

Bass can be caught off the bed. Unlike some northern states where bass fishing season is closed until after the spawn, fishing for them is allowed in Georgia and most other southern states. Bass are so successful in the south that they do not need protecting during the spawn. Also, most of our lakes have stained water and many bass spawn too deep to be seen by fishermen.

Male bass move into the shallows and fan a bed on a hard bottom.  It looks like a plate or shallow bowl on the bottom, often near a stump or rock.  He stays there keeping it clean untila female over into the areas.  She will deposit some eggs in the bed, staying on it for a few hours or longer.  Then she may move on to finish laying her eggs in other beds. 

The male bass will fertilize the eggs and then guard them until they hatch. He runs off all intruders like bream and crawfish that want to eat the eggs.  When the young hatch, he stays with them, guarding them for a few days until they  are able to swim fairly well and hide.  Then he becomes a predator and will eat his own young!

The male bass is easy to catch off the bed.  He is very aggressive and will hit just about anything that comes near him.  The female is much larger and much harder to catch.  Fishermen often spend hours trying to aggravate a female into hitting something so they can  catch her.

Plastic lizards, trick worms, tube baits an plastic worms cast into the bed and twitched there will often draw a strike from the female.  You  might have to keep it in the bed for a long time, though.  It is usually not worth the effort to me.

Should bass be left alone to bed?  Some states have seasons that are closed during spawning season.  Yet biologists tell me catching bedding bass here will not harm them. After all, in her lifetime a female bass has to produce only two young that survive to be successful, one to replace her and one to replace her mate.  She produces thousands of eggs each year, and may spawn for many years, so a lot of females can be unsuccessful and we will still have good populations of bass. You just have to decide for yourself.

Check out Coming Next Week - Next week's column topic, contest prize and new additions to the resources lists.

Previous Features