For example, let’s say that you were fishing for bedding bass during the spring. Many anglers are aware of the sensitivity nature of the bass during this time of the year, they can be very skittish and frighten (or you can spook them) very easily right? Now, you certainly wouldn’t want to motor the boat right up on top of the beds and scare the bass before you had a chance to fish for them would you? Of course not!
In this article I hope to help you understand the importance of boat positioning by giving you a few scenarios that many anglers encounter during the course of their time they spend on the water.
Many of my bass fishing school students are amazed when I teach them the importance of boat positioning. This is especially true when they’re actually shown how and why one would position his or her boat a certain way while learning to fish the many different environments offered by many bodies of water through out the nation.
As important as I feel this subject is, I always teach my students and even my bass charter clients how and why I would position my boat certain ways. I show them how to position their boat when fishing drop-offs, fall-downs, gradual slopes, rip-rap, steep bluffs, current conditions, vegetation, channel contours, rocky areas, points, windy conditions, etc. just to name a few. When the students and charter clients begin to start understanding the whys and hows of boat positioning, they can’t help but to increase their angling skills, confidence, and ability to become better anglers.
Boat Position and Fishing Beds
Now, let’s go back and start with the spring beds (or spring bedding bass.) Many anglers that fish bedding bass usually will have trouble fishing them because they really don’t understand how to approach these beds when they do find them.
There are several factors one might consider before making a approach before fishing these bedding bass such as: what the daily conditions are (sunny, overcast, windy, calm), what the water depth is, how much vegetation (and types of vegetation) is in the area of the beds, what types of structure or obstacles may be in these areas (such as rocks, pilings, docks, etc.) There are more, but lets just take a few of these factors I just mentioned and try to draw a picture of why boat positioning would play an important role when it comes to fishing beds.
First of all we’ll need to find some of these areas that you would normally find beds. Most of the time these bedding areas would be located around: shallow water, structure (usually found in the more shallow water areas), shallow vegetation areas, sandy or hard surface bottoms areas, and especially the warmest shallow water areas you can find.
As I mentioned earlier the bass get very skittish during this spawn period and you certainly wouldn’t want to do anything that would spook the bass before you had a chance to fish for them. So first, we’ll start with the daily conditions.
Let’s take a brief moment and think about what the best approach would be for bed fishing if the day offered a bright, sunny sky with no cloud cover. Any ideas?
First of all, I would consider the shadow cast of the boat and myself over the beds. Don’t think for one minute that the bass won’t spook when they quickly get a shadow cast around a bed area from a boat or a person! They most definitely will, and don’t think that a sudden noise made from you or your boat (trolling motor, something hitting the floor, slamming a compartment shut, etc.) in a bedding area won’t spook a bass... think again!
The best approach an angler should use under this situation would be to approach (as quiet as you possibly can) the bed area with the sun in front "facing you!" This will avoid any shadow cast into the bed area before you start fishing the bed, thus not spooking any bass in the area. Secondly, make sure you stop your motor several yards before entering the bedding zone, even including your trolling motor. Many times anglers will carry a "push-pole" with them so they can quietly push the boat closer to the beds they plan on fishing allowing them to make as little noise as possible. Now, if the sun is at your back, try (again as quietly as possible) to move your boat around the area to prevent the sun at your back. Get the picture?
There has been times in the past where I have actually got on my hands and knees and approached a bedded area using my hand to steer my trolling motor (on the lowest speed) so I could make my casts close enough to reach the beds.
