Page 28 - JUNE 2022

Page 28 NEWFOUNDLAKELIFE.COM
June 2022
By mJc
Off the Hook Bedding Bass Part II
We’re in the prime time for bedding Bass. Temps on the rise, water is warming and fish are moving shallow. This is part deux of the pursuit of bedding Bass. I realized after last month’s contribution that I had left quite a bit critical information on the sidelines. Also, an avid reader and fanatical critic, no names, (but you know who you are Andy), made it crystal clear to me that I had neglected to men- tion the “how to” of bedding Bass. So here it goes... Some essentials for this type of fishing
include, but are not limited to po- larized sunglasses, a baseball cap will help with the glare on sunny days and be sure not to wear os- tentatious colors, if you can see the fish, chances are good that the fish is watching you. Limit noise, be as stealthy as you can manage. These fish bed some- times in inches of water, so they are on guard to begin with, any noise will most often spook them and make your job that much more challenging trying to catch already skittish fish.
How to fish and what to throw. This type of fishing re-
quires a high degree of con- centration and patience. I have spent hours trying to get one fish to bite, and on the other hand, I have had them take the first offering, but more commonly it takes a bit of finesse. This tech- nique requires a slow intentional approach. Check the angle of the sun, always best to have it at your back and in the fish’s eyes, a fighter pilot like approach. Limit motion, try to be as still as possi- ble and yet get the bait on target. You want to put your bait in the nest and keep it there as long as possible, moving only to attract the fish’s attention. The bedding fish, whether it’s male or female is not all that interested in eating at this time, but will move or at- tack anything that enters the nest. Keep in mind, with Bass fishing becoming more popular with each year, you are probably not the first fisherman to approach the nest that day, or maybe even that hour. You also have to be a line watcher and have the line in-between your fingers to have a good feel for what is happen- ing, especially if you don’t have
a clear view of the bed or if the water is murky or stained.
As far as what to throw, if you ask a hundred people, it is likely you will get a hundred different response. My typical answer to that question is to throw what you have confidence in and what has produced in the past. I like to throw 4 to 6 inch lizards, the length varies with the aggres- siveness of the fish. Typically though, my experience has been that size matters and I have had better success with smaller baits. Big bait , big fish theory doesn’t really apply in this case, because the fish aren’t really trying to eat, they are on the defense, protect- ing the nest and their prodigy. I usually rig my lizard with a Texas style rig, which is with the bullet weight abutting the head of the
lizard. More recently though, I have had good success drop-shot- ting, which allows me to keep the bait in the nest more readily that Texas rigging. My spring colors tend to be darker, a June bug pattern, black or dark reds. Make sure you are using a good sharp hook and be sure to have the point of the hook protruding through the bait, this will help your catch to miss ratio tremen- dously. As I stated earlier, be a line watcher and be in contact with your line, use as many of your senses as possible. Take a pic and release as quickly as pos- sible with the least amount of handling, keep the stress off of the fish. That’s my two cents for this month, so get out there, good luck and have fun.
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