there is no way you can tell whether the fish is a male or female unless you see them both on the bed and one is much larger or if the fish is very large.  sure when you catch an 8 pounder its a female but when you catch a 2-3 lber there is no way to know whether it is a male or female.

i love fishing for bedding bass, i immediately release them and often they shoot right back to their beds.

matt

I like finding fish on the spawning beds. It means I can go to deeper water adjacent to the bedding area, and find very active fish. I leave the ones on the beds alone. That's just my preference. Targeting bedding fish has never been a high percentage game for me. I do much better out just a bit deeper. The first good drop next to the beds is a great first place to try. Not all the fish are spawning at the same time. The pre-spawners are very active, and will chase down just about anything you can get down to 8 or 10 feet, and put in front of them.

Cheers,

GK