The time is comeing fast for the Bass to be bedding. Do they bed down in the weeds ? I fish in heavy stumps and lots of weeds. Where is the best places to look and what is the best bait ? I'm useing Shinners  now, is this still the best bait for bedding bass ? I fish the Fl. Panhandel. P.S.  I really enjoy learning frome this fourm Keep up the good work  

try a scum frog, sumo frog or

Lizard, worm

Jig

Hope this helps

If you can see the nests, a lizard or craw always works.  A fluke also gets em.

#1 best live bait in Florida for bedding fish is a bull minnow. They look like a large guppy and can be netted up in most ponds and lakes. #2 would be a mudpuppy.#3 an wild shinner.#4crawfish#5 bluegill

for live bait , brim works good but dont let a ranger catch you using brim. i beleive its illigal?

OH yeah I forgot about that im glad you said something! Florida considers a bluegill as a game fish not a baitfish#5 domestic shinner.

A black plastic lizard with a 3/0 offset hook will tease them to bite.  

If you can see the bed heres how I fish for them. First you'll need some 3X or Snap Back soft plastic lizards. Then you'll need a 3/4 to 1oz. egg sinker, the kind used for deep carolina rigging. It doesn't matter if its lead or tungstun. Set your rod up like you are gonna c-rig but don't use any swivels. Take the line up it thru the sinker and tie on a 3/0 off set hook. Take your 3X lizards and place it on the hook. Once you find a bedding bass cast beyond the bed and reel the rig into the bed. The weight will stay in the bed while the 3X soft plastic will float to the surface. Now reel in the slack line and you can vertically fish the bed with the lizard and never move the the sinker. When you give a bit of slack line the lizard will float upwards and when you take back the slack it'll appear as if the lizard is feeding. If the bass is locked in they usually take this rig.

The one thing to key on is "locked in fish" the ones that are locked into the bed are more likely to bite. Locked in fish will not flee very far from the nest and will seem to be vey aggresive towards the bait. I look for bass chasing bluegills this is usually a dead give away on a bass that can be caught very quickly. The ones that flee the bed and circle for awhile will be harder to catch.

As for the black lizard. If you take some yellow finger nail polish you can paint dots on the lizard and make it look like a  tiger salamander.

I like using a Yamamoto hula grub in white(so you can tell real easy when it gets sucked up)

CREATURE BAITS!!!!!!

As far as location anywhere that is protected by the north wind with a hard bottom. Keep an open mind because I have seen fish spawn on a hump in the south part of the lake on a stump potected by a short point. The rule of thumb is ANY shore potected by the north wind with a hard bottom.

I want to see the North wind that protects anything

Where to start. I am new to this site but I have been "bed" fishing for years. The number one thing is always release the fish a fast a possible. Take a camera on a small tripod so you can take a picture of the huge fish you will catch. Bring a scale too.

Bass will bed anywhere from 1-12+ft deep depending on the water clarity. Find a hard bottom area that is protected from the north wind. They will bed anywhere, in open areas in the grass, around stumps, laydowns, even in the wide open. Just look for a round cleared out spot on the bottom. The male is usually on or arround the edge of this clearing and the larger female is usually hiding a little further away. Now some great peices of equipment to have on board is, a GOOD ($) PAIR OF POLARIZED SUNGLASSES, a push-pole and a two anchors. This will allow you to realy sneak up on the beds in the shallows and stay there. Do not were bright colored clothes. Tan or cream or any pale colors are the best. If you are bank fishing I recomend full camo.

Now for lures. I always have a tube jig on a spinning rig with 10lb test, a Mad Man crawfish on a stand-up jig head, and a Castaic baby sunfish or large sunfish swimbait on 25lb test (big fish bait!!).

Now for how to fish beds. Once you spot the bed (I stand on top of a milk-crate to get a little higher view.) push your boat as close as you feal comfortable. Get down low and either slide a anchor in the water or push the pole into the bottom and tie off. Now John is rite if the fish scatter and take a long time to come back don't wast your time. Move on to another one. I first flip the stand-up craw past the bed a hop it back till it is on the edge. I jiggle the rod tip for a few seconds then hop it to the middle and repeat. Pay attention to how the male reacts to this. If he is aggressive he should tear it up. If not I switch to the tube jig and bounce it off his nose a few times to tick him off. While doing this you should get the big females attention. If you see her moving in aggressively then flip to her but make sure you lure is heading towards the bed. She should show some intrest. If she moves in closer to the bed then you flip the craw back in and play on her bed. Now there is always a "sweet spot" on the bed. This is a place on the bed no bigger than a coffee cup that when you put your bait on, the fish will pay a little more attention to the lure. Play around on the bed untill you find it, then focus on just this spot. Bounce up and down and make sure the female can see the lure. Be patient this process sometimes can take a long time. When the fish picks up the lure make sure she has the hook in her mouth before setting the hook. If she doesn't than let her carry it off and drop it.

If you come to a large bedding flat with several beds. Grap the swimbait and start fancasting, reeling back as slow a possible. Now when the fish hit this lure they usually don't keep it in there mouth very long, and they usually swim straight at you, so a fast reel is very important. When the line goes slack reel as fast as you can and sweep the rod to set the hook. I have caught several 10+lb bass here in North Georgia with this swimbait. It is a great prespawn/spawn bait. Try it and you will be very pleased.

Now I could go on for ever and there is several more tricks that I could wright a book about. But this is the nuts and bolts of it. Keep your line wet and God Bless.

Great point about the polarized glasses. I never leave home without mine and it maybe the most important piece of equiment when it comes to bed fishing.

I also agree with you on the Spot-Sticker jig head. It's an awesome jighead and is very versitle.

Thanks to all. Some one could compile a good book on the great advice given buy you guys  

I did buy new glasses and some tubes. One question How do you hook a tube to a spinner bait ??? I know it sounds funny but when I cast it the tube keeps comeing off.

WOW You guys are great.......Thanks you so much. Today I found the north wind  bank...Now I'll just waite till the end of Feb. and it's time to rumbell ;D