1. Good quality, polarized sunglasses in dark grey and amber or copper – if you can only afford one pair, get dark grey.
2. A floppy hat, baseball hat, or visor – I like the floppy Gilligan hats, not just because they look lame, but because I don’t want any light hitting the lenses from behind or in front of me. Brokeback Mountain hats are OK too. Anything that keeps the lenses 100% in the shade.
3. At least 2 spinning setups – 6 ½ foot to 7 ½ foot with medium/light action. One spooled with 6 lb. test for dropshotting, and one spooled with 8 lb. test for Senkos, Darter Rigs, Shaky Head Rigs, and Finesse Jigs.
4. At least one 7 foot fast action pitching rod with a bait casting reel spooled with 14 -20 lb. test for your full size jigs, Texas rigged soft plastics, and small swimbaits.

Most beds will be in protected, shallow coves such as the State Park area or the areas just north of Lakeport. However, most areas of the lake will have at least some of these shallower bedding areas. When bed fishing from boat or shore, the first thing you want to do is locate beds. You do not want to be actively blind casting as you go, but instead focusing on looking for the beds and when you find them back off, and minimize your presence in the water.

Typically, I begin by pitching the heavy bait casting rig with a white craw tube directly to the center of the bed. If the fish darts off without ever looking back, I keep moving. But, if that fish does turn and look back, even if only tentatively, I will commit to fishing that bass. If I do not get any reaction from the craw tube, I switch to a Trixie Beaver in the White Trash color. If that doesn’t work, I throw a White, 6” Zoom Lizard.

With all of these baits, when I first put them on the bed I don’t move them at all. In fact, dead sticking will often produce awesome results. If the fish shows no interest, I begin to shake the bait in place. If there is still no reaction, I use little hops that do not leave the bed, but kick up mud.

If that doesn’t work, I put down my bait casting rod and pick up my 8 lb. test rigged spinning rod, with a 1/8 oz. lead head jig on a 6” finesse worm in Green Pumpkin or Watermelon. I work this bait in the same way that I worked my bigger baits, starting with dead sticking it, moving onto shakes, and finally hops. If that doesn’t work, I tie on a size 1 Mosquito live bait hook, and whacky rig a 4” Watermelon Senko. I flip this bait onto the beds and alternate between shaking and dead sticking.

If at this point, the fish is still on the bed but has not bit, my last resort is to pick up my spinning rod rigged with 6 lb. test and a dropshot rig made from a size 4 Mosquito hook with a 1/8 oz. dropshot weight, with a 10” to 18” leader. The dropshot baits I use are:

• 4 1/2” Robo Worms in Margarita Mutilator or Aaron’s Magic
• 4” Slim Yamasenko in Watermelon or Green Pumpkin
• 3” Persuader Minnows in Pumpkin Shiner or Albino
• 3” Persuader Paddle Tails in Pumpkin Shiner or Albino
• 2” Berkeley Power Bait Grubs in White, Chartreuse, Pumpkin Seed, and Smoke

Note: All of the above baits can be dipped in Chartreuse Dipping Dye to enhance their appeal to the fish, and enhance their visibility for you.

Also, keep in mind that as long as there is a male bass on the bed, the bigger female will not bite, so you may want to temporarily hold the male in your live well and only release him after you’ve either caught the female or given up on her entirely.

I will put no more than 20 minutes into a fish under 5 lbs. and no more than 2 hours into a fish up to 8 lbs., and anything bigger I’ll work as long as I can stand it.

P.S. These are powerful tools and it is your responsibility to ensure that our bass resource is still here for our kids, so fish them wisely and always return spawning fish immediately with a minimum amount of handling.

Good Luck!