Spawn
Also called bedding, on beds
The period when bass move onto shallow gravel beds to lay and guard eggs, usually as water settles into the mid-60s.
Males fan out a circular bed on hard bottom in shallow water, females move up to lay, and then the males stay to guard eggs and fry. The beds are visible as pale circles in clear water, and the spawn is the peak of sight-fishing season for that reason.
Bedding fish do not eat much, so bites are territorial rather than feeding. That changes how you fish: a bait dropped into the bed and left there provokes a fish that ignored everything moving past it.
It is also the most ethically debated period in bass fishing. Many anglers avoid targeting bedding fish, or return them immediately and close to where they were caught, because a bed left unguarded for long gets stripped by bluegill.
If you do fish beds, land the fish fast and release it right there. A guarding male returned near his bed is back on it within minutes.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use spawn and show it on real gear.
Spawn is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
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