I could smell the beds but no bream!

**Mc06** · 05-02-2022, 09:55 PM

I fished a new lake today that is known for its bream. I used my typical method of smelling the strong odor they emit when on beds and then I use my sidescan to more accurately pinpoint where they are. I ended up smelling about 5 or 6 beds but I noticed that I didn’t see any white spots on the beds (which is usually how bream show up when they are sitting on the beds). But I fished the beds anyway and only ended up catching two big males the entire day. Has anyone else ever experienced this? Smelling the strong bream bed odor but no fish being on the beds? It’s the first time this has happened to me. Since it’s known as a bream lake and relatively small I figured maybe other folks had already cleaned them out or the fish had already spawned but the odor was still present.

**Slabprowler** · 05-02-2022, 10:18 PM

I have tried and tried to find them by smell but have never been able to locate them that way.
but have found tons of fish By dragging a short piece of worm/night crawler on a lite hook and a small split shot thru the area !
also I do love finding them with SI but that gets difficult quickly here with all the grass .
Gills/ crackers just started showing up here Friday morning and has got better every day. Still finding 67-69° bottom temps Friday evening.
lots of fish still not on beds where I normally catch them on bed in early April!
I have smelt crappie the same way as gills so that maybe what your smelling and they maybe out just a little deeper!
stay after them with the warm nights it will get really good quick.

**Mc06** · 05-02-2022, 10:28 PM

Yep it’s been a crazy spring with all the rain and cold fronts. I was catching male crappie in 1-2ft of water a few days ago. This time last year the crappie were already done and I was catching bream on beds. And that worm technique sounds like a good way to find them. I use to try something like that with beetle spins before I got sidescan.

**DockShootinJack** · 05-03-2022, 03:42 AM

Spawning fish do have a distinct smell. I have smelled it some this year

**skeetbum** · 05-03-2022, 05:54 PM

I too like slow rolling a spinnerbait of some style to find em and then zero in. Lots of the areas I’ve found em bedding in past years are choked with floating weeds now. I smelled some Sunday morning but too stiff a wind for me to follow it.

**StantheMan2567** · 05-03-2022, 09:43 PM

Did smell some in SC on lakes Santee Cooper and Greenwood where I fished as a kid. My father could sure sniff them out. I have not noticed any bedding smell here in E TN but always sniffing around in hopes of finding them.

**DockShootinJack** · 05-04-2022, 04:42 AM

Originally Posted by StantheMan2567

Did smell some in SC on lakes Santee Cooper and Greenwood where I fished as a kid. My father could sure sniff them out. I have not noticed any bedding smell here in E TN but always sniffing around in hopes of finding them.

I have smelled it in the shallow back waters a few times this year

**Ketchn** · 05-04-2022, 06:47 AM

I do know it some spots it smells fishy more than others to me , but as far as smelling bedded fish not yet

**DockShootinJack** · 05-04-2022, 07:22 AM

Always heard that fishy odor was bedding fish. Seems to hold true. I have only smelled it in the spring

**Smitty39365** · 05-04-2022, 08:13 AM

I smelled them several times Saturday on the river. We did manage to find two beds we were smelling but the wind was all over the place which makes it almost impossible to zero in on them.
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