Rancho Seco report and spawning bed question

[mike borba]

Just got back from Rancho Seco. My fishing was similar to what others have reported. The trout I caught were cruising around shallow water in coves. I caught most of them on J. Fair's wiggle nymphs. The fish I caught were from two different hatcheries. About half looked like standard pasty looking DFG planters. The other half were larger, I'd say about 13" to 15", and very nicely marked fish. The question I have is about the spawning beds I saw. There were dozens of them in 2 to 6 feet of water. Most of the beds looked new, and i expected to see bass on them. All of the beds were empty and I saw no bass fry around. Temperature-wise it's too early for bass to have completely finished spawning. I've heard there are red ear in the lake, but they would spawn the same time as bass, or even a bit later. So my question is, what type of fish are causing the beds there? Mike

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Back in Florida a few weeks ago there were some big cleaned out spawning beds being dug at the edge of the water.

As I walked along I saw there was a catchfish or big bull head sitting in one?

Maybe the bass are digging them in low light levels of the AM and PM in that clear water?

[Scott V]

Bass most likely, you can find beds all year long. They might no being used at the time, but you can find them. I saw a couple bass protecting a few beds the other week.

[Joe Mateas]

Probably bass beds that spawned already(or that have been caught and killed by meat hunters) in the faux spring we had. Bluegill/redear spawn after tha bass when it gets warmer.

[Tony P]

Bass have been spawning for over a month now.