You can see them mating at times. They will be rubbing on each other. You will see a brighter circle area where they sweep the bed when its new. As days go by the beds will be harder to see because of silt settling on the beds. With day length you get warming water. The warming water brings them up or suspends them in shallow water. This also helps to ripen the eggs. When the water reaches 60 they are going to be at it. I guess I never worried about the sex of the bass. But the male guards the nest. Males can be 5+ lbs. When you see one this big you can bet there is a huge female near by. Water levels dropping will cause the fish to spawn deeper. We only see a small percentage of the bass that are spawning. You may even see more beds on points when the water is dropping.

Good luck!
Don.