Salt And Fresh Water Correlation

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

Last night I watched a show called Fighting Tuna for the first time on Animal Planet. Basically was four different ships on the ocean competing for the biggest tuna at the end of the day. It was interesting to see that all four of the captains were searching for activity on the water like birds, whales, and other animal species near the water. One of them made a comment that when you see birds directly on top of, or circling the water top it means they also are looking for baitfish. I found this similar to bass fishing. Usually when I see birds circling near a certain part of the water I know they are also looking for fish. Anyone else use this general rule of thumb also for the birds, turtles, etc. ?

[WRB]

Tuna and bass have nothing in common other than being predator fish. Tuna don't have swim bladders and can't stop swimming or they sink. What that means is tuna are always on the move looking for baitfish. To find tuna you must find baitfish and some bird species also live on the same baitfish....birds have tremendous ability to see food, they can't smell it! On the ocean active feeding birds means active feeding predators, very important.

Fresh water bass are also easier to catch when they are active feeders, the problem is bass feed on a wider variety of prey and pelagic baitfish that flying birds feed on are not always available.

Watching your local ecosystem for active animal activity is a good indicator that predators may also be active, including bass.

Tom

[bassackwards12]

I always look for birds on the lake. Usually if you do find them circling there is bait fish under them. I also use turtles because I have always heard if the turtles are on the log then the bass are in the cove.

[5 Dollar Fishing Game]

I heard similar about the turtles also. I also inadvertently found out similar about frogs. Last year when I had my canoe I was fishing a local pond. I heard a frog croaking across the pond in some brush. Then I heard a huge splash. Then the croaking stopped. :-)

[Catt]

Chasing birds is very common trick for finding saltwater species of fish. Menhaden (Pogy), shrimp, & other prey cruise just under the surface easily visable from the air.

Birds & bass are quite different but there are times I'll look for birds. During winter I look for Coots which feed on green grass saving me time hunting for grass.

[WRB]

Out west we have several grebe species that are diving birds and feed on the Threadfin shad. The grebes are here year around and by watching these birds you can easily tell where the shad schools are located. The small Pied billed grebe usually works close to shore, the larger Western grebe staying off shore. By watching the grebe it's easy to tell what direction the shad are moving, get out in front of the school near structure and bass are usually there.

Tom

[SirSnookalot]

It's not only tuna but wide variety of ocean fish whether they are offshore or inshore have one thing in common, they swim around and look for baitfish.  Birds don't always have to be present to catch fish but when they are it's usually game on.  That isn't to say that some of the species aren't ambush predators off reefs, wrecks or inshore around mangroves, those fish tend to move shorter distances with the tide movement.  I always look for activity on the water and in the air.  Bass fishing in s/e Florida is much the same, I'm looking for activity.

 

Salt water fishing is about the window of opportunity, especially inshore, you just have to know the nuances of each species and that guarantees no success.  With the exception of a few times in the year, like the fall bait runs, we catch a small numbers of fish, if I catch one I sometimes consider it a good day.  I have the incoming tide this morning, good chance I won't catch anything.

[0119]

....birds have tremendous ability to see food, they can't smell it! 

Tom

 

Buzzards/Vultures find carrion by pinpointing its release of carbon dioxide using their sense of smell.  A knowledgeable angler can locate bluegill beds by simply following their noses.  Perhaps birds such as terns and gulls can smell the oily residue of ravaged baitfish. 

[Deleted account]

Fishing is fishing, Sure some things will vary depending on species and conditions, but a lot of what one learns on the water translates. I find a lot of LMB guys make the mistake of thinking their thing is so different. Just look how shocked some were that an umbrella would catch, or how "new" finding fish with electronics in deep water, and catching them is to some. As far as birds, I know of several large lakes in VA and NC, where gulls will show the way to bait, and fish, so yeah, while not as common as in the ocean, it does happen. Didn't some guy win a tournament going to birds recently?

[bigbill]

In fishing the saltwater fish while trolling for blue fish and weak fish we look for seagulls circling and diving down on the jumping baitfish. The blues and weak fish are schooled up and feeding on them. We pick the blues and weak fish off by circling the large school. We keep our boat and lines on the outer edge of the school so we don't spook them. One by one we reel them in.

[RoLo]

Tuna and bass have nothing in common other than being predator fish.

Tuna don't have swim bladders and can't stop swimming or they sink.

 

The fact that tuna lack a swim bladder tells us a lot about the species.

Unlike bass which change depth slowly and very infrequently, tuna need the ability to change depth often

and quickly without waiting for bladder readjustment. It's true that if a tuna stops swimming it will sink very slowly 

to its neutral depth (where it weighs the same as water). but tuna have a far more important reason to swim constantly.

Tuna are in the mackerel family, which are jokingly referred to as Horse Mackerel in Jersey's Hudson Canyon.

Fish in the mackerel family cannot breath unless they're moving forward, and as soon as forward motion stops 

the fish begins to suffocate. As bluefin and yellowfin tuna are pumped closer to the boat, they swim

in smaller and smaller circles which makes gaffing pretty tricky. Once plopped on the deck however,

they die promptly of asphyxia. We used tinker mackerel for tuna bait, which required a 'round' livewell 

to keep them alive. The corners in a 'square' livewell interrupt circuitous nonstop swimming,

which shortens their life in a livewell.

 

 

Whether you're fishing in freshwater or saltwater, bird behavior makes a very strong case

for game fish behavior. Cormorants, anhingas and grebes are diving birds that indicate the presence of forage,

ospreys indicate the presence of superficial baitfish and coots indicate the presence of vegetation.

Gulls and Terns however are water surface scavengers that rely entirely on feeding game fish,

whether they're bass or tuna. When gulls and terns are working, you can bet the ranch

that game fish are actively feeding and driving baitfish to the surface. Watching bird behavior ranks right up there

with watching shoreline topography and watching your depth sounder.

 

Roger

[gobig]

I have to disagree that there are not similarities. Anatomically fish may be different but things like structure, cover, tidal movement, water temp, depth, current, speed, cadence etc... all play a critical role whether your chasing from Salmon, Tuna, Bass or any other species. I have chased saltwater fish most of my life and the transition to Bass fishing has been fairly seamless. The bottom line is fish are fish like stated above. We have a knack of making things seem more complicated than they are.

[Catt]

I'll tell y'all one thing that's absolutely different!

Some place bass on a pedstall it doesn't belong on!

Fighting abaility, bass aint even close to saltwater fish, not even the mighty Small Mouth.

Abaility to "Spool" your reel, bass aint gonna do it, I fish coastal marshes for Bull Reds with bass tackle, Been Spooled? Yelp!

Sorry drifted off topic

[RoLo]

I'll tell y'all one thing that's absolutely different!

Some place bass on a pedstall it doesn't belong on!

Fighting abaility, bass aint even close to saltwater fish, not even the mighty Small Mouth.

Abaility to "Spool" your reel, bass aint gonna do it, I fish coastal marshes for Bull Reds with bass tackle, Been Spooled? Yelp!

Sorry drifted off topic

 

One 10-pound bluefish can drag a stringer of 10-lb bass to their death.

Then again, if we battled tidal currents all our life, we could stay abreast of Michael Phelps  

 

Roger

[SirSnookalot]

We can easily get off track between the fighting capability between fresh and salt species.  Coming from Lake St Clair fishing small mouth and muskie most of my life, now fishing pretty much only saltwater the question of best fight has been answered for me.   Each of us from our respective regional area will pick our pound for pound winner.  One of the few fish I've yet to catch is a Giant Trevally, but since they are pretty much overgrown jacks, I got the idea.

 

One big difference between a bass and tuna, the bass is cold blooded, a bluefin tuna is warm blooded.