Jurassic Park Bass

[clayton86]

I went out this morning after working all night to harass some smallies with the fly rod. Went with the intentions of getting one on a poppet or mouse and just had them chase or inspect it never hit. I started playing with flys changing things up had some hits caught one but they still aren't very active. Well that is till I tied on this wooly bugger thing. It starts black with a purple stripe on the top with some yellow and red in the tail with a ribbon of some shinny stuff.

Now I could see two that I was working but soon as I got this thing out there holy crap must have had 5 or more come darting in looking at this thing and batting at it. One hit it I set the hook missed and they scattered. My next few casts are what really got me scratching my head.

These fish would look at this fly stare at it then flare their gills and shake there fins at it like that dinosaur in the original Jurassic park before spraying the fat man with that gunk and eating him. I had several fish do this it was crazy I've never seen a bass do that. I have seen them stare a lure down and wave their fins but never flare their gills like that. Seriously looked like a dragon or that dinosaur.

All in all it was a awesome morning only landed two fish but it was one of my best days on the water yet just from the way I had them riled up.

[BigSkyBasser]

Yeah I've seen them do this before, not sure if it's them identifying the bait as a threat or what. Seem it a lot right before they reject your bait. Sounds like a gorgeous day though!

[Preytorien]

I wonder if some of that is them "smelling/tasting" to see if your lure is legitimate. Fish don't really smell or taste the way we do, but they definitely can make some conclusions based on scent. Maybe they're scoping out your lure to see if it "smells right" to them?

[gardnerjigman]

I've seen bed fish do this a lot. I think it's a sign of aggression. 

[long island basser]

I've seen bed fish do this a lot. I think it's a sign of aggression.

Yes aggression and or defending an area. Something like saying get your ares off my front porch!

Many cichlids do this.

[Janderson45]

Yes aggression and or defending an area. Something like saying get your ares off my front porch!

Many cichlids do this.

 

Just what I was thinking.  I've kept many different types of cichlids in aquariums over the years and have noticed this behavior before, definitely a sign of aggression in my aquarium fish.. and smallmouth bass are in the cichlid family I believe.

 

Large mouth bass on the other hand, are related more closely to groupers if I recall correctly, which would make me think they would not display this same behavior. 

 

Very cool observation none the less.