Bass Ability To Communicate With Other Bass

[hookset on 3]

What are your thoughts on a Bass' ability to send some type of alarm to others close by. Perhaps a chemo-receptor that smells or tastes an alert sent out by a Bass that has just been caught and quickly released.

[HoosierHawgs]

Don't they release a stress pheromone that can be smelled bt other fish?

[roadwarrior]

I don't buy into the theory. I have been in too many situations where we just pound fish releasing each as it is caught.

 

 

 

[BigSkyBasser]

I think whether this happens or not, that it only impacts fishing for bass under certain conditions. 

 

There's days where you can be pounding the S**T out of them in a single spot and not miss a bite.

 

But for pressured fish in tough or stressful conditions, I reckon there's several factors that apply to them keying in on previously caught or distressed companions

 

I bet they pick up more than anything on when a fish first gets hooked and frenzies, the vibrations he sends out and the water he displaces is the biggest warning sign that bass would key in on if really alert and skittish.

[WRB]

We accept that bass can be attracted to positive influences like feeding on a school of baitfish via vibrations, sight and odors. Why be sceptical about negative vibrations, sight and odors?

There is a group of anglers who believe bass never school, they believer bass may group together in small numbers.however I have witnessed bass sometimes school up in big numbers, they somehow get the message that being together and feeding as a large group is a benefit. The video Big Mouth Forever states some bass school and some are individuals....makes sense a school fish communicates with others.

Tom

[soflabasser]

Interesting subject.I have personally seen big Bass in schools as well as small /medium Bass in schools.Have noticed that most of the time if you make a wrong movement they all get scared and leave the spot.Have also seen them at times when they bite like a school of Bonito with little care of watching their buddies getting hooked.One thing is for certain big Bass are much smarter than little Bass when it comes to being recaptured multiple times.

[Catt]

Empirical: based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic.

My question would be how does one prove the "bite" turned off because of pheromones given off by released bass?

There has been dozens of times I have sat on a single piece of structure for 10-12 hrs and caught bass the entire time.

[Crankinstein]

I think Tom has an interesting point on bass in schools and if bass do communicate it would seem much more likely to witness this in schooling bass than independent bass. Whether the result is positive or negative it seems two bass sitting in stumps that happen to be close to each other may not react much at all to one being caught but that a school of 20 bass in open water may have some sort of reaction. As stated before though it could be positive just as much as negative. Maybe these schoolers think a feeding frenzy is about to start when they notice the commotion in the water. This also brings up the question of we're these schooling bass once independent? and if so what made them school up while others do not? Seasonal patterns, feeding opportunities, or traits passed down from the parent bass could all be possibilities but the idea of communication certainly looms there as well. This is a good topic we have here, I'd like to hear some more on this.

[Raul]

Another excellent excuse for not catching, now is bass warning other bass the Boogie man with a rod n´reel is trying to ketch them.

[Jar11591]

From a biological stand-point, it seems silly to think that a particular man-performed action can get a positive instinctual reaction but not believe another action can get a negative one.

[long island basser]

What are your thoughts on a Bass' ability to send some type of alarm to others close by. Perhaps a chemo-receptor that smells or tastes an alert sent out by a Bass that has just been caught and quickly released.

Don't they release a stress pheromone that can be smelled bt other fish?

I've been known to release something from time to time that is smelled by others, who then proceed to evacuate the immediate area.....as it pertains to bass, I have no idea.

[MidwestBassin]

Valid points about the schooling theory. I never thought of it that way. But in my opinion, whether or not the fish communicate amongst each other, I believe it all comes down to if they are feeding or not. Sounds simple, but how many times have you pulled up on some structure and the graphs light up, only to not get a single frickin' bite. On the other hand, on the Tennessee those guys will sit on a channel indention the size of a bean bag chair and smack 25 pounds off of it throughout a day. I believe its all about the feeding. You hear those guys say,  "I just need to get one to bite", because once one bites in a school, the others don't care if he comes back crying with a sore lip. They are lit and ready to go. - Tight Lines

[Racerx]

I don't believe for a second that fish actually communicate.  If they behave similarly in a scenario, it's more likely simply because they are all wired the same.  It stands to reason that if they are all faced with the same stimuli, that they are going to have the same reactions.  Now, take into account the individual fish's need for food at that particular time, it would also make sense why one might ite, while another might not.  Bass can be curious and competitive creatures, like many other animals, so when when one makes a commotion while on a hook, it's not unusual for another, or even a couple, to follow, closely.  After all, if they're hungry, they don't wanna miss out on a meal.

[Josh Smith]

Of course they communicate. They are far advanced, and communicate over vast distances.

If, in the future, they become extinct, we will be in deep when their home world sends the probe to figure out why they lost contact. Unless we are able to grab a few from the past to repopulate the species (most likely via a slingshot around the sun), chances are the bass probe's communications will destroy the Earth.

Just my opinion.

Josh

[Paul Roberts]

What are your thoughts on a Bass' ability to send some type of alarm to others close by. Perhaps a chemo-receptor that smells or tastes an alert sent out by a Bass that has just been caught and quickly released.

 

Bass are, so far, not known to produce an alarm substance like Shreckstoff substance found in Ostariophysi (minnows, catfishes, and some others). And there's been little anecdotal evidence that bass or other Centrarchids produce such a chemical. FYI: Here's a recent article on Shreckstoff:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fish-schreckstoff/

 

However, Bob Underwood in his book "Lunker" -describing his hours observing and experimenting with bass in SCUBA gear- had a whole chapter highlighting his observations of bass with torn skin alarming the schools of bass they were caught from. Mouth hooked fish produced no such response. He did repeated "experiments" and was convinced that tearing the skin of bass alarmed others.

 

As to the more general question of whether bass can communicate with other bass, the answer is yes. But that depends on what they are communicating. One bass (or other fish) spooking can alarm others nearby. Seen that.. a whole lot more than I'd like. Many fish -bass included- are known to learn what is edible and what is not by observing others. This is well documented in fish behavior literature -called "social learning". This is very likely at work in bass becoming "educated" to angling (another thing that's very well documented). A fish doesn't need to sample a non-food item, much less be hooked, to learn that a particular item is not edible; they can observe their cohorts doing the sampling and that can be enough.

[slonezp]

I was under the assumption they communicate by singing to each other https://youtu.be/6WC6EbRQmJ0

[Sam]

All animals communicate.

 

They have their own methods of communication, including moving their tails, swimming fast or slow, making sounds, positioning their bodies, owning a place in a structure, quietly moving away or towards each other, jumping out of the water, taking flight from a predator or a sound, keying in on your bait when another bass is around and many other ways you can think of.

 

So yes, bass communicate in their own way which is totally foreign to us.

 

"When" they communicate and for "what reasons" are the questions we need to consider.

[Ratherbfishing]

It's my belief that bass hold a "town meeting" every morning at around 3:30 to decide where they are going to be and what baits they are going to bite (if any).  There can be no other explanation.

[Sam]

It's my belief that bass hold a "town meeting" every morning at around 3:30 to decide where they are going to be and what baits they are going to bite (if any).  There can be no other explanation.

 

X2.

And they discuss how to avoid my baits all day long.

[Raul]

It's my belief that bass hold a "town meeting" every morning at around 3:30 to decide where they are going to be and what baits they are going to bite (if any).  There can be no other explanation.

 

I concur completely with that explanation.

[soflabasser]

Doesn't matter what bass do to avoid us,a good bass fisherman will always find a way to catch lots of quality bass.

[everythingthatswims]

I think fish definitely can get turned off by seeing their buddy get yanked away from them. I've watched it happen in clear water. 

[ww2farmer]

It's my belief that bass hold a "town meeting" every morning at around 3:30 to decide where they are going to be and what baits they are going to bite (if any).  There can be no other explanation.

And whose boat to avoid as well.

[baxtervol]

I saw a Mark Zona show on Great Lakes smallmouth and he spoke about the fact that many anglers believed that released smallmouth "spook" the school and he was apt to believe them. He was fishing with Van Dam or maybe the CEO of Strike King, and they were keeping their smallmouth until they moved locations.

[desmobob]

I think fish definitely can get turned off by seeing their buddy get yanked away from them. I've watched it happen in clear water. 

 

I fish for striped bass in saltwater every spring with the fly rod.  It's sight fishing on shallow water flats.  They are definitely schooling fish, and almost every time you hook one out of the school, at least one or two of their schoolmates will accompany them right to the boat, all through the fight.  Keep in mind, when they are up on the shallow flats, they are at their spookiest.  And I've seen that happen with freshwater fish of various species at times.

 

That would lead me to believe they must not communicate any kind of "danger" or negative signal when caught.  I tend to think there is no communication, and that the struggle of a fish being caught does nothing but excite other fish; at least in predatory fish.

 

Tight lines,

Bob