Bass & Laser Pointers

[OCdockskipper]

A buddy of mine has a koi pond in which he added a keeper bass to a few years ago.  The fish has grown well, is near 4 lbs and and because of the ponds orientation to the sun, is currently in full autumn mode of eating everything he (she) can get his (her) mouth on.  Last week, I watched as 10 large goldfish were devoured as soon as they entered the water - the feedbag is on!!

So I was over at his place this afternoon and saw something I had never seen before.  From inside the house, my friend shot a laser pointer through the slider window onto a rock in the pond in about 6 inches of water.  Immediately the bass shot across the pond striking at the red light.  The fish didn't just mosey over to inspect the light, it was in full on attack mode splashing water out of the pond.  When he moved the light to another position, the bass attacked it there.  He only did it for a minute or so, he didn't want the fish to possibly injure itself trying to eat something that wasn't there.

I don't think this experience is useful as to lure selection, unless I decided to throw a super miniaturized Ned Rig in red.  Also, while this could be useful to help locate fish that are either cruising or spread out on an area like a shallow flat, I think a fish aggressive to show itself like this would also strike most of the presentations we throw.  What I did learn is how aggressive a feeding bass can be and that they will often try to eat something before they figure out what it is.

[hawgenvy]

That's a cocky bass, a lucky one, one that has plenty of food on which to fatten up, and can freely attack and swallow whatever moves. It is not challenged over and over by the anglers' sharp hooks. Most places I fish the bass are wary. They have a bad case of PTSD from being stung and fought with and brought into the suffocating air to face a man. They are careful about what they eat, and are rarely fooled by plastic, and probably wouldn't be tricked by a glimmer of light.

But maybe I'll try it.

[WRB]

The bass is trained or conditioned to eat gold fish and it's hungry! The lazer apparently looks like gold fish to this bass.

Tom

[soflabasser]

A pet bass will eat anything that it's owner puts in front of its face.

[Big Bait Fishing]

there was a gimmiky lure that had a red dot on it , on some infomercial , somebody will remember it

just looked it up , called the Laserlure  http://www.tackletour.com/interviewlaserlures.html

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

A pet bass will eat anything that it's owner puts in front of its face.

When I worked at Cabela's we'd do demos dragging the hot new bait back and forth in front of the fish through the glass. The bass would crowd and snap at the bait on the other side of the glass and we'd sell out of that color bait almost without fail. Thing is, you could do the same thing with a bell sinker and the fish reacted the same. 

["hamma"]

This "pet" is king of the domain,.. anything that moves, introduced to its environment,..is considered food.

[Sam]

Hey all, want to have some fun at BPS or Cabela's?

Go to their fish tank with one of their spinnerbaits in the package.

Put the spinnerbait near or up to the glass and shake it as you move it around.

The bass, and other fish, will watch it and follow it around as you move it.

I love doing this to entertain the small children at the tank and also watch the bass, that can see me, follow the lure.

May not be as much fun as a laser light but it will show you how the bass, as a predator, thinks.

Give it a try.

[scaleface]

I wonder if they make a laser in pumpkin .

[soflabasser]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

When I worked at Cabela's we'd do demos dragging the hot new bait back and forth in front of the fish through the glass. The bass would crowd and snap at the bait on the other side of the glass and we'd sell out of that color bait almost without fail. Thing is, you could do the same thing with a bell sinker and the fish reacted the same. 

Those bass are so well conditioned to being fed that they will eat any lure thrown in the tank.They even feed them dead baitfish in the BPS by my house which is surprising since bass usually only eat a live animal or a lure imitating one.

[OCdockskipper]

One thing that is different with this fish than those aquarium kept bass is his environment.  Being in an outdoor pond, he gets what little weather changes Southern California has as well as our weak excuse for seasonal changes.  The pond has 24/7 current and is located in an area that gets more shade than normal, so the water temperature in it is a little lower than local lakes.  This seems to make this fish go into fall & winter behavior earlier and spring & summer behavior later.

The seasonal behavioral differences are really evident.  I have watched my friend toss goldfish into the pond in mid December and the response is so different than just weeks before.  The bass will eat 2 or 3 of the goldfish in a less aggressive manner & then ignore any other ones (which sometimes end up in the filter area, where they eat lost koi pellets and get pretty big themselves).  Mid-summer, the koi actually will outrun him to chase some of the goldfish, something that is inconceivable if you were to watch the way he banzai's after food right now.

He probably has lost some of his "wildness", I would hate to see him back in our lake, swimming up to a dock and waiting for someone to toss him some goldfish or nightcrawlers.  However, by not being in an aquarium, he still gives off clues to behavior & abilities that I never had the opportunity to see while out fishing.

[jr231]

Imagine what one of those Chinese high powered lasers that you can put on signs miles away would do. 

Bring up all the beasts from the depths. Lol 

[Team9nine]

Seems to be an inherent behavior with many species of fish...as well as dogs and cats  Simply type 'laser fish' into the YouTube search box and you'll see a plethora of videos on a wide variety of fish species, all willing to "chase" the laser beam. The fact that baits like the "Laser Lure" and others haven't set the fishing world on it's ear tells you that it isn't necessarily as simple as putting a laser beam/LED light into the water.

-T9 

[riverbasser]

I have nothing to add to this topic except that I want a pet bass!

[soflabasser]

35 minutes ago, riverbasser said:

I have nothing to add to this topic except that I want a pet bass!

One of my closest friends had a 125 gallon freshwater aquarium where he kept a bass he called Hank. Hank would eat from his fingertips and he even ate a piece of turkey meat on Thanksgiving.

[ec1]

I've always been under the belief that bass are very similar to cats. Their ability to chase down something moving, and ambushing while waiting for food to pass by. My cat loves laser pointers, so I can't see why a bass wouldn't. 

Either way, if you want to practice envisioning why sometime bass need the bait sitting on the bottom for a while without moving, get yourself a cat and check it out. 

[OCdockskipper]

4 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Seems to be an inherent behavior with many species of fish...as well as dogs and cats  ...

-T9 

So True.  Not only does the bass chase it, but the koi in the pond are drawn to it as if it was a glowing pellet (they aren't nearly as aggressive).  One of my friends dogs, a 100+lb Anatolian Shepard, literally does laps in his yard trying to chase the light down while his Golden/Irish setter mix doesn't see it at all.  He also has a pair of indoor cats and one of them jumps a good 4 feet in the air trying to get at the light when it is shot on the wall.

With all that entertainment, I'm surprised my buddy ever leaves the house...

[Wind Knot]

I can see a new trend in the industry: "Fiber-optic drop shot fishing"

[Onvacation]

On 10/4/2016 at 7:12 AM, scaleface said:

I wonder if they make a laser in pumpkin .

You have just inadvertently started the debate on size of laser, color of laser, and speed of laser movement.  

[J Francho]

What were those crankbaits with lazers built in them?

[OCdockskipper]

Laserlures, they were referenced by Big Bait Fishing in a post above along with a link to an article about them.  

It is interesting how Ike was promoting them, he said they were good lures even without the laser.  It sounded like he was hedging his bet, not wanting to go all-in on something that ended up being a bit gimmicky.

[J Francho]

My buddy Burnie Haney (look him up, some good articles on his site), was fooling around with a pointer and bedding bait.  Drop his bait there, and lead the fish to it with a pointer.

The fish had to be in the shade for it to work, though.  I don't think it was that earth shattering.

[Big Bait Fishing]

On ‎10‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 6:49 AM, soflabasser said:

Those bass are so well conditioned to being fed that they will eat any lure thrown in the tank.They even feed them dead baitfish in the BPS by my house which is surprising since bass usually only eat a live animal or a lure imitating one.

i used to fish a lake for catfish at there , i was using cut mackeral , 6 out 10 times i would catch a bass ..

[soflabasser]

7 hours ago, Big Bait Fishing said:

i used to fish a lake for catfish at there , i was using cut mackeral , 6 out 10 times i would catch a bass ..

Doesn't surprise me,bass can be strange animals at times.There is one lake that I have caught decent sized bass on hotdogs when fishing for channel catfish.

[GetBent]

That bass would mess himself if he saw a boat with red LED lights cruising around.