Do fish get educated to a certain bait?

[Fishin Dad]

I have been wondering if fish get educated to a certain bait, lure, presentation over time if they keep seeing it?   Let's say numerous people keep skipping senkos under a dock on the same lake day in and day out.   Do these fish learn not to bite them?    Hope some of you experts who have fished for a long time have a theory.  Thanks

[Team9nine]

Yes, though it is to a degree, not usually a complete absolute. Lots of factors involved including degree of pressure, size and structure of the bass population, and type of presentation.

[Outdoors]

I wanna say yes, but I don't know if their any hardcore proof of it. I remember we use to plastic worm to death this old farm pond to the point of catching any bass was rare. Well, off plastic worms that is. The fish might've just not been drawn to soft plastics, I don't know.

[Fishin Dad]

i am sure there is no absolute or 100% proof, but an observation like @Outdoors mentions above makes a guy wonder.   Just seeing if people have observed this over years of observation.  

 

[CroakHunter]

2 hours ago, Fishin Dad said:

I have been wondering if fish get educated to a certain bait, lure, presentation over time if they keep seeing it?   Let's say numerous people keep skipping senkos under a dock on the same lake day in and day out.   Do these fish learn not to bite them?    Hope some of you experts who have fished for a long time have a theory. ThanksThanks

I don't believe so. We literally catch hundreds if not thousands of bass on a white double willow spinnerbait every year in the same 65 acre pit. And have caught the same fish multiple different times in a year on the same bait in the same spot. We are fishing for animals that have a brain smaller than a grape, either they are active or inactive, want what bait your throwing or They don't. I don't believe they think "oh! George must be fishing, there he is throwing around his drop shot again, better not eat it!"

[fishballer06]

I'll give an example. This weekend I had a tournament and my partner and I decided to fish this bridge first thing in the morning. This bridge has two piers that go down into the lake and one side is rather shallow, and usually doesn't hold fish. My partner is throwing a green pumpkin RI Beaver, and I'm throwing a watermelon red flake Rage Craw. We go through the bridge, and back through. My partner caught 5 fish and lost 2. I caught two fish, including the biggest of the bunch. We decide to make the same pass through again since we were so successful. My partner keeps throwing his green pumpkin beaver, but I switched up to a Neko rig with a Superbug Missle 48 worm. My partner caught nothing and I caught one more and missed another one. We move to a different area, frog a little, and then come back to the bridge for one last pass through. My partner sticks to his same green pumpkin Beaver, and I switched up to a shakey head with a Berkley Shakey Snake worm. Guess what? My partner got nothing, and I picked up another fish. 

 

So was it luck of the draw? Or was it the different look they were seeing each time? You could never prove any differently, but I switched baits every pass through and I got bites every time. My partner stuck to the same bait and only caught fish the first pass through. Take what you want from this, but it brings up an interesting point.

[islandbass]

Just now, CroakHunter said:

...They don't. I don't believe they think "oh! George must be fishing, there he is throwing around his drop shot again, better not eat it!"

I'm telling you, that's what they say when I tie on a jig with traditional trailer.  Only they say, "Looks like islandbass is back again.  Remember, if he throws a jig, don't bite it. We have a rep to protect." 

[Comfortably Numb]

It's like when someone sees a crazy bait or color and says "bet they havn't seen that one before". 

 

I am quite the pessimist when it comes to fishin and old beliefs.

 

I dont think bass remember about a certain lure or being caught before. Dont confuse a Bass' memory with it's born with instincts

 

I dont think color is that important, as long as they can see it in water clarity/depth/conditions you are fishin. I do believe if you "think" a color is good you fish with more confidence.

 

Bass do not hold on to salted or scented baits longer.

 

Best to throw spinnerbaits in the wind is ridiculous

 

 

 

 

 

[Fishin Dad]

Thanks guys.   Interesting discussion.   

[Bass Turd]

Bass one says to bass two... "Don't do it Marge... if you bite that worm you'll be taken up by aliens to another world. They do all kinds of strange things to you... they grab you by the bottom lip, hold you high in the air and some even yell. Then you might be returned immediately or sometimes they place you in a very dark box full of water. Sometimes some of our other friends that disappeared earlier are there in that box too! If you are a 'chosen one' you get a whole other ride up a stage, bright lights, big crowds, loud music and the worst of it.... THEY YELL OUT YOUR WEIGHT FOR ALL TO HEAR!!!!"

 

Bass two "I guess I'm not that hungry after all..."

[primetime]

I think Bass get conditioned to Noise more than a lure. After being caught a few times, I think they realize that human noise is a threat so they retreat which is why approaching quietly is often a big deal when approaching a good spot.

 

In smaller ponds I notice that fish over 4lbs get tougher to catch on any lure. You can catch small fish all day long, but the larger fish are never as easy as the first year you fish it. 

 

If you ever want to see how many Bass are in the area you are fishing and not catching much, live line a shiner or bluegill and you will be amazed how many big fish are right at your feet.

[ww2farmer]

If bass get conditioned to people skipping Senkos under docks and refused to bite them anymore, 90% of the "tournament bass fisherman" around here would give up and go play golf. But, they don't.  

[snake95]

I personally don't believe that bass get "conditioned" to baits or reject certain baits all the time.

 

However, I do believe that their responses can make them appear to anglers to learn to avoid certain baits.

 

For example, a few weeks ago I was fishing blue TRDs.  Caught three in one spot before I stopped catching them.  Then I threw a Canada Craw TRD and got two more.  Then after a lull, threw a chartreuse green and got three more.  

 

Did they start thinking after a while that biting a blue TRD would result in being hoisted into the sky and then flopped back in?  I doubt it.  I think some of them found blue appealing while others responded to the craw, while others responded only to green (out of the three colors).  Why?  Who knows.  But I don't think its because they reasoned through it or even remembered that blue was a bad color.  I think they just responded to different colors for reasons we cannot know.

[papajoe222]

IMO, yes fish can become conditioned to avoid a bait. It's similar to a bass sucking in a leaf as it falls through the water column (I've witnessed this on numerous occasions). This happens frequently as the leaves start to fall. After the second or third time they reject it, they'll rarely take another leaf.  When next fall comes around those same fish will likely react the same way. They don't have the memory from the conditioning like a dog or other animal does. 

Catch and release a fish and I seriously doubt you'll catch it again that day on the same lure.Go back tomorrow and catch and release the same fish on the same lure and I guarantee if you go back the third day that lure won't get a second look from that fish.  Wait a few days and you'll have a good chance of catching it again.

 

[Bassin' Brad]

11 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

IMO, yes fish can become conditioned to avoid a bait. It's similar to a bass sucking in a leaf as it falls through the water column (I've witnessed this on numerous occasions). This happens frequently as the leaves start to fall. After the second or third time they reject it, they'll rarely take another leaf.  When next fall comes around those same fish will likely react the same way. They don't have the memory from the conditioning like a dog or other animal does. 

Catch and release a fish and I seriously doubt you'll catch it again that day on the same lure.Go back tomorrow and catch and release the same fish on the same lure and I guarantee if you go back the third day that lure won't get a second look from that fish.  Wait a few days and you'll have a good chance of catching it again.

 

Short term memory/conditioning? 

[scaleface]

I do believe bass get  conditioned to lures .  So much so that slowing down to catch lure shy bass quite often is the wrong thing to do .  

[senile1]

Most of the science indicates that bass can be conditioned to being fed, lures, etc., though it would be nice if there were more in-depth studies.  How long the conditioning lasts is up for debate.  And like any other population of organisms, the ability to be conditioned would map to some kind of bell curve with some individuals at the high end that will never bite a lure, and some individuals at the low end that will bite the same lure over and over.  But as a statement for the general population, bass do have the ability to become conditioned.  A perfect example of conditioning of fish is the way they learn to gather near an automatic fish feeder at the time and place when the feeding occurs.

[kickerfish1]

Yes, the ones that travel in schools learn to read. They have been warned not to bite anything that says Lucky Craft or Megabass. 

[Fishin Dad]

I am taking something valuable away from this discussion.    I have done this before, but in Sunday's tournament I am going to make the same pass with different types, colors, etc. on the same productive stretch and see what we can pull out of there on each pass.   Just a good reminder.   Thanks all