But how are they going to see it?

[WRB]

The problem with trying to disect a fish eye and break it down scientifically into rods and cones to determine what a fish see's is we don't know how the brain processes the light waves. What everyone tends to do is use our brains and eye as a baseline. Humans don't live underwater, we live above water with totally different survival needs and evolved to to take advantage of our environment.

We know from observation and testing that some animals can see a broader spectrum of light and colors then we can. The human eye/brain aren't all equal, some of us are color blind, some have excellent color separation, some are night blind and some have good night vision. A few humans see auoras, energy produced by the brain. Some birds and fish can see ultra violet or infrared color spectrum. 

We don't know what we don't know applies to how bass see, they obliviously can see in very low light better than we give them credit.

The more time you spend on the water the more questions you will have.

Tom

[toni63]

You mentioned you rely heavily on what your electronics show you is down there to decide if a spot is worth fishing. My thinking is use everything else (season, water temp, forage, weather and water clarity) to establish what might be the best presentation and lures to try then find structure that fits into where and what the bass should/could be doing on that lake during that time.

 

Then just go fishing. If you throw a crank bait for awhile where crankbaits make sense and get no strikes, try a different lure or move to another spot and try again. 

 

I’ve come to the conclusion that my electronics are really only useful for temp, depth/depth changes and bottom hardness. I never even look for fish on mine. Maybe a bait ball if I’m in deep water but that’s rare for me in my boat. 

 

As far as visibility, someone from IDNR told me along time ago wear your darkest sunglasses till the suns almost gone down then take them off. That difference in visibility at dusk with sunglasses on then off is pretty much the difference between what your eyes can do in low light and what a bass can see in low light under water. So basically while duse looks pretty dark to us it’s still pretty bright to a bass. 

[WRB]

Off topic...If you are not looking for the life zone by determining what depth the bait and bass are located at you are missing the major reason for sonar besides a depth finder.

The fasted way to eliminate unproductive water is knowing what depth to focus your efforts in.

Tom

[papajoe222]

On 10/3/2017 at 11:08 AM, GorillaBass said:

I try to think like a fish.

Stop trying to think like a fish. Fish don't have the ability to think/reason, and stop trying to figure out if the fish can see your lure in 40ft. of water when you can only see three feet down.  Finding the answer isn't going to add to your ability to catch them. Accept the fact that you can catch them in 40ft. of water (if they're there), or in five ft. of water that looks like chocolate milk. Figuring out where they are can be a daunting task.Then you need to figure out what they'll hit. Just that is frustrating enough without filling your head with why.

[GorillaBass]

Man, you guys.. have a ton of knowledge    I'll get there one day- thanks to everyone for giving me your opinion and advice. I have a lot to learn.

I try to "think" like a fish in small ways, like- this is a good cove, good cover, id prob chill here -> if I was a fish, but outside of that, I don't have the knowledge like most of you yet to really know colors, seasons, forage- thats a lot to me right now, I did look at a condo by the potomac river that has it's own marina so i can keep a boat there and fish it everyday after work, awesome right? anglers paradise really.

But there, its more grass, heavy grass, heavy cover, 4ft~ deep across the whole river/bay.. thatll add a whole new dynamic instead of the usual resevoir I fish.

 

I read that the darker the water, then darker baits help.. blacks, blues, ect.. so what then? my white swimjig isnt as good? I went the other day and was throwing the jig (got no bites, so annoying) and was wondering how would they see or feel it, but.. I guess i'll take your guys word for it - you all seem to know A LOT more than me.

 

is there a method to seasons and colors btw? any advice here is helpful (if it's accurate lol )

 

thanks guys.

[TnRiver46]

Color is important at times but action is way more important. I've been in a boat plenty of times when someone catches lots of fish on the silliest color of lure that looks nothing like the main forage 

[toni63]

When I first got serious about angling instead of just fishing I used to ask reasonably reliable fisherman I was friends with about different lures, presentations, etc. And I would ask are crank baits good? What about lipless? Do Zara Spooks really work? Backs of coves or do I really need to learn how to fish main lake stuff? Chatterbaits work? Should I use a trailer?

 

The answer I got most of the time, and that I got sick of hearing, was "oh yeah, they'll kill that..... if that's what they're biting...." or "Oh sure, you can catch a ton of fish back in a cove when the conditions are right....."

 

Which led to me to ask them well, what conditions, where and when?... Which led to seasons, forage, structure, water temp, clarity, depth, bottom hardness. The list of factors that affect fish is pretty lengthy and what will come into play when depends very much on the lake and the fish in that lake. No two lakes are the same. No two days are the same. No morning on a lake is going to be exactly the same as the afternoon on most lakes. You can troll through two coves and think wow, these look great and fish them with 3 different lures and get nothing then hit on a third one and catch good fish on the first thing you throw.

 

Fish are generally not reliable creatures when you get right down to it. They are finicky. They turn on and turn off in a minute. Sit in a cove with schools of fish all over and it will be calm for an hour, then all of a sudden it's like someone threw a light switch and every school is getting blasted by bass feeding on them. You throw the kitchen sink at the attacking bass and they totally ignore your offering but keeping marauding the schools. Then it stops and you wonder why they didn't hit your lure in the midst of that feeding frenzy and where did they all come from and where did they all go?

 

You'll see a lot of pros and amateurs alike say cover water. KVD, the all time great, says in practice for major tournaments if he tries something for ten minutes and doesn't get a bite during practice, he's either changing lures or moving to another location to try something new to find the fish. He doesn't waste time looking at his electronics and the available visible cues thinking "Man, but this spot looks good, they gotta be here!" He either gets a bite and takes it from there to determine how good that spot is for bigger fish, or he moves on.

 

The question is not whether or not a spot looks like it should hold fish, therefore you must find and catch the fish that are there. It is a matter of fishing a spot awhile and you either get a bite or you don't and you keep moving. I used to fish stuff endlessly thinking "this cove, these laydowns, the shade along here, man, there just has to be fish here!" and there could very well be. And I would spend 2-3 hours of my fishing day working the crap out of that area fishing everything I could think of for fish that weren't feeding when I was there.

 

Now I don't do that. I troll miles of shoreline, and if I get bit in a stretch, I might double back on that 100 yards or whatever and use a different lure. Or if its near a lay down, I might stop and work that for a bit and see if I can pull some good fish out. But I certainly cover 200% more water than I ever did when I started. Now I get it.

 

If I want to catch, and not just fish, I am going to cover a lot of water and see a lot of "good" spots and maybe catch some fish in some of those spots. But it won't be every single one, and I will be able to narrow down where the fish generally are and what they are biting that day to refine and improve my targeting as the day goes on. Like "everything I have caught so far has been a this square bill crankbait on points in about the 6-10 foot range depth wise" so guess what I am looking for? Points, and I will be using that square bill in the 6-10 foot range first. And I might spend the rest of my day hitting points and targeting that depth range and using the same retrieve if it consistently gets bites.

 

Of course to each his own, but I am still going fishing to catch fish, not to target bigger ones specifically. Maybe someday I will make that my goal and refine what I do. But my goal is to catch as many fish as I can with what time I have available, not necessarily big ones, so this is what I do. And I have a lot of fun and do bag some decent ones, some days more than others.

 

Good luck. You're hooked on a sport now that's worse than crack and more expensive...

[GorillaBass]

9 minutes ago, toni63 said:

When I first got serious about angling instead of just fishing I used to ask reasonably reliable fisherman I was friends with about different lures, presentations, etc. And I would ask are crank baits good? What about lipless? Do Zara Spooks really work? Backs of coves or do I really need to learn how to fish main lake stuff? Chatterbaits work? Should I use a trailer?

 

The answer I got most of the time, and that I got sick of hearing, was "oh yeah, they'll kill that..... if that's what they're biting...." or "Oh sure, you can catch a ton of fish back in a cove when the conditions are right....."

 

Which led to me to ask them well, what conditions, where and when?... Which led to seasons, forage, structure, water temp, clarity, depth, bottom hardness. The list of factors that affect fish is pretty lengthy and what will come into play when depends very much on the lake and the fish in that lake. No two lakes are the same. No two days are the same. No morning on a lake is going to be exactly the same as the afternoon on most lakes. You can troll through two coves and think wow, these look great and fish them with 3 different lures and get nothing then hit on a third one and catch good fish on the first thing you throw.

 

Fish are generally not reliable creatures when you get right down to it. They are finicky. They turn on and turn off in a minute. Sit in a cove with schools of fish all over and it will be calm for an hour, then all of a sudden it's like someone threw a light switch and every school is getting blasted by bass feeding on them. You throw the kitchen sink at the attacking bass and they totally ignore your offering but keeping marauding the schools. Then it stops and you wonder why they didn't hit your lure in the midst of that feeding frenzy and where did they all come from and where did they all go?

 

You'll see a lot of pros and amateurs alike say cover water. KVD, the all time great, says in practice for major tournaments if he tries something for ten minutes and doesn't get a bite during practice, he's either changing lures or moving to another location to try something new to find the fish. He doesn't waste time looking at his electronics and the available visible cues thinking "Man, but this spot looks good, they gotta be here!" He either gets a bite and takes it from there to determine how good that spot is for bigger fish, or he moves on.

 

The question is not whether or not a spot looks like it should hold fish, therefore you must find and catch the fish that are there. It is a matter of fishing a spot awhile and you either get a bite or you don't and you keep moving. I used to fish stuff endlessly thinking "this cove, these laydowns, the shade along here, man, there just has to be fish here!" and there could very well be. And I would spend 2-3 hours of my fishing day working the crap out of that area fishing everything I could think of for fish that weren't feeding when I was there.

 

Now I don't do that. I troll miles of shoreline, and if I get bit in a stretch, I might double back on that 100 yards or whatever and use a different lure. Or if its near a lay down, I might stop and work that for a bit and see if I can pull some good fish out. But I certainly cover 200% more water than I ever did when I started. Now I get it. If I want to catch, and not just fish, I am going to cover a lot of water and see a lot of "good" spots and maybe catch some fish in some of those spots. But it won't be every single one, and I will be able to narrow down where the fish generally are and what they are biting that day to improve my fishing as the day goes on.

 

Of course to each his own, but I am still going fishing to catch fish, not to target bigger ones specifically. Maybe someday I will make that my goal and refine what I do. But my goal is to catch as many fish as I can with what time I have available, not necessarily big ones, so this is what I do. And I have a lot of fun and do bag some decent ones, some days more than others.

 

Good luck. You're hooked on a sport now that's worse than crack and more expensive...

Bro .. .that was legit. I am trying to get "better" at covering water, it's not as straight forward as it seems- at least to do it effectively. I'm trying to teach myself how to cover water effectively w/ good lures for the situation, ie 5-10ft of water, little murky, no laydowns, or little bit more visibility couple trees, some weed beds but thats it and whats the best, I try so much (topwater is my favorite, for obvious reasons) but I try everything, getting more into crankbaiting which I find extremely effective and I love swimjigs or soft plastics (I LOVE SKIPGAP HOOKS!!)

 

and suggestions, opinions, advice to quickly cover water? do you just keep going down the shoreline? even if a spot looks kinda crappy? do you drive to different spots or just go down "semi ok" shorelines? I find myself starting up my 20hp motor on the rez and just driving to diff spots when I dont feel confident in a location for more than 50 years of shoreline.. good idea? opinions?

[bigbill]

I like my crankbaits and topwater baits with rattles it's ringing the dinner bell. Using a scent is a plus.

 

With plastic worms I use a worm rattle in the head. If the worms aren't scented I add a scent sometimes. Twitching the rod tip makes the rattle ring the dinner bell. I like to use the 10" & 12" culprit worms too on occasion.

 

my Carolina rig I use a brass bullet weight with a brass clicker. Again I either let it fall or twitch my rod tip to rattle it.

 

changing to different spots. Fishing from shore I can gun n run faster than a boat, lol to different nearby spots. If the heavy rains stirred up the bacteria on the bottom and shut the fish down. It happens where the PH level is bad. If your in a boat there are PH meters you can use.

 

confidence levels, I'm so up beat nothing can lower my confidence when I'm fishing. I know from fishing there for decades the fish are there. They sometimes can be testing my skills too. lol it's up to us to figure it out. Try different colors.

 

when I was logging and cutting trees the work put me all over the forests. One job took me to a popular lake not far from two dog leg coves. I watched two great northern pikes chasing bait fish in both dog legs. I was in awe watching this action. They were constantly breaking the surface, my point is in a cove think topwater. To me covering a area quickly is a spinnerbait or topwater spook. In fly fishing they say match the hatch. In bass fishing I'd say match the baitfish.

[thinkingredneck]

I never worry about whether the fish can find my lure.  A bass knows if something is different in her environment.   You sonar probably annoys her.  You boat noise annoys her.  She has a distance, feet to inches that she will move to take a bait, IF she is hungry or just trying to eliminate the bait. Shape, color, smell, vibration, etc all effect her mood.  Sounds familiar to a married man--try to eliminate irritants and put her into a receptive mood.  The young silly ones are easier to put in a good mood than the old grouchy ones who have seen it all.  Biology is biology!

[GorillaBass]

On 10/13/2017 at 7:22 AM, thinkingredneck said:

I never worry about whether the fish can find my lure.  A bass knows if something is different in her environment.   You sonar probably annoys her.  You boat noise annoys her.  She has a distance, feet to inches that she will move to take a bait, IF she is hungry or just trying to eliminate the bait. Shape, color, smell, vibration, etc all effect her mood.  Sounds familiar to a married man--try to eliminate irritants and put her into a receptive mood.  The young silly ones are easier to put in a good mood than the old grouchy ones who have seen it all.  Biology is biology!

hm. makes sense. I was wondering this yesterday as I was fishing.. I had a dropshot, 15~ ft or so, and I JJ dipped a zoom trick worm & was thinking to myself.. "can see or smell this?" "how can I make them want to bite it?" "WHY THE F AREN'T THEY BITING IT !!!" LOL

[scaleface]

We all know how well a dog can use its nose . A bat can use its ears , echo location .  Fish can feel their surroundings .