How likely are bass to eat things they don't recognize?

[JFlynn97]

Everyone knows bass will munch on things from craws to bluegill to shad to frogs. But what if it's something they haven't seen before or isn't native to their area? For example, throwing a jig with a craw trailer in a small pond that doesn't have crawfish in it, or a shad-colored lure in a body of water that doesn't have shad. Are they still likely to bite, or will they be more weary and stay away from it?

[AggieBassin10]

Probably so, bass are curious creatures and their only way to get the "hands" on things is through their mouth. 

 

Also thousands of bass are caught each year on creature baits and I have yet to see anything in the wild that looks like a creature bait

[Scott F]

How many worms do you think a bass sees? Worm style baits have probably caught more bass than any other shape. You certainly don’t find night crawlers swimming around in a lake but they sure do catch bass.

[Mobasser]

I think bass, when feeding heavily will take a pop at anything that looks like food. They are predators, always looking for an easy meal. Even if it doesn't resemble their normal food

[NorcalBassin]

Trout swimbaits catch giants in lakes that have never had trout in them. Like those above me said... if it looks edible they're going to try to eat it.

[MassYak85]

If it fits in their mouth and isn't a rock they'll probably consider it as an option for food...I've seen bluegills literally eat rocks so I can't imagine bass are in a completely different league intelligence wise. 

[geo g]

Very likely!!!!!!!!    What does a senko, centepede, or beaver look like?  Bass will kill them!

[bassguytom]

Yep. They will eat anything they think is food. An example I will give is an ugly otter. They hammer those things for me and I have never seen anything like that any place I fish. 

[soflabasser]

3 hours ago, JFlynn97 said:

Everyone knows bass will munch on things from craws to bluegill to shad to frogs. But what if it's something they haven't seen before or isn't native to their area? 

No animal in a bass natural habitat looks like a spinnerbait yet a spinnerbait is one of the best lures for bass. Bass also hit other lures that look nothing like the forage in the area yet these lures catch lots of bass.

[Sam]

Very likely.

 

Bass are very aggressive feeders and they will hit anything in the water if they think they can either eat it or knock/drive it away.

[bigbassin']

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

No animal in a bass natural habitat looks like a spinnerbait yet a spinnerbait is one of the best lures for bass. Bass also hit other lures that look nothing like the forage in the area yet these lures catch lots of bass.

Beat me to the spinnerbait example...

 

As another example, a lot of ponds around me don't have shad in them, yet a shad colored crankbait will outfish a bluegill or craw colored bait just about every time.

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, bigbassin' said:

Beat me to the spinnerbait example...

 

The spinnerbait is probably one of the most unnatural looking lures but there are many other ones that look unnatural. Pink, chartreuse, orange, yellow or other bright artificial lure colors can be very productive in the right conditions...

[Smokinal]

There are many vids of bass eating/mouthing a bait, then spitting it right back out. Bass don't have hands or fingers so one of the ways they test objects is with their mouths. This is why a scent/attractant can be so important.

Not only to make a bait smell or taste more natural but also to cover or mask human scents as well; the fryolator oil from that McMuffin, the grease on the winch handle, the gas on the primer bulb and the list goes on.

Sometime you only have a split second between the time a bass engulfs a bait, to the time he smells/tastes something unnatural and spits it. A scent can make a bass hold on just that much longer to get a hook in him.

[Catt]

They eat chicken nuggets! ?

[5by3]

Sometimes I think we overestimate the intelligence of creatures with a brain the size of a pea ?

[TOXIC]

Did everybody forget one of what I call the big 3 reasons a bass bites?  

 

1. To Eat

2. To protect

3 REACTION STRIKE.

 

[NYWayfarer]

17 hours ago, JFlynn97 said:

But what if it's something they haven't seen before or isn't native to their area? For example, throwing a jig with a craw trailer in a small pond that doesn't have crawfish in it, or a shad-colored lure in a body of water that doesn't have shad. Are they still likely to bite, or will they be more weary and stay away from it?

Good question and one I have pondered for some time. There are few baits that don't imitate some kind of natural forage for Bass.

 

For example:

 

Stickbaits resemble worms that get washed into rivers ponds and lakes after a rain, also eels and snakes to some degree. Spinnerbaits have blades on them that resemble small baitfish with their shape, movement and flash. Craws resemble crawfish and also small fish laying on their sides. Lizards also resemble salamanders if your area doesn't have lizards like the northeast.

 

 

[2tall79]

According to Roland Martin, there are nine reasons that a bass will attack an object.  Feeding is only one of them.  So no, it really doesn't matter what or how big an object is....given the right provocation a bass will eat it.

[bostonsox2904]

People with fish tanks can attest. Fish will at least nibble on anything that floats through the water column. If it doesn't taste appetizing, they'll just spit it out. It's a reaction strike.

 

Lots of people catch huge fish on worms too, but if you've ever fished with night crawlers, they wiggle and squirm into a ball, nothing like how a senko falls.

[J Francho]

All I care about is that they don't recognize that it's a lure.

[Gundog]

9 hours ago, Catt said:

They eat chicken nuggets! ?

Who doesn't? And I'm still trying to find out which part of the chicken the "nuggets" actually are. I asked a chicken farmer and he just walked away shaking his head. 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Gundog said:

Who doesn't? And I'm still trying to find out which part of the chicken the "nuggets" actually are. I asked a chicken farmer and he just walked away shaking his head. 

 

After initially failing to get a bite, Matthew McNellis told KDAF his girlfriend suggested using a Chicken McNugget as bait. 

 

 McNellis says he took the bass to Highview Marina where it was declared a record-setting catch at Lake Bardwell. Weighing just under 11 pounds and measuring 24.5 inches long.

 

[Columbia Craw]

9 hours ago, 5by3 said:

Sometimes I think we overestimate the intelligence of creatures with a brain the size of a pea ?

 

Political threads are not tolerated.

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

 

After initially failing to get a bite, Matthew McNellis told KDAF his girlfriend suggested using a Chicken McNugget as bait. 

 

 McNellis says he took the bass to Highview Marina where it was declared a record-setting catch at Lake Bardwell. Weighing just under 11 pounds and measuring 24.5 inches long.

 

Looks like he was thinking outside the box that day and he was able to catch a beautiful trophy bass.

[burrows]

Wonder if he was swiming the chicken nugget or dead sticking it?