Can bass tell what day of the week it is?

[papajoe222]

The only bass on my home lake that know what day of the week it is, are the ones that can read a calendar. The majority of them are under six years old and haven't gone to school yet, so I'd say; No, the majority of bass can't tell what day of the week it is. 

[Troy85]

I don't know if bass know what day of the week it is , but I know cold fronts do.  They always come thru Friday and bring those 20+ N winds all weekend.  

[J Francho]

On 9/26/2019 at 12:14 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

In his book High Percentage Fishing: A Statistical Approach To Improving Catch Rates Josh Alwine gathers data from a number of sources and runs the numbers.  He says in the book

 

"The data tells a different story,  fishing pressure is the single most important environmental factor High Percentage Fishermen should consider on any given outing"

 

He found that the day of the week makes a very big difference due to pressure.  In his data he found that the number of fish per hour was three times higher on Wednesday compared to Saturday.  The fish may not know what day it is but they do notice that there are fewer anglers on some days.

 

Another quote from the book

 

"As it pertains to catch rates,  in the statistical sense,  fishing pressure matter far more than all but the most extreme weather phenomena.  I'd much rather fish an east wind on Wednesday than a west wind Saturday."

Does the number if caught fish change?  I mean, is the number of catchable fish go up on weekdays or is it the same, just that less anglers catch as many total as on the weekends.

[Tennessee Boy]

9 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Does the number if caught fish change?  I mean, is the number of catchable fish go up on weekdays or is it the same, just that less anglers catch as many total as on the weekends.

Good question.  I checked the book again.  His numbers are fish per hour.   Are there 3 times as many anglers on Saturday as there are on Wednesday?  I would say so just on my observation.  Is the difference in catch rate due to the fish being easier to catch or because fishing is easier because of less competition?  I’m guessing it’s a little of both.  Obviously,  if your lure is the first lure a fish has seen all day you have a better chance of catching it than if the fish is seeing a lure every 15 minutes.  

[.ghoti.]

I do not know if bass have any idea what day it is.

 

I do know they do not read the same books, articles, and forums we read.

 

[Bird]

Everyday is a good day when your out there.

I'm retired and pay no attention to calendar's, cold fronts, heat waves, boat traffic.....I just go.

[Glenn]

Bass are adaptable.  They are accustomed to their environment.

 

So are humans.  Think about it.  If you live near a busy intersection, highway, or railroad tracks, your first few nights of sleeping are rough.  But then you acclimate to it, you sleep like a baby.

 

I used to live in the flight path of a busy airport.  After awhile, I didn't notice the background noise.

 

Bass are similar in that way.

[Dirtyeggroll]

Nvm

[Wizzlebiz]

20 hours ago, Glenn said:

Bass are adaptable.  They are accustomed to their environment.

 

So are humans.  Think about it.  If you live near a busy intersection, highway, or railroad tracks, your first few nights of sleeping are rough.  But then you acclimate to it, you sleep like a baby.

 

I used to live in the flight path of a busy airport.  After awhile, I didn't notice the background noise.

 

Bass are similar in that way.

So this makes me wonder. If they get acclimated to the environment then why would they eat the same lures over and over? 

 

I have been fishing a pretty highly pressured pond. Everyone uses basically soft plastics. Mostly senkos from what Ive seen.

 

I mean how many times can a bird fly over head and drop a worm? I dont imagine its often. 

 

I feel like im missing a huge piece of this puzzle. Lol

[scaleface]

7 minutes ago, Wizzlebiz said:

So this makes me wonder. If they get acclimated to the environment then why would they eat the same lures over and over? 

 

I have been fishing a pretty highly pressured pond. Everyone uses basically soft plastics. Mostly senkos from what Ive seen.

 

I mean how many times can a bird fly over head and drop a worm? I dont imagine its often. 

 

I feel like im missing a huge piece of this puzzle. Lol

I have been lucky enough to fish for unpressured bass in a small river .It was unbelievably good . By far the best fishing I have experienced .Once word got out and people started fishing it  , that changed in a hurry . 

[Wizzlebiz]

1 minute ago, scaleface said:

I have been lucky enough to fish for unpressured bass in a small river .It was unbelievably good . By far the best fishing I have experienced .Once word got out and people started fishing it  , that changed in a hurry . 

It sucks when you find a good spot and everyone else swoops in on it. Its quite infuriating actually. 

[Frog Turds]

Because worms are the one bait that bass are the least and/or don't get conditioned to, hence why everyone is throwing them in that pond...

[Wizzlebiz]

1 minute ago, Frog Turds said:

Because worms are the one bait that bass are the least and/or don't get conditioned to, hence why everyone is throwing them in that pond...

Why would worms be the only thing they cant condition to? 

[Frog Turds]

pretty much the bottom line one can take away from it, is that the worm is such a natural presentation that it fools and avoids the hardwired instincts so it doesnt get written into the bass's memory hard drive...

[Wizzlebiz]

1 hour ago, Frog Turds said:

pretty much the bottom line one can take away from it, is that the worm is such a natural presentation that it fools and avoids the hardwired instincts so it doesnt get written into the bass's memory hard drive...

Interesting read. Im going to dig deeper. Thank you. 

[Hammer 4]

Someone did a stat on what baits caught the most bass some time ago, and IIRC 52% of the bass were caught on worms..I can say for sure that the majority of my bass have been caught on worms..

[RB 77]

Do Bass know what day of the week it is? Of course not! However, whether "catching" is better or not on a crowded Saturday vs. an empty Wednesday, to many variables to tell ahead of time. I sure do know which day I rather go "fishing" on though! Hopefully the "catching" part cooperates! Haha

[Catt]

On 9/27/2019 at 8:08 PM, Glenn said:

Bass are adaptable.  They are accustomed to their environment

 

Wildlife and even bass become accustom to all types of noises. 

 

Fort Polk is located directly west of Toledo Bend Reservoir & is home to the US Army's 5th Field Artillery Battalion.

 

Y'all ever hear live fire practice with 105 & 155 mm howitzers?

 

Doesn't bother the fishing any ?

 

Ft Polk is also home the Ft. Polk & Peason Ridge Wildlife Management Areas.

 

Excellent deer & turkey hunting!

[Wizzlebiz]

8 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Wildlife and even bass become accustom to all types of noises. 

 

Fort Polk is located directly west of Toledo Bend Reservoir & is home to the US Army's 5th Field Artillery Battalion.

 

Y'all ever hear live fire practice with 105 & 155 mm howitzers?

 

Doesn't bother the fishing any ?

 

Ft Polk is also home the Ft. Polk & Peason Ridge Wildlife Management Areas.

 

Excellent deer & turkey hunting!

I live near travis air force base. They have a pond I have the honor of fishing on the base and yep your right. The planes flying over all day do not stifle the catching. 

[txchaser]

https://www.lunkerlore.com/single-post/2019/04/24/The-Impact-of-Wind-On-Catch-Rates

 

Posting this because Josh's research was really good on lots of what is discussed in this thread. The book was an eye-opener for me. Includes winners like which kinds of lures have a higher likelihood of catching big bass, what's the go-to color (not what I expected), whether barometric pressure makes a difference, etc. 

 

Here's how I'm starting to view the world, as a relatively new guy (about a year now) of serious bass fishing:

 

1. Opinions and Marketing <-- Lots and lots of this around
2. Anecdotes/Stories <- Less of this than the above, single data points, but sometimes can help challenge what I/we think I/we know. Or randomness can reinforce things that aren't consistently true. Shrug. 
3. Opinions and Anecdotes from "knowledgable sources" < - lots of this here on BR, thank you all for the insights and being willing to challenge the common knowledge or reinforce it where neccessary. Decide for yourself who you consider knowledgable sources. 
4. Statistically valid data < - there's almost none of this out there. It doesn't help the bait monkey at all to suggest that three lures are probably responsible for 75% of all the big fish caught. I made that up, but the chart in HPF was eye-opening. I'll never forget the quip about berkely determining that fish will bite a craw body with no claws and legs more often than one with claws and legs but that no one would buy something that looks like a skinny potato. 

Buy the book, it costs what a couple of bags of senkos cost, seriously. It won't always be "right" but that's how statistics works. What I -do- think it does is give us an advantage. 

 

On to my latest deep dive, learning how to catch florida bass that are inactive/post-frontal. Very humbling. 

 

 

[Deleted account]

13 hours ago, Wizzlebiz said:

I live near travis air force base. They have a pond I have the honor of fishing on the base and yep your right. The planes flying over all day do not stifle the catching. 

Because they fly overhead all day. If they only did it rarely, it would have a negative effect. 

[Catt]

26 minutes ago, BassWhole! said:

Because they fly overhead all day. If they only did it rarely, it would have a negative effect. 

 

Not really ?

 

The live fire practice on Fort Polk is random, while it's announced to the public for safety reasons they follow no schedule.

 

When a howitzer fires the initial blast can be heard for miles & the impact explosion can be felt miles away & deep into the ground. 

[Tennessee Boy]

16 hours ago, txchaser said:

https://www.lunkerlore.com/single-post/2019/04/24/The-Impact-of-Wind-On-Catch-Rates

 

Posting this because Josh's research was really good on lots of what is discussed in this thread. The book was an eye-opener for me. Includes winners like which kinds of lures have a higher likelihood of catching big bass, what's the go-to color (not what I expected), whether barometric pressure makes a difference, etc. 

 

Here's how I'm starting to view the world, as a relatively new guy (about a year now) of serious bass fishing:

 

1. Opinions and Marketing <-- Lots and lots of this around
2. Anecdotes/Stories <- Less of this than the above, single data points, but sometimes can help challenge what I/we think I/we know. Or randomness can reinforce things that aren't consistently true. Shrug. 
3. Opinions and Anecdotes from "knowledgable sources" < - lots of this here on BR, thank you all for the insights and being willing to challenge the common knowledge or reinforce it where neccessary. Decide for yourself who you consider knowledgable sources. 
4. Statistically valid data < - there's almost none of this out there. It doesn't help the bait monkey at all to suggest that three lures are probably responsible for 75% of all the big fish caught. I made that up, but the chart in HPF was eye-opening. I'll never forget the quip about berkely determining that fish will bite a craw body with no claws and legs more often than one with claws and legs but that no one would buy something that looks like a skinny potato. 

Buy the book, it costs what a couple of bags of senkos cost, seriously. It won't always be "right" but that's how statistics works. What I -do- think it does is give us an advantage. 

 

On to my latest deep dive, learning how to catch florida bass that are inactive/post-frontal. Very humbling. 

 

 

Very well said.  We think a lot alike. 
 

I also recommend Alwine’s book.  It’s a good attempt to accurately interpret a large dataset of fishing result.   My only criticism is I wish he went into more detail on where he got his data and how he interpreted them.  Also,  there are times when his number’s don’t make sense to me.  In the article you link to on wind,  the table showing the percentage of time the condition exists does not add up to 100%.   Same table is in the book.  How hard is the wind blowing the other 23% of the time?  The only values left are negative numbers.   I’m sure it’s a typo but it kind of kills the whole argument. 

[Deleted account]

7 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Not really ?

 

The live fire practice on Fort Polk is random, while it's announced to the public for safety reasons they follow no schedule.

 

When a howitzer fires the initial blast can be heard for miles & the impact explosion can be felt miles away & deep into the ground. 

LOL. 

I have a SIPR token and a lap top but I don't feel like sifting through a bunch of phone call transcripts.  ?

[Ratherbfishing]

The conspiracy doesn't begin or end with the bass.  It is also mother nature.  Any hint that I might be planning a trip and mother nature will muster up either a major cold front OR a hurricane (which is quite a feat since I live in the heart of the U.S.).  That it correlate with the weekend is because that's when I usually have off.  I try to stay one step ahead of mother nature by taking off Friday's but she'll kick up a small tornado if she feels rushed.