bass behavior Bass Stupid Or Clever Species?

[ATA]

15 hours ago, frogflogger said:

Not a chance - bass are genius compared to trout. Trout can be wary but not smart.

so there is some sort of thinking for bass about making strikes? we are not talking about reaction strikes here,

[Hammer 4]

Bass take into account a few things when they either will strike a bait, or even live baitfish, and when they won't. If you study bass, they are neither super smart, but they ain't dumb either. They have the ability to learn.  

[ATA]

3 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

Bass take into account a few things when they either will strike a bait, or even live baitfish, and when they won't. If you study bass, they are neither super smart, but they ain't dumb either. They have the ability to learn.  

I hear that , also here bass remember(such feeling pain) 24 to 48 hours only

[Big Hands]

I was in a Pro-Am tournament tournament as an amateur at Lake Mead in October 1991. On the second day of the tournament, I was paired with the guy that was leading the tournament. A guy named Dwayne "Doc" Watson who was pretty successful at that time. After a couple of hours, I had caught our only keeper and he wanted to make a move, so we went through the narrows and still hadn't caught any more keepers. He said he knows where there is a keeper bass sitting on a salt cedar bush that he can catch, but it is a 60 mile boat ride to get there. 

 

We take off and even had to stop for fuel at Temple Bar and then went to where the Colorado River flows into the lake. He said that the salt cedar bush was about 100 yards up the shore, and that he'll let me know when we get near it and he wants to get first crack at it so I don't spook the fish. Sure enough, he casts a spinnerbait over the top of that salt cedar and the fish gobbles his spinnerbait. As it turns out, it just wasn't his day. He, for some unknown reason, lowered his rod tip just as the fish was nearing the net and let enough pressure off the fish that he wiggled loose.

 

Crazy that we took a 60 mile boat ride to a place where he called it exactly as it happened. We didn't catch another keeper all day, but he still had enough of a lead to end up in 5th place.

 

He told me that he would go scuba diving in April to scout out where fish were and that those fish would sit on or near the exact same bush from April through October. Looking back, I think the areas near where the tournament was based were getting pounded, and he probably figured he had to get far away to fish where they hadn't seen any pressure. It was amazing that he KNEW that he could trigger THAT fish to strike.

 

I think bass are somewhat smart, but like many animals, they are hardwired to react fiercely when triggered. Roland Martin proposed that there were nine reasons why a bass would strike:

 

     * Feeding

     * Reflex action

     * Anger

     * Protective Instinct

     * Curiosity

     * Competition

     * Territorial instinct

     * Killer instinct

     * Ignorance

 

I think that about covers it, with maybe one more. As Flip Wilson used to say, "the devil made me do it!"

[Sam]

Bass, like other wild animals, live on instinct.

 

Clever?  No. But we can interpret what they do as clever.

 

Dumb?  Not in their world.

 

Inexperienced?  Yes, and they seem to learn quickly unless instinct takes over and overrides their cautiousness.

 

 

[BoatSquirrel]

The ability to learn to me shows intelligence.  Not only do bass learn fairly quickly, they are able to genetically transfer their learned knowledge through their DNA so their next generation hatch just as wise as they are.  How many baits can we count that fish got wise to?  Ask an old dude about the first years of the buzzbait, the rattle trap, the chatterbait...I sure dont want them to be any smarter!

[frogflogger]

9 hours ago, ATA said:

so there is some sort of thinking for bass about making strikes? we are not talking about reaction strikes here,

Thinking - I doubt that - but studies have shown a certain percentage of bass are pretty much uncatchable -

[the reel ess]

Probably a bedding bass trying to get your lure out of the bed. Some people won't target bedding bass and some states don't allow it. When I do it I always try to have a lure I can see with the hook exposed and get a good hookset before the fish can drop it. You will still miss a lot because the bass is not trying to eat, it's doing housekeeping.

 

Bass don't have the brain capacity to be either smart or dumb. They're running strictly on instinct. But instinct during spawn is different than the rest of the year. I walked up to the bank of a pond once and there was about a 3 pounder just laying up next to the bank. It didn't spook so I flipped my frog to it and it killed the frog. All instinct, no thought whatsoever. If that fish could reason, it would have swam away. I asked the pond owner if they feed fish there and he said no.

[Armtx77]

I caught the same fish 3 times, in 5 casts on this YUM Craw this past weekend.

 

I would drop him back into the water. He would swim 10-15ft away and turn and look at me like a dog, waiting for the ball to be thrown. I would pitch it on his face and he would smack it.

 

Dudes face has to be hurting

[ATA]

3 hours ago, the reel ess said:

I walked up to the bank of a pond once and there was about a 3 pounder just laying up next to the bank.

same thing happen to me with trout right at bank also see trout making circle motions right at the bank.

[Brew City Bass]

Bass are not smart, they're not dumb either. They're simply conditioned. 

Everyone should watch this video. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDrTAZX6S3g

[schplurg]

I haven't had a single bite this year, so as dumb as bass are, I think I'm probably the bigger idiot. This is a bad area for bass, but come on!!!

[ATA]

21 hours ago, schplurg said:

I haven't had a single bite this year, so as dumb as bass are, I think I'm probably the bigger idiot. This is a bad area for bass, but come on!!!

ok as you can see I been out few days, the reason is I am hitting Castaic lake, I got nothing, except trout. tomorrow I am heading out as well and try lighter line and slow dead lures and lets see what will happened. so I feel you man. lets hope for the best.

[schplurg]

3 hours ago, ATA said:

ok as you can see I been out few days, the reason is I am hitting Castaic lake, I got nothing, except trout. tomorrow I am heading out as well and try lighter line and slow dead lures and lets see what will happened. so I feel you man. lets hope for the best.

I'd be happy with a bluegill at this point. Heck I saw a dead shad next to shore and even that was exciting. That's like...almost a fish!

 

I will keep trying, of course. Same thing happened last year. Didn't get my first til May. Good luck!!!

[Jake Coucoules]

On 4/9/2020 at 3:35 AM, ATA said:

I hear that , also here bass remember(such feeling pain) 24 to 48 hours only

People say the same thing about dogs. But I guarantee if you say the word “walk” or “treat” around most dogs they know exactly what you’re talking about. It’s like us too how I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast this morning but I can remember the exact spot and exact lure I caught a fish on 15 years ago. It’s all subjective but to think a bass can’t remember more than 48 hours is simply wrong.

[ATA]

On 4/9/2020 at 4:22 AM, Sam said:

they seem to learn quickly

thats clever for bass