how far will a bass move to hit a lure?

[jimmyjoe]

   As I'm fishing lakes more and as this spring has unusually clear water, I'd like to know peoples' ideas as to how far a bass will move, laterally or vertically, to attack a lure. I've seen them move laterally 5 to 6 feet, but that was using a Bomber 13A. I know pike will move triple that, but bass aren't pike. As I use more and more crankbaits, and as more of them are going to be non-rattling, I'd just like to know your opinions.     Thnx.     jj

[RoLo]

 

I'm sure that depends largely on water temperature (metabolism) and water clarity (underwater visibility).

In murky water, the strike window can be expanded by lure audibility (noise).

 

Roger

[dodgeguy]

Bass have been known to come up 30 feet to hit a topwater.Shallow I've seen them go over 10 feet. Then again I've seen where you have to hit them in the head with the bait.

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, dodgeguy said:

Bass have been known to come up 30 feet to hit a topwater.Shallow I've seen them go over 10 feet. Then again I've seen where you have to hit them in the head with the bait.

 

Smallmouth bass in particular, will rise shocking distances in clear water.

 

Roger

[Scott F]

I’ve seen the wake created by a bass that came at least 20 feet, in shallow water, to hit my frog.

[jimmyjoe]

   Wow. A lot more than I had thought!    jj

[Armtx77]

1 hour ago, RoLo said:

 

Smallmouth bass in particular, will rise shocking distances in clear water.

 

Roger

I have seen spotted basS come from 30 feet away in small, clear rivers.

 

It reminds me of watching coyotes coming into a call, from a half mile away. The nerves just keep building up until, THUMP!

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, Armtx77 said:

It reminds me of watching coyotes coming into a call, from a half mile away. 

Good analogy, the lure of a rabbit in distress    

Roger

 

[Koz]

I did the math on it.

 

 

[jimmyjoe]

2 minutes ago, Koz said:

I did the math on it.

 

 

 

   ^^^^^^^      Uhhhhh ..... you DO know you're talking to an old fart, right?   ^^^^^^^    ?   jj

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, Koz said:

I did the math on it.

 

 

 

NOT BAD!   

But I believe the equation: "D+q h/2(m(1-d/p)"   

depicts the exponent, rather than the coefficient?

 

Roger

 

 

[WRB]

Lake Mead it's common for LMB to be near the 35' thermocline at hit surface lures.

The furthest distance I watched a bass swim to strike a Lunker Plunker was about 50 yards. As soon as the lure kit the water I watch a wake comming across a cove and the bass hit the lure.

Tom

[dodgeguy]

45 minutes ago, RoLo said:

 

NOT BAD!   

But the equation: "D+q h/2(m(1-d/p)"   

Doesn't that depict the exponent, rather than the coefficient?

 

Roger

 

 

LOL!!!

[Cdn Angler]

I've caught a few smallmouth killing a plopper in crystal clear water over deep water.  Sometimes by accident while pausing mid retrieve to do something else.  They hit after extremely long pauses which makes me think they were not suspended shallow (I didn't catch anything with a constantly moving bait), but came from down below when they saw the thing making a ruckus turn into a non-moving "easy target." 

 

[Bird]

I've not seen the distances mentioned but do fish mainly gin clear waters. 

 

Jerkbaits bring them up quite aways and seen long wakes created while in pursuit of top water baits but not consistent. 

 

Why I catch a fish on one side of a stump and not the other speaks volumes. 

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Lake Mead it's common for LMB to be near the 35' thermocline at hit surface lures.

The furthest distance I watched a bass swim to strike a Lunker Plunker was about 50 yards. As soon as the lure kit the water I watch a wake comming across a cove and the bass hit the lure.

Tom

A long time ago, my friend and I were taking his canoe to Piney Run reservoir in MD. At that time, being as the reservoir was located in a state park, you couldn’t fish until 9:00 am. As Liberty Reservoir was close, we stopped there to fish from the bank until Piney Run opened. 
 

It was almost 8:45 and he had been casting a Rapala floating minnow for 50-60 casts. I told him “let’s go!” and he said he wanted two more casts. He casted the Rapala and started to crank it in. The water was glass smooth and as he cranked I saw a wake coming from our right at least 45-50 yards out, making a beeline to the lure. It looked like a torpedo headed towards a ship in an old WWII movie. It crossed the water and slammed the lure hard. If I recall, it was close to 5 lbs. Happened in the early 80s and I still remember it vividly. 
 

Piney Run? All I remember is the canoe getting attacked by an angry beaver! 

[DitchPanda]

Lately about an inch short of getting it..can't catch crap 

 

[soflabasser]

Have caught bass on topwaters in water that was over 20 feet deep. 

[OCdockskipper]

11 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

I'm sure that depends largely on water temperature (metabolism) and water clarity (underwater visibility).

In murky water, the strike window can be expanded by lure audibility (noise).

 

Roger

I agree and would add two more factors, type & availability of forage.

 

If most of the forage is slow moving, my experience has been the bass tend to chase less distance.  They have probably been conditioned that the good things to eat don't move away from them.

 

If there is plenty of forage available, that also seems to cut down the distance.  Swimming past multiple possible meals to get to a lure doesn't compute, whereas the lake or pond with a scarcity of meals will have bass on high alert for any forage anywhere.

[Fishes in trees]

While I recognize that fish will move distances to hit a bait, I don't ever count on it.  (Throwing topwaters across points specifically and throwing topwaters in general are an exception). When I make a cast, my goal is to have a target, where I think a fish will be hanging out, and then try to bounce one off its nose, so that it strikes out of instinct and it doesn't matter if it is hungry or not.

[Scott F]

Even though I’ve seen them come a long way, more often than not, bass are not chasing and like was stated above, I want to be pulling my baits right past their nose. 

[plawren53202]

8 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

I agree and would add two more factors, type & availability of forage.

 

If most of the forage is slow moving, my experience has been the bass tend to chase less distance.  They have probably been conditioned that the good things to eat don't move away from them.

 

If there is plenty of forage available, that also seems to cut down the distance.  Swimming past multiple possible meals to get to a lure doesn't compute, whereas the lake or pond with a scarcity of meals will have bass on high alert for any forage anywhere.

I'll throw one more possible factor in, amount of pressure the fish receive. In my subdivision pond, that receives a LOT of pressure, generally the fish won't hardly move to hit a bait. You really have to have it right on their head. And this pond has pretty clear water which, consistent with the above, in my experience can cause them to move more to get to a bait. In contrast, couple of weeks ago I was fishing at my inlaws' property ponds, which gets essentially no pressure. Even in stained water, over and over I would cast and see a swirl three feet away from where my bait hit (I was fishing really shallow water right up against the bank), and then instantly the whammo as they hit it. 

[RoLo]

10 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

If there is plenty of forage available, that also seems to cut down the distance.  Swimming past multiple possible meals to get to a lure doesn't compute, whereas the lake or pond with a scarcity of meals will have bass on high alert for any forage anywhere.

 

Good point   (Law of supply & demand)

 

[scaleface]

The furthest I've actually seen a fishes wake  strike a lure is about ten foot .

[king fisher]

I have no idea how far they will go to hit, but I'm positive I have zero chance of getting hit.  A bass would have to travel miles over land, then somehow get in my house to strike.  Sure hope I can get to the lake this weekend.  I would be happy to make it easy for a big bass, and place a lure right on her nose.