Do you think fish know how big they are

[Ogandrews]

I started thinking about this after catching a bass the same size as my s waver 200 today. I feel like as fisherman we always give the fish more credit for their intelligence than they actually have. So often I will see a fish hit a lure the same size as them, almost as they think anything will fit in their mouth. But on the other hand you have fish that will school with others the same size as them, same thing when makes and females get on beds. I know the general belief is that you will get a better average size with larger lures, but if the fish had no idea how big they were than the size of fish shouldn’t change with lure size (yes I know you catch big ones on smaller baits I’m just making an example). I see this all the time when I’m musky/pike fishing, will have small ones try to eat baits over half their size when there’s no chance they could get it in their mouth. What do you guys think?

[Hammer 4]

Sometimes I think bass are like people in a way. As the old saying goes. their eyes are bigger than their stomachs, or in this case, their mouths..

 

Subject is interesting though.. 

[RoLo]

 

The most extreme examples I've seen of fish attacking oversize prey involved Yellow Perch.

I've caught many perch on large pike lures; little fellows with big egos.

 

It's tough to prove whether large baits attract more large fish, or large baits discourage more small fish.

In either case, the result would be a higher mean weight

 

Roger

[Koz]

6 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

The most extreme examples I've seen of fish attacking oversize prey involved Yellow Perch.

I've caught many perch on large pike lures; little fellows with a big ego problem.

With panfish I'm not sure they are attacking the larger baits as a food source. I think they are being territorial little fin nippers that just happen to get hooked in that act.

 

[gim]

I think we've all seen some kind of fish go after a lure that was too big for it.  In most cases I've seen personally, it was a reactionary-type lure.  The lure probably went buzzing past them and it triggered an attack/eat response that the fish acted on.  They didn't see it coming ahead of time and they didn't think "hmmm, is that worth going after or is it too big or too small for me?"  I do think that in some cases when they have time to consider eating a slower finesses presentation they will just kind of look at it for a bit before decided to eat it or not eat it though.

 

Most of the examples I see are from northern pike when I'm muskie fishing.  I'll be throwing a 12 or 14 inch muskie lure and a 21 inch snake goes after it because they bite just about anything that moves.

[TriStateBassin106]

6 hours ago, RoLo said:

 

The most extreme examples I've seen of fish attacking oversize prey involved Yellow Perch.

I've caught many perch on large pike lures; little fellows with a big ego problem.

 

It's tough to prove whether large baits attract more large fish, or large baits discourage more small fish.

In either case, the result would be a higher mean weight

 

Roger

I can testify to that I've had yellow perch attack big swim jigs and chatterbaits before, even 4inch worms. 

[Bluebasser86]

I think they probably have some concept of how big they are, but it seems to be pretty vague or inaccurate with how many fish attack baits that they'd have no chance of swallowing if they were real prey.

[TnRiver46]

I’ve seen a 6-8 lb cat slap the daylights out of 40-50 lb dogs 

[Hower08]

I think fish are alot like humans. The young to teenage ones have huge heart and small brain, think they're all big fish of the pond. Then when they get older and wiser they just sit back and wait for the fun to come to them and laugh at the young bucks.  

 

   If caught bass smaller than the baits I've been throwing enough times to know they are convinced they're badasses

[Spankey]

15 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve seen a 6-8 lb cat slap the daylights out of 40-50 lb dogs 

I love that man. Your crazy. But how true that is. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Spankey said:

I love that man. Your crazy. But how true that is. 

[galyonj]

1 hour ago, Spankey said:

I love that man. Your crazy. But how true that is. 

100% true, yeah.

 

One of our cats is not at all enthused about the new (ish, anyway, we've had him since January) dog being around, and she's not shy about reminding him of that fact. One night she backed him up all the way through the house, and every time he'd stop to see where he was, she smacked him in the mouth to get him moving again. He ain't messed with her since.

[Smokinal]

They all think they're bigger!

 

I've had some hit that I wudda sworn was a 9 lb'er; only to reel it in and it's 14 oz

[GreenPig]

They're just mean. Genetically programmed to kill. If they'd only hit when they hungry, fishing would be a lot tougher.

[MickD]

Fish don't think.  They have a brain the size of a pea.  What fish do is react instinctively to the inputs they get from a number of sources, affected by such factors as how long since the last meal, rising or falling pressure, water temp, season, color, and I'm sure many more that don't come to mind.  I don't even think that "matching the hatch" appearances in the lures, at least for most fish, most of the time means much.  I've found that for the immediate moment of fishing, with my taking my best shot at matching what I think they want based on all those factors above, the best thing is to match the motion and size of what they want.  If the match is made, yes, a very small fish will take a very large lure.  And it has nothing to do with a fish wondering "I wonder if I can handle this thing?"

[WRB]

No!

Tom

[Cdn Angler]

The thing with fish is there is normally no downside to biting at something. If it is too big you don't eat it. That's it. Unless you are biting something big enough to eat you. 

 

It isn't like if a wolf took a bite at a wolverine and gets a face full of claws/teeth. 

[Craig P]

I've thought about this from the opposite perspective.  I am sure all of us have caught a large-ish fish on a small bait.  Do you think they see it and just munch it because It's like us walking past a bowl of M&Ms on the table and you grab one....ok, maybe a handful but you get the point.

[Boomstick]

I've always thought the little ones think they're bigger than they are and as they get larger, they either no longer thing they're so big or they learn there are bigger things out there or things higher up in the food chain. I mean yes larger fish hit larger baits but at the same time the little ones seem to act larger than they are.

[WRB]

Primates and humans have the ability to judge size compared to their size. All other animals Don 't have that ability. A small dog will attack a big dog for example, they don't know their size. Fish are lower in the animal kingdom then birds for example and geese we consider smart birds will decay to blinds that are big enough to house a hunter, they can't judge size and no fish can.

Tom

[geo g]

Big bass will hit baits of all size that enter their strike zone.  Small bass will often be deterred by bigger baits entering their strike zone.  If you want to catch good numbers of a variety of sizes, then throw baits in the 4 to 6 inch size.  You want lower numbers but bigger bass than 8 to 14 inch baits may be your choice.  My personal best was an 11.4 lb, 27" bass caught on a 4 inch zoom fluke that entered her strike zone.  That same day plenty of 1 pound bass were caught on that same bait.

 

Just a personal preference, when I go out for a fun trip, the most important thing to me is catching bass.   I Never go out with the intention of only catching big bass.  If a big bass decides to play that day that's great, but I still want 20 others regardless of size.  The detection, hook set, and fight is why I fish.  I would rather catch 50 bass under 2 pounds, then a full trip with only 1 fish of eight pounds.  Just not enough action.

[Sphynx]

Interesting question, you bring up us giving fish too much credit for intelligence, and a lot of times your right, some days I spend so much time trying to outsmart them that I think I'd be better served by shutting up and tossing in a lure and just enjoying my day...of course there's days I don't think hard enough and screw myself too, guess that's why we spend a lifetime chasing these fish though

[Sam]

Like sharks in saltwater, bass are aggressive predators in fresh water, either hitting to kill their prey; hitting to chase other fish away; or feeding.

 

Small bass will chase and hit other fish, including other bass,that are larger or the same size as themselves.

 

I do not believe bass will think about the size of the target. They just do what their instincts tell them to do which is to strike hard and fast.

[scaleface]

Heck , bluegills attack me . You ever have those devils bite your nipples .

[TnRiver46]

44 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Heck , bluegills attack me . You ever have those devils bite your nipples .

They like moles too