Learned Something New About Bass Behavior

[Sam]

We all know we search for underwater structure, be it a brush pile, log, cement block, rocks, sunken vessel, etc., to find the bass hanging onto and around these types of targets.

 

I watched a video from ICast where the Hummingbird representative was discussing their new Hummingbird Mega Live Imaging Transducer and what he saw during the test run.

 

He stated, paraphrasing as best I can, "that the bass were in and holding tight to the structure as seen on the screen as the boat approached the target. However, when the boat arrived closer to the structure the bass moved away from the structure in one school as they knew that the boat above them was not a friendly encounter."

 

He said "that the bass moved away from the structure when the boat got closer to the structure."

 

This is interesting in that the bass may realize that a large object above them is a problem and that they actually move away from the structure we are pinpointing. They don't move far, but they move away just the same.

 

So we see a beautiful brush pile and start to fish it and get no bites when in actuality we are fishing too close to the brush pile and we need to consider fishing a few feet off the brush pile to locate the bass.

 

Your input, please, to this statement, and your thoughts on this bass behavior.

 

With new live target transducers being introduced and the prices (hopefully) falling we will be able to afford a live imaging unit and see for ourselves if this is actually the case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gunsinger]

I've always been told that the longer the cast to the structure, the better the odds of catching a fish.  Having said that, there's been numerous times when I've caught one right at the boat. 

 

Are bass, and other game fish, smart enough to associate an overhead object with danger?  I don't know that they are.  But, what they could be doing is reacting in the same way that a school of smaller fish react when a bigger predatory fish moves into the area.  I don't think they see the boat and assume a fisherman.  I think they see the boat and assume a predator coming to take their spot or eat them.

[DaubsNU1]

I like the idea of positioning boat away from structure / cover, and casting longer.

 

I think the Hummingbird representative is pretty savvy...as are their marketing peeps...their job is to develop and sell merchandise.

 

Back in the mid 1990's a bunch of buddies and I made the trek to Lake Fork in Texas. We fished hard for two days throwing everything in the book at them. Nothing. Not even a sniff.

 

Talked to some locals...they just giggled and said, "go get yourselves some shiners...biggest you can find.  Rig up a slip bobber, toss that big-un in to the trees...grab a beer and wait...you will catch them."

 

And we did!  Landed one that was 8lbs. Some were caught right next to the boat.

 

Sometimes I think we think we give bass too much credit.

[BoatSquirrel]

Baitfish do not like boats.  We have all had a school of bass come up on top, try to move towards them and down they go.  I have noticed they do not mind the kayak as much.  
A very smart pro said the farther you get your bait from the boat, the more likely you are to catch a big fish.

[Team9nine]

The answer is mixed. On some heavily pressured waters, it is getting more difficult to drive and fish right over the top of bass, witness KVDs comments in regards to his win on Chickamauga earlier this year. In contrast, look at all the bass still being caught “video game fishing” on things like dropshots and Jika rigs, especially on the smallmouth venues, but not exclusively.

 

TPWD has done some research and studying in this area and I believe the number they came up with was that 1/3 of the bass left cover holding locations when driven over, meaning 2/3 stayed. Perhaps @Catt can chime in on that, as he’s been following the research down there.

 

 

[J Francho]

Any chance it's emissions from the transducer itself causing the negative response?

[Big Hands]

3 hours ago, gunsinger said:

I've always been told that the longer the cast to the structure, the better the odds of catching a fish.  Having said that, there's been numerous times when I've caught one right at the boat. 

Yup.

 

Directly under a boat might be the one spot where they rarely have a lure presented to them. The odds might be better with a longer cast (I definitely believe this to be true), BUT if you have a lure anywhere in or near the water, there is a chance that an aggressive beast could take a swipe at it at any moment. And, some of those rule-breaking bass are absolute pigs.

[WRB]

Discussed this phenomena many times on this site and in my Horizontal Jigging article in In-Fisherman. How you approach structure is key....never drive up to known good spot, always ease to it from a path other boats don’t use.

One reason trophy live bait anglers quietly trolley anchor to give the big girls time to return. 

I also meter the area after I stop fishing it and often find big bass suspended in deep water away from the structure. Know you know they were there and return quite lt a few hours later.

You might also want to re read Bill Murphy’s In Pursuit of Giant Bass tracking study chapter.

Tom

[TnRiver46]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

Any chance it's emissions from the transducer itself causing the negative response?

I’ve been watching a few different fishermen with live scope say the fish follow the lure in the first time then just chill out under the boat. Granted these are open water fish not in brush. From there they cycle through lures until one triggers a strike 

 

in shallower waters, of course a boat overhead would scare fish. I’ve seen heron osprey and eagles cast a shadow that zooms over the water and a million carp all freak out and splash water everywhere instantaneously 

[J Francho]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve seen heron osprey and eagles cast a shadow that zooms over the water and a million carp all freak out and splash water everywhere instantaneously 

I've seen this too.  

[Catt]

Todd Driscoll is conducting a radio telemetry study on Toledo Bend, he's also using forward imaging to help pin point the exact fish. What the study has shown is sometimes the boat approaching spooked them & sometimes it didn't.

What blew my mind was the fact that when Todd sat back & cast to the bass it spooked them but when he got directly over them drop shooting it didn't.

[gim]

In clear water with the sun out, I think they could get spooked pretty easily, especially on highly pressured waters.

 

If the water is murkier or stained, then maybe not.  But if you know there is a good piece of habitat or structure to be fished, why wouldn't you just ease up, keep your distance, and make a longer cast?  If its a variable you can control, then control it.

[Bankbeater]

Sometimes I wonder if it's the people on the boat, and not the boat itself, that is spooking the fish.

[TnRiver46]

Just now, Bankbeater said:

Sometimes I wonder if it's the people on the boat, and not the boat itself, that is spooking the fish.

Well that depends on if they are tap dancing or standing still 

[Catt]

16 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

Sometimes I wonder if it's the people on the boat, and not the boat itself, that is spooking the fish.

 

Todd Driscoll's study is showing what @Sam refrenced. If the bass move it's well in advance of the boat getting there.

 

[Cdn Angler]

Up here tagged Musky were found to move out of an area when a boat came near them

 Why? Don't know.

[JimT]

on the other hand . . . 

 

https://youtu.be/lmG87t_6-Mk

[The Bassman]

Some insight from a bank fisherman's perspective. I've seen times I could look a bass squarely in the eye and feed him a lure but other times spook before I was even close. Keeps the sport interesting.

[GRiver]

14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve seen heron osprey and eagles cast a shadow that zooms over the water and a million carp all freak out and splash water everywhere instantaneously 

 also I seen minnows dance and break the surface of the water when it thundered. So J Franco has a point too, transducer, trolling motor  or anything your boat might be admitting into the water

 

20 hours ago, J Francho said:

Any chance it's emissions from the transducer itself causing the negative response?

 

[WRB]

The lateral line for Florida strain LMB has over 140 nerve ports, NLMB over 126  that help bass locate pressure wave at a long distance. This is there early warning alert system that prey or predator is approaching.

A bass boat equip with engine has a propeller and exhaust pressure pulses that bass can detect at a long distance, plus sonar pulses. How the bass react varies, but they are alerted to the approaching boat.

Tom

 

[Sam]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

The lateral line for Florida strain LMB has over 140 nerve ports, NLMB over 126  that help bass locate pressure wave at a long distance. This is there early warning alert system that prey or predator is approaching.

A bass boat equip with engine has a propeller and exhaust pressure pulses that bass can detect at a long distance, plus sonar pulses. How the bass react varies, but they are alerted to the approaching boat.

Tom

 

Agreed. But to have them all just float away from the structure at the same time seems to be extremely interesting. Wish Catt would get that study completed on Toledo Bend and share it with us.!!!

[David 7]

I’ve always suspected this. If you see a good spot, stay back and cast into it. Be stealth and stay back.

[Sam]

12 hours ago, WRB said:

The lateral line for Florida strain LMB has over 140 nerve ports, NLMB over 126  that help bass locate pressure wave at a long distance. This is there early warning alert system that prey or predator is approaching.

A bass boat equip with engine has a propeller and exhaust pressure pulses that bass can detect at a long distance, plus sonar pulses. How the bass react varies, but they are alerted to the approaching boat.

Tom

 

And they move off their cover to a "safer place" in their minds.

 

So why do we pitch and flip into brush piles and other structure?  If all bass do this then we are wasting our time.

[Catt]

On 8/17/2021 at 8:52 AM, Team9nine said:

TPWD has done some research and studying in this area and I believe the number they came up with was that 1/3 of the bass left cover holding locations when driven over, meaning 2/3 stayed.

 

2/3 rds that stayed was after doing figure 8s over the top of them with the outboard & all electronics on. The depth range was 8'-30'!

 

Of that 2/3, 27% spooked when cast to with a 1/2 oz Texas Rig. The bass holding in 8' of water didn't spook with the boat directly over head while drop shoting them.

 

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, Sam said:

And they move off their cover to a "safer place" in their minds.

 

So why do we pitch and flip into brush piles and other structure?  If all bass do this then we are wasting our time.

“All bass” never do the exact same thing 

 

in the extremely overfished heavily stocked trout waters, a lot of fish spook before the fly lands. Then others will literally sit right next to your feet and never move. I poked one with the rod the other day and it didn’t move. The fish that won’t move even though you are right next to it is a fish that won’t bite on most occasions. I call it the “I dare you” posture and I always just leave that fish alone because he knows I’m there