Theory: Lifelike craws vs. Not

[Heron]

This tags along on the question, is realism in a bait more effective at catching fish.   I’m sure most of us have an answer to that already, but after recent encounters and much pondering, I’m developing a theory to help me understand what the fish see and determine.

 

albeit, this is a very loose theory…so, take it as you will.

 

This is a case of 3d Craw vs Zoom Super Speed Craw…

 

Conditions were

- Mid Summer

- super clear water (8ft vis)

- pressured area / spooky fish

 

Method

- Slow drag along the bottom

 

Observations

- Super Speed Craw, fish would either act oblivious to it’s presence or slurp it without hesitation.

- 3d Craw, fish would approach it enthusiastically…but then stop, and appear to examine the bait intently.  The fish always changed their mind and then turned away.

 

Catches in a 1hr period

- Super Speed Craw - 4

- 3d Craw - 0

 

Impressions

- The fish’s behavior during this time suggests an ironic ability to spot a fake easier, with a realistic bait, rather than with a bait that is somewhat ambiguous.

 

The way that I make sense of this is, it seems similar to when we see a mannequin at the store, we can easily spot that as a fake.  But yet, still the shadow or the coat hanging in the corner, can trick us in to thinking there’s someone standing there. 
 

That being said, I don’t believe I have ever had an occasion when a realistic craw bait ever out-fished a more ambiguous craw bait.  
 

Your conditions and results may very 

 

[J Francho]

I've al says been more interested in the action of a bait. I do think realism is part of the picture with bigger baits, like 5"+ swim baits. 

[Jar11591]

I fished the 3D Craw on Lake Baccarac. I was using it as a jig trailer on an evening when they were biting really well, but nothing was interested in the jig with the 3D Craw trailer. When I switched to a Rage Craw trailer they had no problem eating the jig, as well as a paddle-tail swimbait trailer. Admittedly I wasn't overly confident in the 3D Craw so that may have had something to do with my lack of success, but on a day where they were hitting most things you threw at them, they seemed uninterested in the 3D Craw.

[Tennessee Boy]

Realistic baits are designed to be realistic to humans.  That’s an important factor because we’re the ones buying them.   We are mostly incapable of judging realism according to a bass.  We have much sharper vision and see more colors than they do.  They have vastly better low light vision.  Then there’s smell, sound, vibration,  water displacement, etc.  

 

Imagine taking some beef and grinding it up with a lot of lime green food coloring.  It would look gross to us because we’re very vision oriented.  To a dog it’s very appetizing because they’re more smell oriented and it smells like beef.  Dogs also have very poor color vision so they probably won’t notice or care about the color.  A dog might notice the smell of the food coloring more than the color.

 

Every animal experiences the world differently and judges realism differently.

[Deleted account]

For the most part it's about the action most times, but there is a time and place(s) for realistic lures, but I find those to be limited to some specific situations. What you really don't want, much like walking down the road is to be in the middle.

[Catt]

Gene Larew 6" Hawg Craws!

 

IDK what attracts bass to that ugly no action piece of plastic.

 

I just know they do ?

 

Quite a few double digits on them, both Texas Rigged & as a Jig-n-Craw.

 

[T-Billy]

I've never done well with realistic craws either. Gimme a beaver of some sort, and a rage or speed craw and my bases are covered in that dept.

[A-Jay]

I am quite certain I have no clue what a bass perceives as realistic or 

if that even matters.  Nothing I throw has a life force so it's all just a lump of something inanimate. 

I have 4, I guess 'craws' in my boat all from SK.

Rage Bug, Rage Craw/Lobster, Rage Menace and a Rodent.

Covers all my needs.

If I believed that they would also get bites for me,

I'd try the Reaction Innovations Man Bear Pig, the Googan Baits Bandito Bug

(both cool names) and a lime green flip flop.  

Just not necessarily in that order. 

A-Jay

[Mobasser]

As far as craws go, I have noticed a few more fish striking plastic craws with long thin antanna. Other than that general shape and size scores.

[WRB]

Hair jig with pork trailers don’t look like any crawdad yet big bass eat it for over 100 years everywhere bass live.

If it moves and acts like it’s alive to the bass they may eat it or not.

When I discover a lure the bass eat I use it until they stop eating it, so far they haven’t stopped eating hair jigs with pork trailers or soft plastic worms.

I like natural looking lures but don’t eat them?

Tom

[MassBass]

Yes, this is a real phenomenon. I noticed it myself when Storm was making very realistic craw jigs, compared to a tube jig.

 

It is the same phenomenon with cartoon art. If the art is depicted too realistically, people just notice the imperfections in the figures and can't stand it. If it is rather a loose representation of humans, people accept it as other people and go along with the plot of the cartoon. Maybe when a bass looks at a very realistic soft craw, something just looks wrong with it.

[J Francho]

The cartoon analogy might be the craziest stretch, but might actually be right. Never thought of it that way. 

[Jar11591]

40 minutes ago, MassBass said:

It is the same phenomenon with cartoon art. If the art is depicted too realistically, people just notice the imperfections in the figures and can't stand it. If it is rather a loose representation of humans, people accept it as other people and go along with the plot of the cartoon. Maybe when a bass looks at a very realistic soft craw, something just looks wrong with it.

Sounds similar to the Uncanny Valley. Very interesting. 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, MassBass said:

Maybe when a bass looks at a very realistic soft craw, something just looks wrong with it.

 

Any of y'all ever been in the situation where bass are chasing shad everywhere you look but you can't get a bite no matter what you throw?

 

I came the conclusion years ago it's because my lure doesn't act right. 

[Mobasser]

In some ways this is true of other baits too. On my lake, I've never seen a salamander or lizard. If some live there, there's not many. But, at times bass will attack plastic lizards on this lake.                          I've tried realistic craw baits and other plainer ones. I can't see where all the detail and realism makes a difference. This is on the lake I fish. It may not be true everywhere.

[Hook2Jaw]

The best I've done on a bait created with realism in mind is several 5+ pounders fishing the YUM Crawbug on a Ned jig in the Kedhe style, actually swimming it along.

 

I've never caught a fish on that bait fished slowly.

[papajoe222]

Realism, like color can be the difference maker in which bait will catch when others don't.  The OP compared two craw imitators, but I've done a similar comparison with tubes vs. craws. The majority of time, when both were presented the same they both produced about the same. However when one was presented different (say the tube spiraling down) one would out produce the other by a wide margin.  Sometimes the tube and other times the craw.

This leads me to believe realism plays a back seat to action and presentation.

I also believe one craw can out produce another at times, but just like stick worms the difference could be the density, or bouyancy of one over the other.

[Columbia Craw]

I would rather have a lure that is not an anatomical match but presented properly than a perfect match that is not presented properly.  

[WRB]

33 minutes ago, Hook2Jaw said:

The best I've done on a bait created with realism in mind is several 5+ pounders fishing the YUM Crawbug on a Ned jig in the Kedhe style, actually swimming it along.

 

I've never caught a fish on that bait fished slowly.

Ever use a weightless Senko?

Tom

[Munkin]

Somewhere I read a study that said a tube worked a lot better than a realistic craw in soft plastics. Thinking it was done by Berkeley scientists but can't be 100% sure?

 

What does a bass think a chartreuse spinnerbait is? Those realistic baits are meant more to catch fishermen than fish.

 

Allen

[fin]

There’s nothing wrong with a realistic shape. Looking realistic is not bad. If you could make a bait look exactly like a crawfish, AND make it crawl along the bottom like a crawfish, the fish would eat it up.

 

When the person making the bait decides that a realistic shape is more important than the way it moves, that’s a mistake, in my opinion.

 

[BrianMDTX]

12 hours ago, J Francho said:

The cartoon analogy might be the craziest stretch, but might actually be right. Never thought of it that way. 

I read an article once a few years ago about humanoid robots. When robot models that were humanoid in shape and appearance (but didn’t truly look like real people- think C3P0), test subjects accepted them with little reservation. But the closer the models came to looking as close to anatomically correct humans as possible, test subjects rejected them. People could accept the “robot” robot as they knew it was not human, but the “human” robot was eerie. The eyes have no soul, etc. 

 

I would have no problem believe bass react similar to craws. If it has action like a craw, they likely will attack it. But if it looks like a real craw, it either A-does not have as realistic of an action; or B- it looks close but no cigar so it may turn bass away. 
 

I’ve been doing well lately with an X-Zone Adrenaline Craw. I would not say it looks like a live crawfish. But the bass seem to think so. 

[Cdn Angler]

I equate it to my cat. If you had a hyper realistic mouse and it sat on the floor and did nothing, would my cat attack it? Maybe. You take a piece of cardboard and tie it to a string and move it erratically and it's getting hammered. One looks like a mouse, one acts like a mouse that is fleeing. I know what my cat prefers.

 

IMO predators are attracted to prey that are fleeing or injured as it signals weakness. 

[Jar11591]

@BrianMDTX That phenomenon is called the uncanny valley. I find it so fascinating.

[BrianMDTX]

1 hour ago, Jar11591 said:

@BrianMDTX That phenomenon is called the uncanny valley. I find it so fascinating.

It is an interesting theory. Even monkeys that were shown faces of a real monkey, a cartoon monkey and a 3-D CGI monkey displayed an indifference to the CGI face. A bass may be no monkey, but predators are pretty good at discerning prey.