Bass Fishing: Art or Science

[Tennessee Boy]

It's been too cold to fish this week so I need a good philosophical winter fishing discussion.  So here's the question.

 

Is Bass fishing more art or science?

 

Music is something most people think of it as an art, but it wouldn’t exist without the science of sound—the physics of waves, acoustics, and harmonics. Similarly, bass fishing wouldn’t be what it is without the science of fish behavior, biology, weather patterns, and lure dynamics. Yet, there’s no denying the art in how we approach it—the intuition, the creative lure presentations, the personal style that makes each angler unique.  So let’s start by acknowledging upfront: bass fishing is undeniably both an art and a science. It’s a pursuit that blends creativity, instinct, and skill with knowledge, research, and experimentation.

 

But which is it more of?

 

So, I want to hear from you: when you think about bass fishing, does it lean more toward art with its endless possibilities for creative expression, or is it more of a science, rooted in principles and logic?

 

I hope this sparks some thoughtful discussion that will get me through this cold spell.  😊

[Mike L]

To me the art of something is creating a particular thing that’s unique to that person.
In bass fishing that would be the cadence used in using a frog or jerk bait.
 

The science of it is understanding how everything was put together and why. 
Again in bass fishing that would be the difference of the lines and rods used for a frog in a pad field compared to a jerk bait in open water. 

Then again maybe not

 

 

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

Art 

 

there’s zero actual since to capturing fish with a rod and reel 

[crypt]

both....and then some....luck..skill.....passion....obssesion.....when you catch yourself wherever you are thinking about what you can do to improve your skills, catch rates.etc. you know it's way more than art or science....like I said it's all of the above.....that's why I fish....

great question by the way......gives ya something to think about.  

[WRB]

If a banana duct taped to paper is called art then everything is art.

Fishing is an outdoor activity that isn’t science or art imo.

Tom

[SkippinJimmy]

The way art is used in this context is different than what we would consider art in the traditional sense.  Science is objective, systematic, logical, and empirical.  Art is subjective, intuitive, creative, expressive.  In that sense, there is an art to fishing, just like there was an art to the sandwich I made for breakfast this morning.

[TnRiver46]

@SkippinJimmy, always tip your sandwich artist for a job well done 

[crypt]

sandwich?????? where...now I'm hungry.

[T-Billy]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

If a banana duct taped to paper is called art then everything is art.

Fishing is an outdoor activity that isn’t science or art imo.

Tom

I'm with you on this one Tom. Not art or science, but it is my favorite thing to do with my clothes on. 😂

[SkippinJimmy]

46 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@SkippinJimmy, always tip your sandwich artist for a job well done 

Lol…I was obviously being sarcastic with the sandwich comment.  It’s just funny how we have manipulated the definition of art to basically include everything.  I created quite a piece of artwork about 3 hours after I finished my sandwich as well.

[A-Jay]

Depends if your trousers are intact or if you're using FFS or not ~

I'm the funniest guy I know.

A-Jay

[Buzzbaiter]

I don’t look for peer-reviewed articles to influence my fishing decisions for the day. On the other hand, the word “art” implies some sort of creation, which doesn’t exist in fishing.

 

I’d call fishing a pseudoscience.

[Smokinal]

Waiting for Rick Clunn to reply...

[LrgmouthShad]

You are in Tennessee right? Your name is Tennessee Boy? You live in the state of Tennessee? You like Tennessee? The water doesn’t freeze everywhere, right? I believe I’ve found the answer to your question. Just go fishing 👍🏻

[Pat Brown]

I'm gonna go with neither - it's an addiction 😂😂😂

[Tennessee Boy]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

If a banana duct taped to paper is called art then everything is art.

Fishing is an outdoor activity that isn’t science or art imo.

Tom

I would call a banana taped to a wall art.

I would call paying millions of dollars for a banana taped to a wall stupid. 😊

[Mike L]

Well, I guess I put way too much thought into this. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[WRB]

32 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I would call a banana taped to a wall art.

I would call paying millions of dollars for a banana taped to a wall stupid. 😊

$6 million and the banana is fresh and needs to changed every other day😎

Didn’t intend to change the subject but only fly fishing is a art form, bass anglers are more house painters.

Tom

 

[Tennessee Boy]

13 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Well, I guess I put way too much thought into this. 

You're thinking on a higher level. 👍

 

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

$6 million and the banana is fresh and needs to changed every other day😎

The guy who bought it said he was going to eat the banana.  In other words a guy with more money than he knows what to do with went to an art gallery without eating breakfast first.

1 hour ago, Buzzbaiter said:

On the other hand, the word “art” implies some sort of creation, which doesn’t exist in fishing.

Dance is considered art so why can't dancing a lure be considered art?

 

 

[Buzzbaiter]

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I would call paying millions of dollars for a banana taped to a wall stupid. 😊

I would call it an intelligent mechanism for money laundering. 

 

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Dance is considered art so why can't dancing a lure be considered art?

Uhhhh…my head hurts. If I had to categorize them, I’d consider dance and worm wiggling to be sports (not art) on the basis that both activities require physical skill and lack an element of creation.
 

Then again, bass are sunfish, acorns are fruits, and bananas are berries. Tape one to a wall, and that berry becomes art. Dichotomous distinctions are for people with too much time on their hands; I think this cold front is getting to us.

[Craig P]

With trout in mind, we all know the scene of a river runs through it.  You may have even fantasized about doing it yourself.  A beautiful stream in a remote setting, nature bountiful, an angler swinging a fly rod as the sun rises or sets.  It would be hard to deny that scene isn’t art.  A catch at that point is just a bonus.

 

As a Bass angler, I don’t know that I would call the act of me fishing art while in the process of doing it but I am sure to anyone onlooking, they may just see it as a river runs through it.

 

ps.  Comedy is also considered an art, so if you ever see me out there yanking and cussing at a snag, hook a tree, slip and fall, I’m just trying to be a comedian. 

[WRB]

Advanced materials technology and sonar was adopted by fishing industry not created by it. Nothing in bass fishing that I can think was originated vs by anglers with the exception of lures specific to catch bass.

We borrowed the science and made it work for us.

We still don’t have a clue what bass are thinking looking at lures and all the colors we think they can see.

I have spent a lifetime catching bass. Writing what I believed at time and had both success and failures and at the end of the day it’s still trail and error 

Tom

[T-Billy]

A legendary bass artist at work.

 

[GreenPig]

I want to say Art. But like most scientist nowadays I make an educated guess, fail, make an educated guess, fail, make an educated guess and sometimes something works. So maybe both.

And I am actually a semi - amateur artist, just not at fishing.😆

[Macropterus]

It’s a fickle art when I have no idea why what I’m doing isn’t working. I’m a brilliant scientist when I have any sort of pattern going.