Strike zone...What is it

[airborne_angler]

What exactly is the "strike zone" How is it determined,and whats it all about,Ive heard the term alot but never understood it. How can i tell if my presentation is in the strike zone . Im fishing from the bank and dont have eyes under water. Can someone just please educate me on this term

[Glenn]

Here ya go!

http://bassresource.com/fish_biology/strike_zone.html

[DR_Bass]

To me, the strike zone has always been how far a bass will go in order to bite your lure.

[Chug Bug]

I had always considered it a generic term.  If you got the lure to the fish, it was in the strike zone

[KenDammit28]

think of it as an area that the bass has marked off and said "if you get in this area..I'm gonna eat you"

its like when we were kids and we drew a line and said "don't cross this line or I'll hit you" or something.

Anyway, the bass determines it, and its always changing..but essentially when someone says "keep it in the strike zone" it means you want to keep your lure as close to where the fish is "holding" and you want to keep it there for as long as possible.  Its thought to be unproductive to fish outside this "zone" because the fish isn't willing to come eat the lure.

speaking in terms of examples...think of a spinnerbait...its usually travelling through the water at a certain depth as you retrieve.  Your ideal situation would be to have the lure running at a depth that would keep the bait close enough to the bass and in its line of sight for as long as possible...thats all there is to it, really.

Say the bass are at 15 feet..you wouldn't want to be fishing at 5 feet, you'd probably be out of the "zone".  You'd wanna get it more towards 10 or 12....something like that.

[George Welcome]

Chug Bug's definition hit the nail on the head. How do you know when you are there? - you get bit. It's that simple. Now that doesn't go into explaining how you figure what could be the best potential strike zones.

[janalon]

Yes, how far a bass will commit to chase a lure, varies

[Daniel My Brother]

The strike zone is the area between the bass' knees and shoulders.

[nboucher]

Except on cloudy days, when it's between the knees and the letters on its uniform.

[KenDammit28]

lol, nice baseball references guys...

what about when you're at an away game??? then its just from the knees to the waist!

[Other.]

                                  Strike zone (TOP)

                                             -

                                             -

                                             -

                                             -

                                             -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strike Zone

                                             -

                                             -

                                             -

                                             -

                                             -

                                 Strike Zone (bottem)

Strike zone is sort of looking through a scope. Exept its not exact 100% of the time. Any were of the strike zone the bass will loose entress in the lure and will ignore it.

The bass is always in the middle of the graph (I guess you can call it a graph) And the farthest it will travel from point 0,0 is the shape of the strike zone.

p.s. For those of who dont know math point 0,0 is the center.

[Peter E.]

Well bud if I were to really tell someone what a basses strike zone was I would agree with KenDamnit28's statement on what it generally is. But to really give you a better understanding of what can change a strike zone I guess I would break it down into two categories one that describes what will lengthen a strike zone and what would reduce a strike Zone.

Expand:

good water clarity

low barometric pressure

overhead cloud cover

changes in the bass' year (such as it relates to the pre-spawn or fall feeding binge)

Sunlight shining to the rear of the fish so that its structure shades it

smaller amount of available cover

Reduce:  

Poor water clarity

high barometric pressure

no overhead cloud cover

changes in the bass' year (such as it relates to the post-spawn or transition periods)

Sunlight shining on the fish so that its structure doesn't shade

Larger amount of available cover

Once you understand the strike zone of the fish you encounter you can more easily determine the most effective presentaion. Big strike zone go with a horizontal presentation, small strike zone vertical.

Hope that helps, good fishing to ya,

Peter

[Matt Fly]

The strikezone is how far an active bass will travel to hit a bait.    1 inch or 20 yards.  Not a reaction strike.

If water is muddy, it doesn't matter how far you can cast horizontal.    Fish can't see the bait at 45 ft or 5ft, so presentation is only deliver method, it does not constitute any strikezones.  

Bass dictate the zones, not casting styles.   Expeirence tells us where we should put the bait on cloudy days, blue bird days, hot days and so on.

I mean, would your first cast on a blue bird day be to the sunny side of the tree in the summer or the shaded side with less light penatration and cooler water?

My money cast (putting the bait in the right place, ie... the strikezone) is to the shaded side of the tree.