Bass Triggers

[Paul Roberts]

Since I don't have time to do this excellent subject justice right now, I'll pull up from the archives some previous discussion on closely related subjects:

Blind Bass

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1240362308/0

Structure in a functional sense

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1215534692/0

Reaction Strikes?

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1231459691/0

[WRB]

The lateral line on a bass is made up of 58 pore scales on each side for NLMB over 69 for FLMB, each scale has a nerve ending to pick up vibrations, it's the basses early warning system and critical to survival, wherever the live. The bass knows which side the vibrations are coming from and reacts according moving towards prey or away from danger.

The FLMB having more pore scales could explain why they are far more wary then NLMB in the same environment, IMO.

WRB

[RoLo]

Since I don't have time to do this excellent subject justice right now, I'll pull up from the archives some previous discussion on closely related subjects:

Blind Bass

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1240362308/0

Structure in a functional sense

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1215534692/0

Reaction Strikes?

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1231459691/0

Thanks for posting those former threads Paul, I'm sorry I missed them.

I found them all highly informative and very interesting.

Roger

[Catt]

Every bit of this information is 100% speculation based on the assumptions bass think and react like humans.

I've said it before and I'll stick to it until man can sit and interview a bass y'all are wasting your breath.

I wonder if Dr. Jones even owns a rod & reel

[Sam]

Catt,

Dr. Jones actually is KVD in costume.  ;D   ;D   ;D   ;D   ;D     ;D   ;D

[Catt]

Catt,

Dr. Jones actually is KVD in costume. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Yelp he is an illusion alright

[senile1]

Every bit of this information is 100% speculation based on the assumptions bass think and react like humans.

I've said it before and I'll stick to it until man can sit and interview a bass y'all are wasting your breath.

I wonder if Dr. Jones even owns a rod & reel

No, it's not based on assumptions that bass think and react like humans.  It's based on Dr. Jones incomplete research.  As such, it is speculation but that is typical of most of our conversations on this forum, as we can't ask the bass.  If we stopped every thread that wastes breath on here 95 percent of them would disappear including some of yours.  

[Paul Roberts]

Catt wrote:

Every bit of this information is 100% speculation based on the assumptions bass think and react like humans.

I guess I don't quite understand what specifically you're getting at. Your blanket statement is easy to rebut. What specifically are you calling to task. That would be helpful.

It's not all speculation. There are actual experiences/experiments that have illuminated behaviors -many are not at all what is expected. Then there is interpretation of those results. The quality of those interpretations vary with the interpreters experience.

Then there is speculation.. allowing for a wider range of thought, beyond mere and careful interpretation of results. It may lead to the next, and often more refined, experiment.

Not all those interpreters/speculators are idiots and fools. Catt, I hope you don't think you are the only one to have questioned the use and quality of interpretation?

If our senses and sense really can't yield anything of use, then we would never become better anglers over time. Think back to when you first started. The greenest newb would be right in there with KVD and Buck Perry. So...what separates these people? Is it really nothing??

[Catt]

We talk of reaction strike vs. feeding strike but how do we differentiate between the two?

We talk of reaction lures and name spinner baits or lipless crank baits but what about a Senko falling slowly towards the bottom; could that cause a reaction strike?

Could that bass striking a spinner bait or lipless crank bait be striking out of hunger?

To differentiate between the two we would have to know what triggered the strike and according to Mr. Jones we don't actually know with certainty what triggers a bass to want to bite our lures.

[Paul Roberts]

Catt wrote:

We talk of reaction strike vs. feeding strike but how do we differentiate between the two?

I see. Exactly. Excellent. That's been my question too. My rather lengthy thoughts on this are in the Reaction Strikes? thread.

In that thread I questioned whether "reaction strikes" actually exist, or are just part of the continuum of feeding reactions.

You are also right on in recognizing how anglers often use human concepts to describe what they think they are seeing in fish reactions to lures, such as anger, or why a bass might hit such a "crazy contraption" as a spinner bait -as if they somehow perceive it the way we do. Just as we can only see the world through human perceptions, bass can only perceive the world through the limits of their perceptions and interpretations. Without the intellectual and technological tools available to them that we have, they are MUCH more limited in this regard than we are. I've never questioned that a bass could easily perceive a spinnerbait as a preyfish -or as simply something worth trying (I could go on about this one but, I've got a living to make here). This is much easier to get away with under certain lighting conditions, naivete of individual bass, or those in high competition for food. One things for sure, it ain't static down there, and that's why bass are complex creatures, and our fishing results with it.

OK. Comprende.

However, I do give Keith Jones', and other's, work some credit in illuminating behaviors, however isolated or seemingly esoteric they may seem. Studying bass in controlled environments is very useful; just be careful with your speculations. From what I've read of Keith Jones work, including some of his early pre-Berkley stuff, he knows where to draw the lines.

BTW: He is an angler, and has fished some tournaments. His fishin' talk sounds like he's at least up on what's going around in the bass fishing world. He may not be KVD in disguise, but that's not fair. How many of us are?

Good stuff. This IS a cool topic.

BTW My posts in Structure in a Functional Sense address the other half of the coin: how the environment might shape the bass' perceptions and ability as to just what defines prey. Bass developed into what they are in response to environmental limitations and opportunity. It only makes sense to try to define what those might look like. As anglers can we recognize them and take advantage of them? I believe we can, and do.

I know my posts are dense, so I'm trying to offer a little framework to it. BTW (again): This isn't my tack it's that of a behavioral ecologist. The groundwork was set long ago.

[WRB]

The first person that I recall using the term "reaction strike" is Rich Tauber, a western pro. Rich used this term to differentiate a quick response strike from a slower deliberate strike.

The Tom Mann, who was one of the best bass fishermen ever, wrote a book called "Think like a fish".

Rich and Tom both have it right IMO.

WRB

[DINK WHISPERER]

All depends on weather conditions and water clarity IMO! If the water is dark/dirty than the sound and visibility of the lure come into play a little more. In clearer water it can be size, shape, color and speed. I think that in stained water they will bite anything that moves!