Over-Analyzing

[OHIO]

Does anyone else think that we over analyze or over estimate the ability of a bass's mind?

Do you really think that a bass could be line shy?

With everything else in the water, how could they distinguish between line and vegetation?

Why aren't they hook shy? My hook shows on every plastic that I fish, yet they don't seem to mind.

The hook is thicker than the line and should stand out more in the water, but some people still blame a bad day on spooked fish.

Could they really become accustomed to certain lures?

This one may have a bit more truth to it than them being line shy, but I still don't believe it.

I know people say that, "Oh, the bass in my lake won't hit Rage Craws anymore." (Or something similar to that).

Really? You think the bass remember the exact look and shape of you're bait for long enough to know not to eat it again?

A lot of baits are meant to look as real as possible and a lot achieve that.

Say I was throwing a Mattlures U2 Bluegill (just for example), and I'm catching a ton of bass with it, would they be afraid to hit a real gill?

I'm just saying this because the U2 and a real gill look far too similar for a bass to know the difference.

Another one that I don't agree with is when people say, "Don't wear bright colors when bank fishing," or "Walk quietly when moving to a different spot."

My friends and I have fished in a lot of bright colors with no negative effects and I've seen a lot of people on here fishing in bright colors.

People say to walk quietly too. Maybe my friends and I are extremely quiet walkers normally, but we don't change a thing when walking along the bank.

Do bass really have that many land predators to be scared? I'm asking this because I truly don't know, but I would assume the answer is no.

In a lot of the ponds I fish, bass are at the top of the food chain, so they have nothing to be scared of.

Now, none of this is fact, it's just my belief that we over think situations too much and come up with excuses as to why we got skunked.

[Jaheff]

I'll try to answer the Line Shy Question..

This answer is above me, but i believe it.On the ultra clear, highly pressured, California lake I fish, Yes the bass are line shy, but not cause they can see the line, but because they can feel the line movements with their lateral line.After a while they get trained to understand what the displacement feels like, from the diameter of the line.

This info comes from the second best tournament angler on this lake, and the best totally agreed with him.They both drop shot 4# no matter if their fishing deep or shallow in brush, rock, because the difference between 4# and 6#, is how many more bites they will get on 4#, from the bigger smarter bass.

[Raul]

1.- Yes, "too much mind Algren San"

2.- Yes, but as usual in this games, there are times they can be line shy, not because they can see it, like Jaheff mentioned, they can feel it, bass in very clear water are more spooky than bass in not such conditions.

3.- Well, you got me there, I dunno why bass aren´t hook shy.

4.- To certain lures in a short term they can get accustomed, but I think it´s not specifically the lure but the presentation ( what and how the lure does it ).

5.- I don´t believe in the "match the hatch" theory, I´ve been fishing for too long to see bass biting consistently something that doesn´t even come close to what the fish might eat, doesn´t have to look exactly like, it has to move and behave like it´s alive and more importanty, too look like an easy meal.

6.- Like usual, there are days you not wearing bright colors and moving stealthy makes all the difference in the world, there are days it doesn´t matter.

7.- Well, there´s a bunch of things on land and on air that can eat a bass, they may be the top of the food chain in the pond/lake/river but there are higher in the food chain creatures from above and from the shore.

[Jigfishn10]

I believe that most of your questions you are asking are legit questions but we as fisherman read a lot about how to fish for bass. Most of the authors of those articles or books are from other fishermen's experiences and/or beliefs.

I read a lot of those books and articles, but I take some of the info with a grain of salt. Like Raul indicates in his post, the match the hatch theory is what it is, a theory. Why would a bass hit a bubble gum colored soft plastic in shallow clear water. It doesn't exactly match the hatch, but a bass can see the color of bubblegum in shallow water pretty darn good and still hit it. Drop that bubbleum in deep water and you may go fishless or at least not get a lot of bites. bubble gum at deeper depths just doesn't exude much color, in fact it may just turn into a primary color or invisible the deeper it gets.

Wearing bright colors: Skeet Reese wears bright yellow, he seems to be doing alright...LOL. I was sight fishing during the spawn and pitched my jig to a bass that was 4' away in clear water. I was wearing a sky blue golf shirt standing up on a bank with the bass facing towards me. It took me about 15 mins of snapping the rod tip and barely moving that jig before that bass would hit it, so from that day on, I beleived that I got the bass because my presentation was the deciding factor in getting that bass and any other bass for that matter.

With all that said, I do try and tip the odds in my favor by going by the book when it comes to line diameter and color, baits and bait colors that I think will work as well as my appearance and movements on the bank. It may not make a lot of difference in the world, but some days you just never know.

JMHO

[clayton86]

Just be like me and blame it on the bass stupidy they don't bite its not that there to smart but more then there to dumb to bite something tasty looking let em starve and go hungry 99% of us throw em back the sooner the bass learn to take one for the team the better. Lol that's what I always say when not getting bit its them being to stupid to bite sexy lures by saying there to smart because of line lure what ever just means a fish out smarted me and ya can't have that

[Catt]

Anglers often respond to failure and frustration by over-complicating theory and technique. As much as it helps our egos to regard a difficult task as complex, this type of thinking is often the biggest obstacle between you and your fishing success.

[Big-O]

If you're intensity level is supported with good decision making and you analyze everything you can as well as pay attention to every detail, you will notice slight changes that make obvious differences. That's a FACT! If your livelihood depends on it, then by all means JUMP in with both feet... But if not, you might want to keep it simple and more importantly ENJOY your time on the water as much as possible Making little tweaks to your tackle, gear, presentation, location, angles etc. is part of the ART of fishing and those little tweaks can mean the difference between Great results or sub par...

I try to analyze and keep my focus on one thing, "Find The Fish - Catch the Fish". With this said, I know that some of the fish that I target move often and for several reasons... If I keep hunting them they'll normally eat when I find'em, then if I want to catch the majority of them, HERE'S THE TWEAK - I will try to serve them what they want most and in a manner that they want it most. Now that's what gives me good reason to start ANALYZING

For me fishing is a "Constant Learning Curve"

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[evrgladesbasser]

Does anyone else think that we over analyze or over estimate the ability of a bass's mind?

Do you really think that a bass could be line shy?

With everything else in the water, how could they distinguish between line and vegetation?

Why aren't they hook shy? My hook shows on every plastic that I fish, yet they don't seem to mind.

The hook is thicker than the line and should stand out more in the water, but some people still blame a bad day on spooked fish.

Could they really become accustomed to certain lures?

This one may have a bit more truth to it than them being line shy, but I still don't believe it.

I know people say that, "Oh, the bass in my lake won't hit Rage Craws anymore." (Or something similar to that).

Really? You think the bass remember the exact look and shape of you're bait for long enough to know not to eat it again?

A lot of baits are meant to look as real as possible and a lot achieve that.

Say I was throwing a Mattlures U2 Bluegill (just for example), and I'm catching a ton of bass with it, would they be afraid to hit a real gill?

I'm just saying this because the U2 and a real gill look far too similar for a bass to know the difference.

Another one that I don't agree with is when people say, "Don't wear bright colors when bank fishing," or "Walk quietly when moving to a different spot."

My friends and I have fished in a lot of bright colors with no negative effects and I've seen a lot of people on here fishing in bright colors.

People say to walk quietly too. Maybe my friends and I are extremely quiet walkers normally, but we don't change a thing when walking along the bank.

Do bass really have that many land predators to be scared? I'm asking this because I truly don't know, but I would assume the answer is no.

In a lot of the ponds I fish, bass are at the top of the food chain, so they have nothing to be scared of.

Now, none of this is fact, it's just my belief that we over think situations too much and come up with excuses as to why we got skunked.

Well once you take care of all that stuff... and the weather, water temp, moon phase, and barometer is just perfect, we can finally admit we just suck at fishing. Some people just aren't there yet.

[Glenn]

Hmmmm..... let me think about that.

[OHIO]

Some good replies guys.

I know none of this can be proven. It's just my opinion.

[Nitrofreak]

Anglers often respond to failure and frustration by over-complicating theory and technique. As much as it helps our egos to regard a difficult task as complex, this type of thinking is often the biggest obstacle between you and your fishing success.

I like this answer the best...Don't over analize what you already know to be true.

[SirSnookalot]

Fish are on or off, I don't go any further than that.