A theory why bass bite lures

[senkosam]

The hunting n stalking part is where I've had fish pull in behind a bait and follow from far away.

I try to arrive at a theory based on videos I've watched and from a hypothesis that includes asking a question, supplying relevant facts and then coming to a conclusion. If the facts are flawed or incomplete, the conclusion may be true even though the facts are flawed. Any logical hypothesis starts with wondering and hopefully, an educated guess. :-*

Not to disagree that bass stalk or hunt, but I wonder if that is in their nature? Catfish follow a scent trail and that would come as close to the definition of hunting or tracking underwater that I can think of. From my perspective, the sequence of following and focusing on a lure starts with the lure suddenly entering a bass's space or area of attack. Once you've got its attention, it is unable to break off and return to empty contemplation and must focus on the object, almost as if hypnotized. For that to happen the lure must act a certain way (presentation) and look and move a certain way (appearance and innate lure action).

I've watched the video Big Mouth and others by Glen Lau and have noted that smaller fish tend to chase lures whereas larger bass chose to strike slower moving lures, given enough time to observe them, and then locking in the target for the attack sequence.

When I was a kid, I enjoyed watching my cat observe a mouse on a string or the real thing it had injured. It would stay motionless for a good while as I slid the mouse a few inches at a time with pauses. I could tell that it was in the mood to track-and-attack that mouse simulation. Finally I started moving the mouse faster beyond a certain acceptable distance and the cat pounced. (I believe a bass may instinctively know a lure is not an imitation, but is nonetheless curious and annoyed not knowing what it is!)

The above sequence so reminds me of those underwater videos, and granted, a bass doesn't have the brain of a cat, but it tracks-to-attack within a short distance, kind of like locking a missile on to certain coordinates. Beyond that distance, it loses interest and its brain shuts off.

Reflex strikes I'm not sure are ambushes in the strictest sense as it pertains to a hunter in a blind. Ambushes involve hiding in order to attack. IMO bass don't hide from anything; if in danger, it flees. If something plummets near its resting spot and that lure's action and speed is just right to evoke an instant targeting-attack sequence, then the bass can't help itself, as in any targeting-attack impulse that may take longer for a response, whether the target is a live immobile animal or a finesse bait.

If the bass attacks from cover, its interest and focus starts with the lure's splash. It tracks lure vibrations as we would a train whistle coming toward us from around a bend at night. Once close enough, it attacks by impulse and not from hunger or a feeding frenzy. That sequence may define an ambush, but for a reason different than conventional theory insists on.

Conventional theory insists that a bass hides in wait and when a lure comes near, believing it is an animal it normally eats, pounces because the meal is easy to catch and put in its mouth. That could be right, but when discussing the behavior of a pea brained animal where instincts dominate its behavior versus thought its not capable of (which I truly believe), than simplifying bass behavior as it concerns artificial lures seems more logical, though less imaginative.

As far a hitting larger versus smaller swimbaits, aggression/ nervous levels vary and the higher the level (most certain in spring), the more apt to strike a wider range of sizes. As aggression levels decline, slower-and-smaller may be necessary to impel a bass to strike.

None of the above is or can be for certain, not even conventional ideas that involve a human's imagination to excite human minds as to why lures are bit. By imparting complex neural abilities to bass that their feeble brains are incapable of suggests that man is the mighty hunter of an animal that doesn't even know enough to avoid a heron's or cormorant's beak!