Provoking Strikes ?

[HarveysMinnow]

Maybe it’s unusual to begin a new thread with a quote, but I didn’t want to hijack the thread on Color Vision.

Originally Posted by keithdog

What motivates any fishes predisposition will no doubt effect it's behavior and preferences. I know it does mine. Actually, watching any wildlife for any length of time at all one can observe this. I would guess the "mob mentality" feeding schools of preditor fish like bass would change the behavior compared to bass sitting off by themselves. Just the fact that they havn't joind in with the feeding pack shows we would need to fine tune our approach to catching that individual bass.

Keith, I think you have hit the nail squarely on the head with the last sentence of your quoted comment. Refining our ability to catch that solitary lunker is certainly a worthwhile goal, but HOW do we do that? How do we modify and improve our own fishing skills in positive ways? Being a part of this Forum is a big step in the right direction, at least for me it is.


I remember, as a kid, reading an article in “Sports Afield” by the late Homer Circle, fishing editor of the magazine at that time. In this article he told of a time in his own youth, when all he had to fish with was a cane pole, some string, and an old red & white top-water plug. He cast this plug repeatedly near a partially submerged log, where he “knew” a large Bass was lurking. (I don’t recall him saying how he knew this…perhaps he could see the bass.) After 40 or 50 reps of casting in that same spot, the Bass finally exploded onto the surface, was hooked, and he landed it without a reel or any sophisticated drag (a minor miracle, or a combination of skill and luck). Mr. Circle’s conclusion from this encounter was that the Bass had finally gotten tired of the commotion he was making on the surface and had struck out of anger.

Whether a Bass might actually feel “anger” in the human sense is debatable. However, this persistent disturbance of the fish’s tranquility appears to have eventually provoked it to take action and rid the area of this nuisance. I dare say that many of us, in today’s fishing climate, would never have the patience to keep up this repetitive presentation. But maybe we should not overlook this approach to enticing a stubborn Bass. It could be another “last resort” tactic worth keeping in our bag of tricks.


As always, your opinions are invited...


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