H O W F I S H L E A R N
BREAKING IT DOWN
Although the aforementioned study showed bass have seemingly no ability to socially learn (or at
least not from observing other bass being caught), there were several other aspects of the study result
that anglers can absolutely learn from, some of which are things we already do every time on the
water. Others are things we should maybe think more critically about.
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE PHOTO BY ROB MATSUURA
PHOTO BY JODY WHITE
BAIT AND SWITCH
1
In the study, anytime bass were being
caught, catch rates tended to decline over
time with that specific lure. Picking up another
lure style triggered an uptick in catch
rates, whereas simply switching colors didn’t have the
same impact on catch rates. When the researchers
switched from a green worm to a white worm, catch rates
didn’t change. When they tried the in-line spinner, though,
catch rates jumped again.
CYCLE BACK THROUGH AREAS
2
Imagine the study area as a specific bay, cove
or other small part of your local lake. During
the study, anglers fished numerous sessions
on the small study ponds and caught bass
each time. How often have you left an area thinking they
were done biting or that you’d caught all the bass that were
present? If you’ve found an area and think there may be multiple
fish, don’t be afraid to fish and re-fish it. As the study
showed, bass will often continue to bite in subsequent sessions
– especially with a different presentation.
WHAT’S OLD CAN BE NEW AGAIN
3
Just because something doesn’t seem to work
as well as it did in the past doesn’t mean it
won’t work again in the future. We see this all
the time in tournament results, as tackle
trends evolve and presentations go in and out of style. Keep
this in mind when you plan your fishing trips, and don’t be
afraid to try a presentation that you haven’t used in recent
years if the bite gets tough.
If you’ve been around bass fishing for any period of time,
you’ve more than likely got at least one box of baits somewhere
collecting dust, and those baits used to catch the snot
out of them. They likely will again at some point.
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FLWFISHING.COM | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | JUNE-JULY 2020