provoke bites . However , it ’ s the state of curiosity among bass that seems to be the newest frontier .
bass are curious creatures indeed
Indeed , bass have always been curious creatures . Shoot a laser pen into a “ hawg trough ” demo tank and they ’ ll follow the red dot around like cats . Bass will certainly bite out of curiosity , but more often than not , curiosity is more neutral in terms of aggressiveness and leads to a lot of following behavior with lures .
Anglers didn ’ t realize the magnitude of bass curiosity until forward-facing sonar came along and revealed that literally hundreds of bass per day follow and check their offerings on the regular , mostly because bass are downright nosy .
What ’ s been noteworthy on the Bass Pro Tour this year is pros who are mixing big swimbaits and huge glide baits with forward-facing sonar to purposely appeal to the curiosity streak in bass . This is being done not so much by directly catching bass on these big lures , but rather using them as spectacles to capitalize on their curious nature .
To some degree , this is nothing new . Anglers from the West have been tapping into the snooping nature of bass for years , casting tennis-shoe-sized baits in clear water to tempt giant bass . Long before forward-facing sonar , Western anglers were the first to dub the term “ drawing power ” to explain how large lures inherently “ draw in ” bass from the depths for a closer look . This was originally done with full-size trout imitators in clear lakes stocked with trout to tempt big bass with their favorite meal . With it came the incidental realization that multiple bass , of all sizes , will habitually approach and follow big baits with no real intent to eat them , especially in open water .
It was not uncommon to have a pack of bass tailing the bait down below . As these big trout impostors made their way to the clear waters of the East , it became apparent that bass in all types of lakes were intoned by these giant baits . Even in lakes with low fertility , where the primary forage base is small threadfin shad , huge baits still had enormous drawing power to bass of all sizes .
The magnum flutter spoon craze that hit the TVA ledge lakes some years ago – pre-forward-facing sonar – is another example of this . Measuring in at 8 inches in length of solid metal , the magnum spoon is meant to imitate big gizzard shad . Upon its introduction , big bass were caught on the monster metals , but it took true commitment to throw it all day . Soon , anglers realized the giant spoons also pulled double duty as an instigator in activating dormant schools .
At that time , anglers only had side and down scan to locate bass schools ; they could only mark the schools and then turn around and fish them . Since the fish could not be “ viewed ” in real time , there was not a way to check their precise location or attitude . The shortcut to dialing them in was to heave a giant spoon out there and rip it around several times and then follow up with a more traditional sized crankbait or swimbait . Something about that big profile drew the nosy bass together for a look-see . Bringing the bass into close proximity of each other in the TVA ’ s stained water made them competitive . Even if they never bit the spoon , following up with more traditional size lures got the bites .
Forward-facing sonar has only proven this phenomenon further . Multiple bass will follow lures of all shapes and sizes just for fun . Curiosity is the only explanation for this odd behavior , but a common denominator is that it ’ s the biggest baits that seem to have the most drawing power to “ pull ” the fish off the bottom and away from cover , so they become more apparent on forward facing sonar .
Of course , the real thrill is to have a big bass straight up commit and crush a big swimmer or glide . But even if it ’ s just used as a “ drawing ” tool of curiosity , it ’ s worth having on the deck . With forwardfacing sonar , anglers can track the progress of their big swimmers and glides to see just how many bass follow them , no matter the water color or forage base .
“ Transferring curiosity ”
Increasingly , pros are figuring ways to initially appeal to the curiosity streak to get bass to show themselves , then transfer that curiosity into one of the stronger moods of competition or reaction to ultimately score a bite .
At REDCREST at Lake Norman this year , pros were using the beam-andswimbait combo as an efficient search process to find the key docks holding wolfpacks of staging bass . With eyes on the screen while winding the 6- to 8- inch baits , the pro could see how many bass were “ pulled off ” the dock toward the big thumper out of curiosity . If one particular dock had a gang of looky-loos , they would mark the dock and keep on fishing past it . The idea was to give the fish time to set back up under the key dock . A while later , the pro would return and skip a wacky-rig or shaky head under the dock to cash in . Curiosity “ exposed ” the fish , then returning with a different offering to tempt a hunger or reaction streak got them on the hook .
When dealing with schools of bass , big glides seem to have enough drawing power to “ pull fish back together ” once they have broken up . Spencer Shuffield has become a glide bait freak in the last few years , and he confirms that glides can certainly pull scattered fish together . He used a glide at Douglas Lake to help propel him to a fourth-place finish at Stage Two this year .
Similarly , John Hunter used a big glide at Lake Murray to help keep his best schooling spot warm when it cooled off . Once the schooling activity dwindled and the fish scattered out on the point , Hunter figured out that a cast with a big glide bait would , “ pull them back up ,” to look at it . After several casts with the big bait , the fish would start schooling again . Once they got fired up , he could catch them on more traditional schooling lures .
As the old saying goes , nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd . When crowds get too crowded , things get rowdy . Increasingly , it looks like giant baits have a tendency to attract a crowd of bass through curiosity , and from there things can turn rowdy .
anglers didn ’ t realize the magnitude of bass curiosity until forward-facing sonar came along .
JUNE-JULY 2023 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 17