Angler - provacative; fish impulsive when provoked

A newbie and I got into a discussion of why fish bite lures. He was impressed by my flat tail hand poured grubs when he caught some nice fish on them and asked if it was because they looked like a minnow to a fish. I thought about it and it struck me - it doesn't matter what a fish thinks (since itis incapable) but what the angler does to provoke it into an impulsive action that gets it hooked.

In the last month I've noticed multiple strikes from large perch - some on the same retrieve and others on consecutive casts to the same area. Some say that fish that usually bite lures are active fish - fish that are actively feeding. I say, let's assume that fish are inactive when a lure passes close and something lure specific that gets its attention, forcing it to attack impulsively. [Impulsive behavior is much like a muscle when shocked - no thought can stop it from contracting.] In the fish's case, nothing can deter it from striking once it is provoked into striking - even multiple times. It's kind of like winding up a toy and letting it go. The more wound up, the faster it moves. (And as most of us know, toys can't think.)

What provokes the impulse to strike? If you are casting a lure with the right action, size and shape, at the right speed, with the right retrieve (not usually steady) and maybe the right color (one of many that could work), just about every species of fish in the lake will bite if the lure comes close. Always at the top of the list is lure action/presentation and a fish's momentary vulnerability to being provoked by the right combination.

I catch at least five species of fish on the same lure design every time I fish, fish numbers ranging from 30 or more. Fish are fish regardless of species and most will respond to a few lures that push their buttons no matter time of year or day, water or the prey they're used to eating. Which leads up to the question: Is hunger one of the reasons fish strike a lure that usually looks and acts like nothing that swims, as Homer Circle once claimed? Doubtful. Even if a lure looks and acts like the real thing doesn't mean a fish thinks it's a real thing
(besides which, thinking isn't its best suit). That leaves the motivation to strike simply as - an action (lure action) andthe reaction to it.

Now, I realize that old schoolers will breathe their last dying breathe claiming the above claim is poppycock after having been exposed to the same reasoning as that of Uncle Homer for decades. Problem is that there is nothing to support their many assumptions why fish strike lures, most of which are based on imaginative tales they get paid to convey to those that buy tackle. (Bass anglers in particularly are prone into believing such stories and sticking by them.)

But for those that almost always catch fish on a few lures and for those that want to usually catch fish on a few or many lures, my simple advice is to consider using the most effective lure designs known to man (and the many experienced anglers on this forum) and use them in different colors and sizes with slow presentations. Just concentrate on letting the lure do its thing to simply provoke fish to strike impulsively, as is its nature....

You Welcome

Awesome! Awesome! Sell me some your hand crafted favorites and I will try them in alabama

No offense, however your explanation is another assumption. It's one of a thousand, maybe a million. I've seen fish bite one lure and not the duplicate right next to it. I've seen fish take one live bait over another sitting right next to it. We even switched sides, if that's possible in a 3" area, and they still hit the same lure/bait. Swapped minnows from one hook to the other and they still bite the same line. Completely ignoring the lure/bait dropped in the exact same spot as the previous one getting bite. What works one minute may not work the next. Every day, hour, minute the pattern could change, and has changed. The fish didn't move, they just decided they wanted something different. I've seen live bait out produce lures, and lures out produce live baits on any given day.

Don't get me wrong, you made a great presentation. Have a logical thought. However some things cannot be explained by man. Can you explain why raccoons collect shiny objects? A simple and effective raccoon trap. Drop a coin inside a hole and put sticks pointing into the hole. The coon will reach in and grab the coin, its paw will get stuck trying to pull the coin out within it's paw. It will refuse to drop that coin, even in the face of certain death. Seen it happen more than once. It won't eat the coin, but it won't let it go either. Sure fish will strike a lure/bait for a number of reasons. If you master that logic, you can sell a billion lures. There are companies making that claim everyday. Fact is, man has been catching fish long before we had machines to produce molds, lures, plastic, etc. Man has been using all sorts of things to catch fish for centuries. Your not the first to try and explain the logic of fish, nor will you be the last.

The simple fact is this. Fish eat to survive.
Why they bite, no man will ever know, unless of coarse, your Mr. Limpet. If you are Mr. Limpet, you should met Mr. Ed.

:cheers2

Many on line sell the type of lures I mentioned and they work 99 % of the time. The tail designs range from a being a prong tail (Big Bit Baits) to being a wide thin straight tail (Mo Magic and Flap Jack). The tail flutter on a slow retrieve is all it takes to get fish to go ballistic and more so when a school is present which then becomes a conveyor belt of crazed fish. YouTube videos demonstrate this (search yellow perch).

You've given a perfect example of an animal with a much larger brain that couldn't help itself based on an object it coveted. A fish, like a two month old baby, sees something - grabs it and holds on - PERIOD, end of discussion.

I don't sell lures so have nothing to gain by conveying to fellow anglers (that thankfully don't fish my local waters LOL) an idea that explains why pan fish anglers don't need to search for newer & better lure designs. And as far as them not working year after year or every time one fishes, is exactly what I would expect from and old school angler that refuses to consider and test one simple fact:
fish react best to slowly presented lures with tails or bodies or both that force it to strike. Some lure tail designs work better than others for more fish per the number of casts made and that is the proof in the pudding: Numbers don't lie !

Maybe that's what's missing: those that make fewer casts to fewer locations blame it on the lure and assume that's the problem. If fish aren't present, no lure in the world will catch fish. But when a lure is used to search water (far better than any sonar/ fish finder) and the lure has bite-me written all over it, one can't help but find fish to provoke. The difference between using live bait and an extremely successful lure is the amount of time using it to find and then catch fish. Live bait (minnows) are a no-brainer to use because fish react to them the same way as a lure with a tail that flutters but possibly for different reasons. No matter - they both work - but using minnows requires a sit & wait approach in one spot to see if fish are even present whereas lures cover far more territory to locate potential locations that may lead to one or more location patterns.

Location patterns are simply: depth/cover areas that hold fish in different parts of a lake. I've been finding them in different waters all year long using lures that prove their existence.

Today was a bit tough : severe cold front with weeds dying fast, winds over 15 mph and variable in direction, 52 degree air temperature under a bright sun in a cloudless sky and an angler that didn't dress warm enough! Two Location patterns discovered with lures cast: deeper water located just beyond concentrations of dying weed clumps; shallow water areas above dying weeds in one part of the lake. Some of the lures used to find fish and location patterns are pictured and the reason so many were used was to accumulate proof that many of the same kind of lures will do the job 100 % of the time when neutral-activity fish are vulnerable to using them.

Again - tough conditions - over 30 caught with the newbie I mentioned using prong tail and flat tail lures - over 30 caught! The proof is in the numbers which prove that a few will do. Maybe the lakes I fish in NY are harder to find fish than those some anglers find difficult to fish, but I find it hard to believe as long as one knows the bottom and the various depths over them.
Each water has characteristics that never change and fish that for whatever reason move into specific areas and may not be present in those areas again any time soon. Finding those areas is key and the right lures and presentation accomplish that. The rest is fish after fish after fish.

Everyone else that see the above as a new way of thinking, hold up your hands. Put your hands down if you can't believe that most time color doesn't matter but that specific lure actions/ profile/ and a specific lure presentation is all it takes to find & catch fish after fish after fish.

Said another way :You must use a lure the right way!!!!! No trolling or retrieving them too fast. Even under a float they work if you drag and stop the float every few feet. Here are all the specifics that make all the difference:
8lb line test or less
light action sensitive rod
unpainted 1/32 - 1/8 ball head jigs - no barb (painted heads detract from the lure's appearance and action)
The All Important Presentation:
Turn the reel handle one revolution to make the lure move a bit faster and then pause and reel slowly a foot or more - repeat over and over. A rod tip twitch ever so often also helps get their attention.

Never be in a hurry - fish aren't and until you provoke them using lures the right way.

Good Luck (though luck has little to do with it - ask any card shark!)

I just keep it simple. Big fish eat little fish. Right size, right shape, Right color, Right presentation...slow then slow down some more equals time to get your cleaning knife and the hot sauce ready.

interesting views on this subject for sure

Note: the newbie (no longer one) used lure types mentioned made by other companies but of a very similar design I showed him how to use.

Note: as regards fishing from a boat, finding fish using lures requires lure control and strike detection which relies on boat control - or in other words - keeping it as stationary as possible. No point in trying to manipulate that lure with finesse motions if the boat is moving too fast in any direction. Strikes may feel mushy (like getting caught on weeds) or a slight tap (sometimes one and then another two seconds later) or a bow in the line as a fish swims towards you with the lure in its mouth. The odds of you missing the strike are against you without boat control.

Note: for shoreline casters: if the wind is above 10 mph (even on a boat), lower the rod tip close to the water's surface and keep the bow in the line to a minimum. Strike detection and lure manipulation depends on the line being as straight as possible on the retrieve.

Note: braid is nice, but braid is lighter than any other line type and susceptible to wind. It's great if you're using 1/4 oz lures on a long cast, but a pain when using 1/16 oz. Lure control/strike detection relies on a nearly straight line, especially when the wind blows.

Last note: keep track of the lures that work best and then relate that success to what you see the lure doing in the water that may be the lure's biggest asset to provoking strikes. For me, it's the tail flutter on a pause of the retrieve.

Another possible important attraction is the use of a sparse amount of glitter in the plastic poured. For example, when pouring clear plastic lures, just a bit of silver or gold flake is all that's needed; for translucent colors like green pumpkin and chartreuse, just a small amount of black and lime green flakes does the job of getting noticed. It's all about contrasting with the environment and within the plastic as seen through it.

Bright white also works when fish show a major irritation with it when it emphasizes lure profile and tail action and in contrast with anything a fish experiences in its daily life.

Finesse action and color disrupts a fish's reverie and if there's anything a fish values, it's its reverie! nonono

If there's one thing that I have learned in my many years of fishing, it's that there is no single color, lure, or presentation, that works at every lake or area...most are totally different...but you can manipulate your fishing to be successful in different waters.
It's foolish to believe that what works for you in NY, is going to work at my home lake, in SC, or anywhere else in the Crappie.com Kingdom. Each lake has it's different food chain and that's what fish are relating too, in one way or another....they are set up for the basic functions of life, AND ONE OF THEM IS EATING!
Water color and water quality, are differences that effect colors used to attract a fish....you are correct that different shapes, sizes, colors, and presentation will attract and result in a strike....a reaction strike more than not is a fish reacting to a easy target TO EAT.
AT OUR LAKE, white is a basic color of the Gizzard Shad that Crappie key on....also the shad are iridescent and "glow" colors of green, and gold (WHICH FISH ARE CAPABLE OF SEEING)...taking a white swimbait and putting a green stripe down the top from head to tail, adding a black gill dot behind each gill plate, and adding a chartreuse crappie niblet, IS THE MOST DEADLY BAIT POSSIBLE. In stained water Chartreuse actually looks gold...the colors that you see on land, can look totally different under different water....you have stumbled on something that with the water of your area, relates to something that the local fish are eating.

The only times fish try to react differently to a stimuli, is during times of stress, to defend cover/etc from smaller fish, or during the spawn....if a lure is smaller than them and presents an easy target/looks edible, they are going try to eat it...period!
It is NORMAL for a fish to hit a lure multiple times to wound it, so they can properly get it in their mouth, and swallow it without any chance of injury!...you should see how many times a 12 inch or larger Crappie will hit a 6 inch swimbait, each time it hits if you change the retrieve and pace, it will hit it again, then if you stop the retrieve, it will mouth it and try to eat it. A BIG lure is more attractive to a fish than a smaller one, and if you make that lure look and seem like it is injured or dying, you are just tricking the fish into what it sees as a HUGE and EASY meal...a fish would rather hunt for 1 LARGE EASY MEAL, than have to hunt for a bunch of smaller meals....THEY ARE OPPORTUNISTIC!
FISH ARE ALSO SET UP TO FIND THE MOST CALORIES WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF WORK!

I enjoy hearing how other people fish at their area lakes, their techniques, and lures they use...this is valuable info that people can integrate into their fishing or if they visit similar areas to fish....but telling people that you have found the "Holy Grail" of fishing everywhere, is just a pipe dream...there are just too many variables at the many different lakes.

I've sent out half a dozen lures to anglers from this site located in different states - mostly the deep south, and haven't heard back.
If one or more reported how well they did using them catching fish of different species, the argument is settled - fish are fish no matter where they swim and bite lures for a lures specific attributes - none relating to another species or fat content.

I never will buy into the claim that different lakes with different forage require lures that mimic forage species. I've fished at least a dozen lakes in a 60 mile radius and caught fish using my lures in different colors and sizes on all of them. Scientific explanations (again unproven assumptions) are nice but don't load the boat even if all the rules are followed. If you believe feeding is the biggest reason fish strike lures, fine, but where do you go from there? If someone uses a hard lure that mimics a current forage being eaten and catches nothing and someone uses a soft plastic that mimics nothing and catches crappie - what say you to that?

I wish more anglers would take part in a study to prove or disprove either claim and accept some free rigged lures, fish them and report back on this topic. Fish them when you get them and again in spring and keep close track of fish numbers and species caught. But, they must be used as I recommend or the test is invalid - unless you find a way that also works and then report that too. There are four ways to fish them that have caught fish:

under a float (caught a bass, crappie and bluegill today in 50 degree water under a cloudy sky - the plastic was clear with a bit of silver flake)

unsteady, slow horizontal retrieve (best overall)

Drop shot

vertical jigging (my favorite through the ice)

Hopefully the anglers from Mississippi, Missouri and Alabama that I sent lures to this week will post reports. It was nice hearing back from local anglers how well they did and hopefully others will follow suit. Anyone taking part in the study, allow me to post your user names or post them yourselves.

(NY crappie being less picky and fish in other states being more selective - now I've heard everything!)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Spoonminnow

I wish more anglers would take part in a study to prove or disprove either claim and accept some free rigged lures, fish them and report back on this topic.

---

Spoon, you drive a hard bargain, but I would oblige on your offer !