" I don't understand what these fish are thinking" - maybe because they can't

I was sitting in my workshop yesterday looking at the slew of lures I've bought or made over the last 30 yrs. and my first thought: what the heck were you thinking blowing all that money???!!! Obviously I wasn't. Exposure to the media - written or fishing shows - kept me brainwashed and going through fishing catalogs to find that magic lure that kicks a**. Over a 1000 lures later and I still haven't found one but have come close, discovering many lure shapes and actions fish attack.

Was the money wasted? Definitely not! Rapalas catch just as many fish now as they did in 1980. Same for the Beetle Spins and curl tail grubs. But why the huge variety of lures that do well? Theory: fish react without a thought in the world, seeing as how they don't and can't think, and do so for the simple reason: fish strike some moving objects as is part of their DNA.

Think about it: fish don't know what an earthworm is seeing as how they live in dirt not water. But worms move constantly on a hook and fish figure, maybe it's time to try something different? :) My grandkids throw bits of bread to a school of sunfish that attack them like it was their last meal!

I've posted many soft plastic shapes that I made by connecting the parts of different lures (hybrids) and almost all catch fish - and not just panfish. Lure action speaks loudest same as the action of a worm on a hook under a float. The thing gotta move the right way or fish ignore it of which there are many right ways.

Fish are very sensitive to objects that move underwater whether flesh or soft plastic. Unlike humans who can decide whether to strike that annoying fly landing on our skin, fish must react as is part of their DNA regardless of stomach contents or lack of. Thought never enters their microscopic brains. Instead: senses sense, sending signals to it's fins and mouth that the moving object must be stopped - just because.

Sorry again for another long bedtime story, but it's 3 in the morning, nothing's on TV and I got noth'n better to do.

Fish have nostrils and use them to identify potential food items , I know they can smell worms and bread as well , movements will attract them or make them run away…..depending on if it appears to be potentially food or potentially a predator….
Even turtles use them turtle nostrils underwater too ….
Reaction strikes are common, but many times they only close the distance and then give it sniff test …..seen it a zillion times , just saying :highfive

Good read. I’m often intrigued by fish behavior and the difference in it within a few hours. Going next week to a new lake with plastics to see what works on that body of water. Gonna have some minners as well. Hoping to jig a box full.

Funny thing, many anglers believe that some lures work better or worse depending the water fished. But fish will be fish and what works for some fish catches fish everywhere. Some lures are more versatile and multi-species whereas the larger the lure the larger the fish that will attack it to the exclusion of fish with smaller mouths. You want numbers, take light jigs and soft plastics 3.5" or less. No doubt you'll get the numbers if not decent sizes.
Suggestions:
Take the curl tail off a Mr Twister style lure. action imparted: twitch & pause twitch & pause....
https://i.imgur.com/MPfdZHg.jpg

Another: cut the belly off a Sassy Shad type swim bait. The tighter shimmy drives them nuts!
https://i.imgur.com/sNb1PuU.jpg

Get yourself some Crappie Magnets grubs or Mann Shadow (below) (the most imitative action of baitfish i've ever seen! - not that fish think it's a minnow... )
https://i.imgur.com/T4XQtX8.jpg

Where you fish these or any lure is #1, but in all cases slow with pauses. Other swim-lures may work especially when fish are schooled up. But if not, slow with pauses which works even under a float.

(Ketchn, I didn't know bread exudes scent underwater. Of course in my pond, once the bread hits the water - BANG! - 5 or more sunnies out of the school of 20 slam the surface before the bread is even soaked.)

Bluegill will attack just plain hook with nibble on it, just saying.

Just thought about something common to all animals (including humans): instinct - defined as:
1. an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological species. 2. a natural or innate impulse, inclination, or tendency.

When fish attack an earthworm on the hook, instinct takes over because there's something about that live, non-aquatic, wiggling creature that smacks of an easy meal.

When fish strike lures, IMO the strike is impulsive with zero thought, prompted by 'an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action' - consequences be damned. Instinct minus caution = captivity and/or death. It's no wonder herons have such easy pick'ns when it comes to shallow fish swimming around their legs or me and another dude catching 140+ fish last time we fished - many from schools.

I’ve been swimming curly tail grubs lately with pretty good luck ..
The other day , I was getting a lot of short nips , not many hookups at all .
Sometimes I could see a fish swipe at the grub or would follow it in .
I started letting the jig drop just as I got it close and bam , I caught one .
So, I started using a pumping type of retrieve, where I would raise my rod tip , and retrieve line as I followed it down .
It work ! I started getting more hookups .
So , sometimes , just varying the retrieve can make a difference.

one bread strike and the water is full of particulates and then the REAL feeding frenzy occurs ....
once the smell gets in the water a bit it is on ....
fed a many a fish in ponds over the years and bread particles make them go totally bananas ....
but as you well know sometimes there is NO THOUGHT about eating things going by , they are hardwired to ketch it if they can ....thoughts are for humans mostly , cold blooded critters don't have much in the brain area going on for sure :Rofl

Funny about sunnies attacking bits of bread like it was their last meal: Once they see me walking down the hill, they leave wakes swimming from different directions toward the dock I'll be standing on. A few bass swim near the bottom under the school waiting for something - but not bread. (Maybe they'd like some salami :Rofl) Sunfish I find near the surface as I walk around the pond also attack bread bits with the same enthusiasm and many will follow me as I walk further around like my dogs waiting for a snack.

Observations:
1. bread is not animal protein nor looks nor moves like any animal. Other than a surface splash, it's motionless
2. fish learned that when I walk near the pond, bread or some other goodie is forthcoming and the near-surface school happens at my feet in front of the dock
3. fish in schools bite anything cast to them (within reason), don't notice their buddies fighting to get free, being taken out of the water - and still bite one after another. The instinct of self-preservation doesn't kick and neither does attacking a non-protein pc. of plastic attached to a little lead ball and a sharp hook (jig), matter in the least!
4. Fish frenzies are the same whether started by bits of bread or a lure that splashes the surface. In fact, fish are more hysterical than my wife when they(fish) get p.o.'d at a lure (except they don't carry on as long. :highfive) (Good thing she doesn't visit fishing forums!)

Frank's Pond
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