Ever Wonder What Fish Think Of Our Lures? 2025
CeeJay reply :
I sometimes wonder what a bass, or any other species really thinks of our lures visually.
I can't help but chuckle when I hear some angler on tv, after catching a bass on a spinnerbait, say something like "oh yeah he thought he had himself a nice shad". Well....probably not. It looks like a safety pin with weed strands and blades and doesn't even remotely look like a baitfish.
Some baits like swimbaits and plastic craws look like the real thing for sure. With plastic worms, in the natural colors they do resemble actual worms.
But standard bass jigs? Tubes? Buzzbaits? Who knows what fish think they actually are.
A bass jig looks like a plain lead-head jig that had been snagged in grass strands. A tube looks startling like a squid. And who knows what a buzzbait tries to resemble.
To quote the late great Ed Zern (in reference to catching a trout on a fly):
"it is probable they think the trout fly is some feathers tied to a hook. Hell, they're not blind. They just want to see how it tastes"
A-Jay reply :
I'm pretty sure that I've heard the Bass snickering as my bait passes a likely looking spot.
It's faint but it's distinct.
And I don't like that one bit.
A-Jay
CeeJay reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 8:51 AM, A-Jay said:I'm pretty sure that I've heard the Bass snickering as my bait passes a likely looking spot.
It's faint but it's distinct.
And I don't like that one bit.
A-Jay
haha yeah, imagine what the bass that see our baits, yet don't strike it, are wondering...probably something like "what the heck is that" 
FloridaBasser1 reply :
Last time i asked, I got an answer from an 8 pounder. I dont think she spoke english, but I still I got the message..... REEL quick 
CeeJay reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 9:19 AM, FloridaBasser1 said:Last time i asked, I got an answer from an 8 pounder. I dont think she spoke english, but I still I got the message..... REEL quick
Beautiful fish. What lure/bait?
FloridaBasser1 reply :
..................................Cut RedEar Sunfish on the bottom, fishing for big channel catfish.
You catch the big ones when you dont expect it!
FloridaBasser1 reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 9:25 AM, CeeJay said:Beautiful fish. What lure/bait?
You could still like it...... for being a beutiful fish! 
FloridaBasser1 reply :
Let me show it the Banjo Minnow next time and see if i get a response. 
CeeJay reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 9:28 AM, FloridaBasser1 said:You could still like it...... for being a beutiful fish!
haha sorry I was a bit late on the "like button"
Seriously, cut bait while catfishing?? Usually it's the other way around for me...catching cats while bass fishing
You're just pulling my leg on that aren't you haha.
CeeJay reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 9:35 AM, FloridaBasser1 said:Let me show it the Banjo Minnow next time and see if i get a response.
It's funny but I have some of those old banjo hooks with the rubber bands stashed away in my tackle somewhere 
FloridaBasser1 reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 9:35 AM, CeeJay said:haha sorry I was a bit late on the "like button"
Seriously, cut bait while catfishing?? Usually it's the other way around for me...catching cats while bass fishing
I know, i've never caught a cat over 5.3# but it was while catfishingand biggest bass i had caught before her was a 4.10# one that bit a little bit of worm on a Number 10 hook while bream fishing! the biggest bass i have caught on a lure was a 2.10#er on a 10' worm.
yugrac reply :
When I was a kid I fished with a guy who had fished all over the eastern US, and for all kinds of fish, he always told my all the fish see is something moving in the water, bottom line is no matter what the biologist say only the fish know what they see, and they are not talking.
bassless reply :
I recall that the guy who taught me how to fish told me that I need to make sure my Texas rigged worm was perfectly straight on the hook...it needed to look real. So I did that...every worm was on that hook straight as an arrow.
Years later someone comes up with the Wacky Rig and it catches just as many bass as the straight worm. 
I saw a bass in the movie Bigmouth try to eat a turtle...I can't believe I've never seen a turtle crank bait. It seems like a bass will eat just about anything that moves and fits in it's mouth. I've been thinking about taking some of my daughters Sour Worm candy and fishing with it just to see if I could catch one with it. I'm pretty sure a bass has never seen a worm that's made up of 10 neon colors...but I bet they'd eat it.
I don't think they do a lot of thinking about the baits...they just hit stuff when it feels right.
Montanaro reply :
Either
"Yummy!"
Or
"No thanks I'm stuffed"
CeeJay reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 9:57 AM, bassless said:I recall that the guy who taught me how to fish told me that I need to make sure my Texas rigged worm was perfectly straight on the hook...it needed to look real. So I did that...every worm was on that hook straight as an arrow.
Years later someone comes up with the Wacky Rig and it catches just as many bass as the straight worm.
I saw a bass in the movie Bigmouth try to eat a turtle...I can't believe I've never seen a turtle crank bait. It seems like a bass will eat just about anything that moves and fits in it's mouth. I've been thinking about taking some of my daughters Sour Worm candy and fishing with it just to see if I could catch one with it. I'm pretty sure a bass has never seen a worm that's made up of 10 neon colors...but I bet they'd eat it.
I don't think they do a lot of thinking about the baits...they just hit stuff when it feels right.
That's my thinking as well.
Speaking of sour worm candy...wasn't there a huge 20 pound bass that hit a piece of bubblegum years ago? I need to look that up but I can recall reading it somewhere...maybe it was a joke, not sure.
the reel ess reply :
If you could see the size of their brains, you'd think they don't think. They are almost all instinct. But they can learn.
dead end canal reply :
They probably think, "What the...HA! I can't believe they expect me to fall for tha...wait...is that other guy gonna grab it? Screw him, I SAW IT FIRST!"
CeeJay reply :
I just realized most of the topics I start are kind of strange haha. It's not intentional, I just think too much and I do appreciate humor as well
EvanT123 reply :
Not to be a bummer but no. Plenty of other things in this wide world to wonder about. If I'm not catching they aren't there or I have to change up.
CeeJay reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 11:10 AM, EvanT123 said:Not to be a bummer but no. Plenty of other things in this wide world to wonder about. If I'm not catching they aren't there or I have to change up.
That's fine. Not a bummer at all
Hopefully we all come here to wonder about fish, and how to catch them, and maybe what they think of our lures.
EvanT123 reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 11:27 AM, CeeJay said:That's fine. Not a bummer at all
Hopefully we all come here to wonder about fish, and how to catch them, and maybe what they think of our lures.
I hear ya man. I've learned so much from this site. One of the top things I've learned is fish don't think.
Does your dog or cat think when it chases something?
RoLo reply :
The fact that fish do not think is the problem, that means the only one we can outsmart is ourselves 
The color cult cracks me up. Granted, bass have very tiny brains, but come on: craw-colored crankbaits?? - bluegill-colored worms??
Bear in mind, bass don't pay for lures, fishermen pay for lures. If you were a lure manufacturer, who would you appeal to,
the bass or the fisherman?
A few years back, Bill Dance was asked what a 'safety-pin spinner' is supposed to represent.
Bill shrugged and said: “I dunno, maybe a toy airboat?” I think Bill was really saying: 'Don't worry about it'.
When a bass strikes a lure, it means that it thought it was something to eat. That's probably as specific as we ever need to get.
Roger
CeeJay reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 12:36 PM, RoLo said:The fact that fish do not think is the problem, that means the only one we can outsmart is ourselves
The color cult cracks me up. Granted, bass have very tiny brains, but come on: craw-colored crankbaits?? - bluegill-colored worms??
Bear in mind, bass don't pay for lures, fishermen pay for lures. If you were a lure manufacturer, who would you appeal to,
the bass or the fisherman?
A few years back, Bill Dance was asked what a 'safety-pin spinner' is supposed to represent.
Bill shrugged and said: “I dunno, maybe a toy airboat?” I think Bill was really saying: 'Don't worry about it'.
When a bass strikes a lure, it means that it thought it was something to eat. That's probably as specific as we ever need to get.
Roger
Great post.
lectricbassman reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 8:48 AM, CeeJay said:To quote the late great Ed Zern (in reference to catching a trout on a fly):
"it is probable they think the trout fly is some feathers tied to a hook. Hell, they're not blind. They just want to see how it tastes"
I love this! I think this is the best explanation as to why bass go after our lures!
CeeJay reply :
On 6/7/2015 at 12:22 AM, lectricbassman said:I love this! I think this is the best explanation as to why bass go after our lures!
Yeah Zern was a writer for Field & Stream...I definitely recommend any book that contains any of his articles or quotes. He was spot on with his humor
ww2farmer reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 12:36 PM, RoLo said:The fact that fish do not think is the problem, that means the only one we can outsmart is ourselves
The color cult cracks me up. Granted, bass have very tiny brains, but come on: craw-colored crankbaits?? - bluegill-colored worms??
Bear in mind, bass don't pay for lures, fishermen pay for lures. If you were a lure manufacturer, who would you appeal to,
the bass or the fisherman?
A few years back, Bill Dance was asked what a 'safety-pin spinner' is supposed to represent.
Bill shrugged and said: “I dunno, maybe a toy airboat?” I think Bill was really saying: 'Don't worry about it'.
When a bass strikes a lure, it means that it thought it was something to eat. That's probably as specific as we ever need to get.
Roger
This.... or they are ticked off that somethings in their "space", and since they don't have hands to smack it with they put it in their mouth. Heck,for all I know we could catch them on wacky rigged strips of tire tread, or a pine cone, but what fun would that be?
BigSkyBasser reply :
On 6/6/2015 at 8:51 AM, A-Jay said:I'm pretty sure that I've heard the Bass snickering as my bait passes a likely looking spot.
It's faint but it's distinct.
And I don't like that one bit.
A-Jay
That is what I think when a largemouth will sit in front of my bait and flairs is gills, then slowly back away or shake his head. Has been a big F U while gliding smoothly away into the weeds.
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