Bass Wisdom 2024
waskeyc reply :
I'm finishing Uncle Homer Circle's "Bass Wisdom", a book I found at my local library. Why spend money for a book when I can borrow it and give my money to the bait monkey?
The book is pretty good, but there are a couple of things that bother me, and I wanted to start a discussion on them. I know he wrote another bass book years ago, and I wonder if some of the chapters from it were carried forward without updating? That's neither here nor there, let's get to my hangups. Feel free to respond to both or either.
1. In the chapter on Bass Revealed - By Bass, Homer talks about a tagging study where he and the tagger are checking out this bass and Homer asks if he can try to catch it. So he throws a small plastic worm well beyond the fish, and as soon as the worm gets close to the fish, the fish heads off down the bank. That's not too surprising, I guess, but why did the worm scare off the bass when the boat didn't? I mean, they were probably using the outboard, which would seem to me to be far more likely to spook a bass than a 4" worm, right?
2. In the chapter on Coldweather Bass, Homer talks about the effect of cold-fronts on Florida bass and what Glen Lau found when diving after a strong cold front had passed. Glen said the larger bass were wedged in cypress roots and weeds, and when he picked one up (!) and moved it away from the structure it was resting on, the fish wasn't able to stay right-side up, so he put it back. Homer said it wasn't the temperature drop that caused this, because the water was spring fed, but hypothesized that the barometric pressure changes may be the culprit. I've read in various places (maybe on this website) though that barometric pressure is not the cause of bass going into a funk after a cold front. Water pressure will change far more with a little depth change than from a big weather pattern.
Bluebasser86 reply :
I don't know about the coldwater stuff because we have very few Florida strain largemouth in Kansas. As for the 4" worm scaring a bass when the outboard didn't I've heard a theory that I tend to believe. Bass in most bodies of water hear tons of outboard motor noises but are rarely caught while someone is running an outboard motor. In fact, outboard motor wakes dislodge craws and stir up baitfish so they might even assoiciate the noise with a chance to feed. If they were running a trolling motor though, bass in pressured waters may be somewhat conditioned to the humming of a trolling motor and shut down for a period of time until the humming stops or moves away. I believe that is one of the main reasons that some of the most famous big bass hunters opt either to fish from a small rowboat or anchor on a likely spot and what for a period of time before they even make their first casts. So if that bass had been caught before it might see that small worm as potential danger because of the added trolling motor noise, and that may be why it swam away.
Fishes in trees reply :
Please don't get me started. Oops, now you've done it. Using the word "wisdom " and Homer Circle in the same sentence is an oxymoron. Homer Circle is a geezer who has made a career of recycling half truths and folk lore of fishing and passing it off as fishing facts. Don't get me wrong. I find him occasionally mildly entertaining. Anytime any one can make a career out of peddling homespun hocum, I respect that, kinda, in the way that most guys appreciate a good scam.
He may pass off an occasional nugget of genuine fishing information, from time to time. A blind sow, rooting around the feedlot, will occasionally find an acorn.
I just wouldn't put him in the class of outdoor writers focused on communicating genuine fishing information.
loodkop reply :
The previous post makes good sense. I can add that some people see a small worm as a bait fish imitation. Fishing from the bank in clear water I have seen small tilapia chasing bass from their nest by rushing and even bumping them. I never retrieve any lure straight at bass but try to get an angle across its nose.
Chris
Sam reply :
Homer Circle has done a lot of research with Glen Lau and they have produced two very good videos.
Homer also worked with Al Linder on a third video, Feeding Habits of Bass.
Why Bass Moved Away from Worm?
Who knows? All Homer can do is report what occurred. But I have had this happen to me.
As for bass being scared by the boat's motor, I have seen videos of boats running at full throttle over a bass and the fish ignored the boat.
As for bass being scared by the boat's electronics and trolling motor, there are various schools of thought on this subject, with some pros setting their trolling motors on "constant" to avoid the on and off feature which many pros believe will scare the bass. If you can attend a Bassmasters University you can ask a pro or send a pro an email asking for their input on the trolling motor and electronics.
Some people believe the bass can be conditioned as their brains are too small to actually think like we do. So if a bass had a bad experience with a specific bait a number of times that fish may ignor the same bait or swim away from it. Once again, different schools of thought on this subject.
So a small four-inch worm can cause a bass to move away while a big Merc 250 may have no affect on the fish.
Cold Fronts
Best time to fish is when the cold front arrives.
When the skies clear (blue bird skies) the bass get lockjaw.
We are attributing this to barometric pressure changes.
There are articles about barometric pressure and how it affects bass so please locate one and read it. I will look in my fishing file on my computer to try to find an article and send it to you via PM.
So what makes bass fishing so much fun? Everyone has their own theories and experiences that form their opinions. Uncle Homer Circle has worked with two of the greats and has many years of experience to form his opinions. Speak with Catt, any Mod, Lary the Cable Guy, any pro and your fishing buddies and you will hear their take on your two queries which may differ among them.
Wonderful that you are reading books about bass fishing. If you can find the KVD publications read those, too. Excellent!!!
Merry Christmas.
Sam reply :
waskeyc, in lieu of sending you a PM I am posting the article that I found. I am sure you can find other articles via Google on your question.
Bass & The Barometer
You can ignore the effect air pressure has on bass and go on pretending it doesn't matter. And You'll go on being wrong!
What Makes Weather: "Weather" is caused by uneven heating of the earth's surface. Warm air is lighter than cold air, so it rises. Rising air would create a vacuum, but nature won't permit that, so surrounding air rushes in to fill the void that rising air is trying to create. The result is "wind".
Also, its the warm air, rising air in one area, and the cold, descending air in a different area that creates differences in air pressure, i.e. barometric pressure, and at any given spot in the world this pressure is constantly changing.
We humans seem a bit out of tune with barometric pressure changes, as they don't seem to affect us as much, at least outwardly. Do these pressure changes affect other land animals? Probably so.
Some of this we can maybe document, but a lot of this is still open to further study. Most anglers agree that fish react considerably to changes in air pressure. Why? To understand the answer to that question, we should think of the "air" above as pushing down on a lake or river because of the air's weight. We now know that the weight of that air is constantly changing through air pressure changes.
One key to why fish are so affected by air pressure changes is that when air pushes on the water there's no place for it to go, or at least there's very little water compression. Further, when air compresses down against a body of water, the pressure in the water itself is more (water pressure) than the difference than the air pressure has experienced because air will compress so much more.
The "standard" for barometric pressure is 29.92 inches of mercury at sea level. This means "standard" air pressure will hold up 29.92 inches of mercury (if it's inverted just so). If air pressure increases, i.e. there's more weight on it, the pressure goes up, maybe to 29.99, 30.13, something like that. If air pressure goes down, there's less weight pressing down on it, so the numbers might read 29.85, 29.79, something like that.
The thing to remember is that while you might imagine these fluctuation to be small (maybe because we can't feel them), fish like bass do feel these changes, perhaps dramatically because the air above is pressing down on the water where they live and the changes in the water pressure are much more dramatic than in the air.
How Pressure Affect Bass: Sorry for that lengthy explanation, but maybe this is the first time you've been able to better understand what barometric pressure is, as well as why fish are maybe more affected by these changes in their watery environment.
One of the reasons bass are so challenging is that they seem more influenced by environmental changes like barometric pressure. These atmospheric pressure changes affect shallow water bass more than they do the deeper dwellers.
It is thought that fish are able to monitor pressure changes via their swim bladder. We can assume that when barometric pressure goes up (higher), bass feel increased pressure on their swim bladder.
The swim bladder might even compress. Does this make them feel lethargic, uncomfortable, less inclined to feed? Might high pressure even affect their equilibrium or sense of balance? Probably so on all counts, or at least that's what many people are theorizing at this moment.
Recall how a bass reacts when it is kept out of the water longer than it normally take to release it? They turn on their side when you turn them loose. One plausible reason this might occur is that by being out of the watery environment for a while, their swim bladder expands considerably, fouling up their equilibrium.
It probably takes a bass quite a long time to recover from this. Same deal with a marked air pressure change (up or down) which in turn affects the pressure in the water.
How To Check Your Local Pressure: What about the barometers you keep in your house? Are they worth owning? These probably have marginal value unless you monitor them almost constantly.
Why? Because, unless you looked, you don't know what the pressure was an hour ago, or eight hours ago, or yesterday. These instruments will, however, tell you when there are extreme swings in pressure, i.e. very low or very high pressure, both of which are relatively uncommon, and neither of which tends to last very long. It's probably a better idea to monitor the Weather Channel or your local weather for barometric pressure readings.
Predicting Bass Reactions to Barometer Changes: Can fish, especially bass, predict weather changes as well as, maybe even better than, the National Weather Service? Maybe so, and if they can, a lot of what fish can predict might be associated with their swim bladders.
One rule to go by is, concentrate on fishing shallow water during air pressure drops, deeper water during air pressure rises. Air pressure changes impact on the fishing more in the fall, winter and early to mid spring.
This might be because fronts that pass during this time of year tend to come from the north and northwest, while late spring, summer and early fall frontal systems often come from the south and southwest.
The colder weather fronts that come from the north and northwest involve more drastic barometric pressure changes, while the warmer weather fronts associated with coming from the south and southwest involve relatively mild pressure changes.
While you forward to the day's fishing when it's as clear as the proverbial bell, not a cloud in the sky, you're not likely to encounter great fishing because the barometric pressure readings are probably very high. That reasoning is a lot more plausible than guessing that it's too bright and the bass have no eyelids, and this is the reason for them being off the "bite".
But we all fish in these conditions. There is something we can do about it though. Bass are going to head for the thickest of cover they can find, and you'll have to do plenty in the positive sense to encourage them to bite.
So select slow moving baits and slow down your retrieves. Make your presentations soft and easy. Worms, grubs, the jig n pig will probably be among your best lure choices.
The Best and Worst Conditions: Bass bite fairly well when the barometer is from, say, 29.98 to 30.02. However, from mid-spring to early autumn you may have your best catches, when barometric pressure has dropped from the 29.98 to 30.02 range, and dropped dramatically in a relatively short time.
It's the drop of .10 to .15 in pressure (and especially a fast drop) that triggers two things: (1) the bass go on a relatively brief rampage, and (2) it's an approaching weather front that causes the air pressure drop.
Of course, it can be hazardous to fish once the front gets too close, what with the probability of high winds and lightning. So a second game plan might be to fish a couple of days after a significant front has passed through, once air pressure has stabilized. And a third game plan would be to go fishing when the air pressure has been relatively steady for several days.
The worst times to go fishing, in terms of barometric pressure, are when the pressures are below 29.90 or above 30.15. It is thought that bass tend to recover more quickly from air pressure changes in warm water than they do in cold, as much as three of four days in cold water, despite barometric pressures otherwise seeming to be fine.
In conclusion, many environmental factors affect fish behavior, like PH, water clarity, water temperature, water fluctuation, just to mention a few. But changes in barometric pressure are critical, and understanding them will help you concentrate your best bass fishing efforts even more.
roadwarrior reply :
Barometric pressure has no impact on river fish. It's all about water release and current.
On a river stable or rising water is key. When water falls, regardless of the absolute level,
the bite ends.
Sam reply :
Roadwarrior, on Virginia tidal rivers when the tide falls the fish feed.
Slack tide the bass do very little eating.
Rising tide can be OK.
The best tidal river tide is falling one, at least in Virginia.
And yes, barometric pressure has a greater impact on stationary bodies of water than moving water.
Have a great Christmas and I look forward to your 2012 posts.
waskeyc reply :
On 12/23/2011 at 1:27 PM, Fishes in trees said:Please don't get me started. Oops, now you've done it. Using the word "wisdom " and Homer Circle in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
...
He may pass off an occasional nugget of genuine fishing information, from time to time. A blind sow, rooting around the feedlot, will occasionally find an acorn.
This was sort of what I was driving at with my comment about whether he copied some chapters from his previous book(s) without revising. Clearly, our understanding has improved over the decades, and even since his "Wisdom" book in 2000. Being a technical person (engineer by profession), inconsistencies and unproven folk-lore bother me, but I haven't found a fishing book yet that didn't have some.
For the lurkers, please don't misunderstand: Homer's "Bass Wisdom" is one of the most enjoyable books on fishing I've read, and there is plenty of useful and scientifically accurate information within. Don't let a few quibbles on the forum keep you from checking out this book.
roadwarrior reply :
On 12/23/2011 at 9:29 PM, Sam said:Roadwarrior, on Virginia tidal rivers when the tide falls the fish feed.
Slack tide the bass do very little eating.
Rising tide can be OK.
The best tidal river tide is falling one, at least in Virginia.
And yes, barometric pressure has a greater impact on stationary bodies of water than moving water.
Have a great Christmas and I look forward to your 2012 posts.
Wow!
Obviously I don't know anything about rivers influenced by tides.
Great post, I've learned something new this morning.
Thanks!
waskeyc reply :
Sam,
I always look forward to reading your posts. Thanks for the article.
On 12/23/2011 at 2:05 PM, Sam said:waskeyc, in lieu of sending you a PM I am posting the article that I found. I am sure you can find other articles via Google on your question.
Bass & The Barometer
Yes, but...
Let's look at a typical cold front. One passed by here last night in central Virginia. Looking at the local weather observations from the NWS over the past 24 hours (http://www.weather.g...story/KLYH.html), I see that the maximum barometric pressure was about 30.15" Hg yesterday (12/22) morning around 10am, falling slowly throughout the day. At the minimum (meteorologists call this "frontal passage", and generally coinsides with lowest cloud heights and most rain; also, a change in wind direction), the pressure was 29.8 in the wee hours of the 23rd. The latest pressure (at 9am on the 23rd) is back to about 30.10. I expect it will continue to climb slowly for most of the day before leveling off this evening.
Now, I didn't go fishing yesterday, and haven't yet been today, so I don't know for sure what the fish are doing. But let's assume they are currently in their typical post-frontal funk, even if only mildly. We are talking about a pressure change (max to min) of 30.15/29.8, or about a 1.2% change in atmospheric pressure. While true that this air pressure does push on the water surface, let's not forget the substantial weight of water itself.
Water weighs about 64 lbs/ cubic foot, so the water pressure (ignoring the air pressure on the top of the water) at 1 foot depth is about 0.4psi (64 lbs/ft3 / 12^2). "Normal" air pressure at sea level is 14.7psi. If this changes by even a radical 5%, or 0.7psi during a weather change, a fish can totally neutralize the effect of the pressure change by merely changing his height in the water column by less than 2 feet of depth (0.7psi air pressure change / 0.4psi per foot of water depth). Clearly, most bass have access to greater than a 2 foot column of water with which to neutralize their swim bladders and other organs.
So I don't buy the barometric pressure explanation. And, the pressure changes are identical for moving water as they are for still water, because the same air is pressing on the surface of both.
On the other hand, I don't have a better explanation, as I think "loosing their teeth", "rapid temperature drop" and "too much light" aren't good explanations either. So this discussion is free to continue 
Sam reply :
waskeyc,
We have the Richmond Fishing Expo the weekend of January 20th at the State Fair Fairgrounds in Caroline County off I-95 at exit 98, Kings Dominion.
Bedford is about three hours away.
May I suggest taking time that weekend to attend the event and ask the various pros about barometric pressure and any other questions you may have?
There will be many pro bass fishermen from Virginia in attendance and they will be happy to discuss bass fishing with you, along with any guys that overhear your conversations.
You can also ask the experts from Green Top and the guys at the FLW table plus the real pros, which I think there will be two or three off the B.A.S.S. circuit, Shaw Grigsby and David Dudley will be the featured seminar speakers.
George from GMCO maps is a regular and he is a great guy to discuss fishing and the various maps he has of the Virginia and North Carolina waters.
You can also get some great deals on rods, reels and tackle.
Bring your kids as there will be things for them to do.
I know gasoline prices are high and you will have to pay the $8 admission charge but it is worth every cent.
You may also find a local B.A.S.S. or FLW bass club in your area and join it to learn more about bass fishing.
Everyone check out the following web page. I will also post it in the Southeast Fishing section.
http://www.ncboatshows.com/show.php/eventId/3
QUAKEnSHAKE reply :
On 12/23/2011 at 1:55 PM, Sam said:When the skies clear (blue bird skies) the bass get lockjaw.
Merry Christmas.
My PB bass forgot that rule. 92degrees no wind no clouds around noon BAM topwater strike. I catch many bass on these types of days.
Professional Overrun reply :
Now im not here to argue with anyone, but i find it interesting how we, as fishermen, try to find rules to apply for every given scenario. Bass are fish, and yeah books on them are great, but trying to formulate a set of rules based on weather conditions, water temp, how many cups of coffee youve had, seems a little futile. Things can and always do change on the water, i think that genuine fishing knowledge comes from knowing the waters that you fish, and experience. There is a very technical publication on the ecology of black bass that i believe is the end-all to anyone looking for information about these fishes. Please disagree with me, as im here to learn from you all as well.
senile1 reply :
The subject of barometric pressure arises occasionally here, and the explanation for air pressure effects on water pressure, as provided by waskeyc, has been discussed as well. I think the empirical evidence would seem to indicate that there is something more than just barometric pressure that affects a bass behavior after the passage of a cold front. Many have stated that when a strong front passes the upper layer of water becomes unstable and since a bass is cold blooded this instability affects the fish in a negative way and it tries to escape to a more stable environment. What is involved in this instability is anybody's guess - temperature, pressure, light, turbulence, water clarity, all of these things, or maybe none of the above. It would seem that just a few feet of depth adjustment would allow a bass to escape the changes that we are aware of, so why would bass curtail their feeding and activity to such a degree if that is the only adjustment needed? However, we know that this does occur and the question remains as to why. I don't think anyone really knows the answer.
As to Sam's suggestions, I believe advice from professional anglers can definitely help us to improve our capability of catching bass when they have lockjaw. However, some professionals still repeat and do things that conflict with science. I wouldn't expect them to provide a better scientific explanation of why bass behave the way they do. We know that bass behave this way and we know we have to adjust our tactics but we don't necessarily have to know why to catch them, though it would probably help. I would look to marine biologists to find the best scientific answers, but if you want to improve your angling abilities then look to the professionals.
Regarding Homer Circle, I find him entertaining. As stated, he has participated in some studies but I wouldn't use everything he says as a basis for scientific arguments. That doesn't take anything away from his knowledge of how to catch fish however.
QUAKEnSHAKE reply :
On 12/23/2011 at 11:57 PM, Professional Overrun said:Bass are fish, and yeah books on them are great, but trying to formulate a set of rules based on weather conditions, water temp, how many cups of coffee youve had, seems a little futile.
Dont forget the color of your shirt makes a difference as well 
waskeyc reply :
On 12/23/2011 at 11:59 PM, senile1 said:...
I don't think anyone really knows the answer.
...
Here, here. I agree with the rest of what you have to say as well. Great post.
Sam reply :
QuakenShake, congrats on your personal best. Let us know how big she was.
And please tell us how and where you caught her.
Was it around or under a dock, pier, boat, boat house, tree, etc.? or in open water?
Take care and keep sending those posts to us about your adventures.
QUAKEnSHAKE reply :
here it is, look center of pic and then just right about a cm see the hole.
http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/70724-thanks-to-a-spro-frog-caught-my-biggest-lmb/
Sam reply :
Super. Thanks for sharing.
I wonder if the bass was seeking shade under the topwater growth?
When we have blue bird skies we fish under the docks, piers, boats, boat houses, etc. with Senkos or worms.
Nice fish. May you double its size in 2012.
brushhoggin reply :
Sam as often as we see the topic of barometric pressure here on the boards, that article should be a sticky. it's very well explained. thanks a ton.
Mike Chesney reply :
If you've fished Florida a lot you'll be a believer in how barometric pressure can have a significant affect on bass activity. When a high pressure system moves in the fish will shut right off. Interestingly, bass in northern waters aren't affected as much but it still slows down the fishing in my opinion.
Sam reply :
Thanks Brushhoggen.
When I grew up in Louisiana some of the prettiest girls int he world were in Jackson.
Still the case???????
Happy New Year.
avid reply :
Howdy y'all...
I think trying to figure out why one particular bass acted a certain way in one particular circumstance is truly an excercise in futility. who knows? I'm actually kind of glad that Homer reported it. Not very flattering i suppose.
P.S. I liked Homer Circle's articles. They were entertaining. Most people forget that most outdoor writers went to college for journalism...they were usually not outdoorsman who scored a writing gig, but rather writers who scored an outdoors gig...that being said, it's probably true that they grew up fishing and hunting.....hell, most rural folks did.
As for motors scaring bass? I know that sounds like it should be true, but I have had a number of times where bass were caught immediately after motoring noisily into a spot. Sometimes I think it may actually stimulate them.
Go figure.
Sam reply :
Hey Avid!
Wonderful hearing from you. Always enjoy your posts.
In one of Stricker's Hook & Look DVDs, Kim's son is under the boat as it roars by the bass.
The fish have no reaction. They just keep swimming lazily along.
I have read numerous articles and remember some of the pros at the old Bassmasters University sessions saying that the trolling motor can cause the older, more experienced bass to hide. Even Uncle Homer says this and I think Lau may have mentioned this in one of his videos.
With that said, I always turn off the motor before coasting to the spots I will be fishing, if nothing else, to be sure i don't scare any spooky bass.
What I am guilty about is that I do not use the "constant" on the trolling motor and am constantly turning it on and off as I fish.
Keep those cards and letters coming on the Forum and Happy New Year!!!!
Bigbarge50 reply :
This is easily one of the best threads we have had in a while. The pressure debate sure is a tough one to nail down. I have my thoughts on it and yet they keep evolving and changing the more I fish and learn. Great to see other guys thoughts on the matter.
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