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7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll
Published by Fish Bones
03-06-2007
Default 7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll

7 Big Bass Fishing Lies
By John Carll

If you think that you know everything that is to be known on Florida bass fishing, striped bass fishing start reading the article to remove your confusion.

During the last years and past decade many rumors and myths has been created but today many of these myths or lies about bass behavior has been dispelled by scientific evidence. Some of these myths are the following…

Lie Number 1: Bass Kill Prey for Fun
It’s tempting to exaggerate the characteristics of bass to make them seem fierce and more worthy of capture. But some bass don’t even kill one prey per day. The times they run into enough vulnerable prey to gorge themselves are few indeed. In some feeding incidents, bass continue to feed even though they seem to have eaten all they can hold.

This may result because bass so seldom encounter the possibility of eating too many prey that they lack a mechanism to indicate they’re full.

Lie Number 2: Sun Hurts Bass Eyes
This myth continues, despite being obviously false. Experienced anglers, including bass pros and writers who keep this myth alive, routinely see bass cruising about (seldom feeding) in ultraclear water under direct midsummer sunlight. Bass have neither eyelids nor expandable pupils.

They don’t need them. Their eyes contain pigments that shield eye cells from bright light. Water rapidly absorbs, reflects, and reduces light intensity, so sudden light changes and bright light usually aren’t a problem underwater. Shady spots are good places to cast for bass, but not because shade protects their eyes. Instead, bass use shade for protection and to camouflage their stalking of prey. Fish in shade can see better into sunlit areas than from direct sunlight looking into shade.

Lie Number 3: Bass Hear Anglers Talking
Sound travels well through air, water and solid objects. But it doesn’t transfer easily from air to water. Sounds above the surface are too weak to affect bass. In contrast, sounds and pressure waves from movements of the boat and noise against a boat bottom are rapidly passed through water to bass ears and lateral lines. Anglers may talk, but should avoid rocking, banging scraping and stomping in a boat.

Lie Number 4: Weeds Cool Water
The sun’s warmth is absorbed by water only within a few inches of the surface. Underwater shaded areas are the same temperature as sunlit areas unless other factors are involved. Weeds collect heat. If weds are all near the surface, they can warm the surface. If currents don’t dissipate this heat, water under shallow weeds often is warmer, though shadier, than nearby open water.

Lie Number 5: Bass Hover in Shade in Deep Water
As light scatters, shade eventually disappears in deeper water. Double the depth at which you can see a white object under your boat to estimate the depth at which shade ceases to be a factor in bass behavior. Below that depth, there’s no significant shade, except inside underwater caves or under thick cover.

Lie Number 6: Bass Fear and Avoid Human Odors
Scientists found that trout and salmon react to the L-serine found on wolf and bear paws and seal skin. Trout and salmon frequently spawn on shallow shoals where wolves and bears may attack them. So these fish species instinctively avoid L-serine. Human skin also produces L-serine that can scare trout and salmon. As of this writing there is no known scientific study, however, that shows bass react negatively to L-serine or any other chemical produced by humans.

Predators that produce L-serine or other humanlike odors seldom attack bass underwater. Bas may learn to fear human scents only in waters where catch-and-release is frequently practiced, but such avoidance could become instinctive only after many generations of natural selection.
Scents may tempt bass to hold artificial lures a few seconds longer to taste them, or perhaps scents stimulate feeding. But human L-serine isn’t naturally feared by bass and doesn’t need to be masked.

Lie Number 7: 90 % of the Bass Are Caught by 10 % of the Anglers
This myth may have been accurate in the 1960s when few anglers knew how to fish for bass. At the present time, many anglers are proficient, and the total catch is shared by more fishermen. A better guess might be that in typical fished-down waters, 10 percent of the anglers catch 50 percent of the fish, 30 percent of the anglers catch 70 percent; while the remaining 70 percent get only 30 percent of the total catch.


Johns website help beginners and advanced bass fishermen to catch a boat load of fish. Please visit the site for more info =>Florida Bass Fishing

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Carl
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  #1 (permalink)  
By makubwa on 03-07-2007, 02:50 AM
Default Re: 7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll

Interesting points there. Some of them are obvious but others......
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  #2 (permalink)  
By Jfish on 03-05-2009, 03:37 PM
Default Re: 7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll

That was really informative, thanks.
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  #3 (permalink)  
By Diver Dan on 11-26-2009, 12:38 AM
Default Re: 7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll

I don't know about L-serine but L-lysine (sp.?) has been shown to be a pretty good fish repellant. I'm glad to see the sun and eyes part. I have heard that one repeatedly over the years. It is so wrong yet it will not die. It is the terminator of BS. Bass use shade for ambush cover. That is the extent of the importance of shade to Bass. I saw an article once that called Smallmouth "extremely photophobic". I wrote a response they published, and they, up to that point did not publish responses. It was nonsense and I really wish it would go away once and for all. I'm glad to see you knew better. Thanks.
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  #4 (permalink)  
By flatslandercp on 12-09-2009, 07:04 PM
Default Re: 7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll

How about Lie #8: Big bass only eat big prey

I've talked about this before on forums, not sure about this one, but big bass, sitting in that nice "shady" spot of good cover, probably eat 10,000 nymphs, small minnows, and little crayfish for every 6 inch bluegill, baby bird, or water snake.

It take him no effort (and virtually no calories) to flare his gills a bit and suck in a nymph that happens by. It take a lot of calories to swim out and chase down, attack, and swallow that bluegill. He has to get enough calories out of that bluegill to expend the calories it takes to get it. The nymph might not have many calories, but he didn't expend much to get it, or take any risk to get it.

That's why I've caught far more 5+ pound bass on size 12 flies put in the right spot than I've caught on size 2 poppers or divers.

Craig
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  #5 (permalink)  
By chuck s on 02-27-2011, 08:07 PM
Default Re: 7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll

While there may be some truth in #4, there is also more at work than mentioned. The sun warms shallows through several mechanisms including direct sunlight and currents carrying warm water around in the shallow area. It's the direct sunlight that's moderated by shade and yes in direct sunlight the sun felt on your skin warms it considerably underwater or out. (been there done that) It that respect water weeds such as lily pads do provide cooling shade for fish even when the mixing currents are at work.
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  #6 (permalink)  
By damod on 06-10-2011, 04:09 PM
Default Re: 7 Big Bass Fishing Lies - by John Carll

Lie #2: I don't know if you guys know this but Largemouth Bass were re-classified as Sunfish not too long ago.. You can google it if you don't beleive me.

Since when have sunfish hated the sun?
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