University of FL Fish Re-Catchability Study

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In a nutshell, bass are more likely to get caught again on soft plastics than a flashy, noisy crankbait.


Researchers deduce flashy baits more likely to be avoided by fish

RAY SASSER The Dallas Morning News
Staff Writer
rsasser@dallasnews.com
Published: 25 June 2014 08:43 PM

Updated: 25 June 2014 08:43 PM
Catch-and-release fishing is a wonderful conservation tool.

Largemouth bass fishing is better today than ever before, even on venerable reservoirs that first filled in the 1950s.

The only downside to catch and release is that fish may learn to avoid a lure that tricked them.

That explains why the fishing can be slow on reservoirs like Lake Fork, where we know from regular Texas Parks and Wildlife Department sampling that the bass population remains high.

It also explains why new fishing lures are effective until the fish have seen them and been fooled by them, often multiple times. Now there’s scientific evidence that largemouth bass not only learn to avoid lures, they’re more likely to avoid loud, vibrating lures than lures that require a subtle presentation.

The University of Florida has released findings from a 2012 study that addressed the issue of lure avoidance. Graduate students did the research at a private, 27-acre lake over the course of four weeks (12 fishing days).

The study lake had historically received little fishing pressure from the owners. It was shallow (maximum depth 15 feet) and the water was clear. Two anglers did all the fishing and were restricted to using just two lures — a chrome and black Rat-L-Trap lipless crankbait and a four-inch soft stickbait (a Yamamoto Senko in plum with emerald flake) — fished weightless with a 3/0 worm hook.

Researchers first used an electro-shocking boat to capture, mark and release adult bass and estimated that the lake contained 347 total bass more than 10 inches long.

Both lures were always rigged the same. The anglers used 20-pound test-braided line with four feet of 20-pound test-fluorocarbon leader. To negate possible skill difference between the two anglers, they swapped lures every hour.

Each fish caught was tagged with a unique electronic marker so it could be identified upon recapture. After 12 fishing days, 260 fish had been caught. That represented about 75 percent of the estimated total population. About 25 percent of the population avoided being caught with either lure.

The catch rate dropped from 2.5 fish per angler hour when the experiment began to .25 fish per angler hour after 12 fishing days. After three days of fishing, catch rates for the Rat-L-Trap had fallen from 2.5 fish per angler hour to .5 fish per hour.

Catch rates for the soft stickbait declined from 1.8 fish per hour at the beginning of the experiment to 1 fish per hour at the end of 12 fishing days.

The Rat-L-Trap had the lowest incidence of recapture. Only two bass were fooled twice by the lipless crankbait. The soft, weightless worm recorded 25 recaptures. Five of the fish were tricked more than twice by the worm.

Researchers deduced that while the loud, flashy crankbait recorded higher catch rates when the fishing began, the same flash and vibrations that first attracted bass were easier for fish to identify and avoid a second time.

With a much slower, more subtle presentation, the bass had a harder time distinguishing the worm as a temptation best avoided.

Experienced anglers could have predicted these results. That’s why we keep searching tackle shops for a better, or at least different, fishing lure. It’s also why we can revert to an old favorite from time to time.

Bass, after all, don’t live all that long. The fish we’re casting to in 2014 have never seen lures or colors that were popular 10 years ago. There are also days when the fish won’t bite anything. Thankfully, there are days when they seem to bite everything.