Don't move and you won't get eaten.
Seems like the bass world is in power bait mentality at the moment. Thanks to KVD and Rick Clunn, square bills are all the rage – tackle box must haves. Slam them through cover, or ricochet them off laydowns. It’s also about time for Rat-L-Traps and RedEye Shads to make their appearance again, too. Rip them through grassbeds or off the bottom. Move, move, move and deflect, trying to imitate a wounded baitfish. The old fight or flight response. But let’s not forget about the opposite side of this coin, an equally potent tactic for bass anglers.
Seems most underwater creatures have two responses when attacked. One is to try and flee using burst speed to evade capture. That’s the power bait mentality. But the other option is paralysis – lack of movement. Think playing possum. If you don’t move, maybe you’ll be left for dead. It’s commonly practiced by solitary preyfish under assault.
One of the first things you might think of is the long pause of a suspending jerkbait in cold water. Megabass Vision 110 Ito stuff. But it is equally effective in warmer water – think dead-sticking. Dropshots and Senkos. Weightless wacky. Flick Shake.
Lots of science out there to back up this alternative tactic. Catfish attacked and released initially by bass will remain motionless for several seconds, hoping to get to the bottom of the lake again safely. Other catfish in the area of attack will also immediately curtail all movement for up to 15 seconds or more while they assess the threat. Yellow perch are even more dramatic, having shown the ability to remain absolutely still for hours or even days at a time. Don’t move and maybe you won’t be seen, like in ‘Jurassic Park’, only with the largemouth playing the part of the Tyrannosaurus.
That eventual movement after the paralysis stage, no matter how small, then becomes the trigger for a bass to chomp. That first, sudden twitch after a long pause of your jerkbait, or of your wacky rigged worm that has sank to the bottom unmolested. Researchers observing bass waiting to feed on stunned bluegill that were shocked by electrofishing noticed that any bluegill that showed signs of recovery and movement, either by a brief flaring of their gills, or a slightly more dramatic twitch, would immediately get eaten by bass waiting and watching. Picture it in your head, then repeat it on the lake.
So if bass aren’t responding to your aggressive attempts to mimic a fleeing baitfish, try the next best option, dead-sticking for a short period trying to make your bait go unnoticed, until you suddenly flick it back to life. Then it’s bite on!
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Martin
March 21, 2011 at 8:12 am
I agree 100%.
If you ever played with a fishing rod, a hookless-jig, and a cat, you have a pretty good idea what will trigger it. By it, I mean the cat but I believe the predatory instinct of the bass is more or less the same. Letting the jig still, then moving it an inch will excite the cat, and eventually trigger an attack. I could see his pupils dilate with the adrenalin rush, every time I was moving the jig an inch or so.
At the opposite end, reeling in very quickly will also trigger a response, with the cat running furiously behind. That how we sometimes get bit after fishing a lure, then reeling in as fas as we can when we assume the lure is out of the strike zone, only to see a bass chase the lure and bite next to the boat. Or using a power lure.
The best way I found to NOT trigger the cat would be to reel in at a constant medium-slow speed.
Jason
March 21, 2011 at 11:12 am
Interesting observation, and I tend to agree.
admin (mostly Jay)
March 21, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Are we talking cats here or catfish?
Jesse Hall
March 21, 2011 at 8:15 am
Very nice piece of writing! I’m going to do my best this year to get into dead-sticking hard jerkbaits. P.S…I still like that movie.
5bites
March 21, 2011 at 9:02 am
Hookless jig? Where’s the fun in that?
Alex Voog
March 21, 2011 at 9:26 am
Nothing is better than watching the smallmouth and crayfish interaction/stalking videos. The violence, and speed at which they strike, amazes me to no end. That’s why I love my 3/4 oz Yamamoto football jigs with a skirted twintail Hula grub on it. KABLAM!
Martin
March 21, 2011 at 11:17 am
Hookless jig ? Try practicing pitching in the living room with a regular jig, hook the cat and see if your wife will think it’s fun !
Mike Fillmer
March 21, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Excellent article; and very true!!
Avidbasser
March 21, 2011 at 2:08 pm
It is not fun getting hooks out of cats. Been there, done that.
MNAngler
March 21, 2011 at 2:53 pm
@AlexVoog, do you have a link to the smallmouth – crayfish videos? I would love to see them.