BassBlaster

Science: Robins = Good; Turtles = Bad?

Banana’s aside, which we all know are bad luck in the boat, bass anglers tend to use a variety of nature’s cues to predict whether fishing will be good or bad, or just what seasonal pattern the fish may be using. It turns out that a lot of these have at least some basis in good science, and I’m not referring to that lame predictor of weather, the groundhog, or whether the cows are lying down. Check out these.

For example, “wind from the east, fish bite least”, stems from the basis that an east or northeast wind typically occurs because you have started to get on the back side of a low pressure system that has passed the area, or the front side of high pressure system, which brings with it clearing skies and low humidity, generally considered poor conditions for bass activity. You adjust accordingly.

Another is that when the dogwoods are blooming, the bass are ready to nest. Again, dogwood blooming is related to geographical location, along with a certain amount of warmth and length of day, that happens to coincide with the same biological cues as many bass use to trigger nesting and/or shallow water activity. See them in bloom along the hillsides on the way to the lake, you should be thinking about a shallow water bite back in the coves.

A favorite of mine is that when the robins first show up in mass to my neck of the woods, I know that winter is about over and I’ll be fishing open water and catching bass soon. This year, the robins arrived on Feb. 14, about 10 days earlier than in 2008. Sure enough, only a week later, my local lake had unfrozen and I caught my first largemouth of 2011. Certain migrating birds arrive back when their food source is most likely to show up, in this case things like insects, worms and seeds, most of which require some thawed and exposed ground, triggered by the same warmth that initially melts the ice off our lakes and starts the water warming process.

So where am I headed with this? My fishing buddy is convinced that seeing turtles basking along a river bank is a sure sign for a poor bite, at least in the area where you see them. Bad mojo, like immediately pick up the trolling motor and find a better spot, kind of stuff. I’ve researched it and can’t seem to find any scientific basis for why this might be. Seems you can’t really escape the turtle curse though. Studies show that the main river tends to be home to lots of soft shells, while the backwaters and sloughs are filled with snappers, sliders and painted turtles.

Another cool thing I found out was that while we still don’t know exactly why they bask, they’re kind of like  that pop-up temperature deal stuck inside your Thanksgiving turkey. Each turtle species has an optimum body temperature which it likes to heat up to, similar to a thermostat, if you will. Turtle basks around warming up to the UV rays of the sun until it hits its ideal temperature and then, “pop” – it drops off the log into the water to do whatever turtles do with their most efficient selves. This is also why they tend to bask most in late morning, while the sun is still rising and the temps are climbing.

None of this explains the “wicked turtle voodoo” put upon the bass though, which my friend tends to believe is happening. So I’ve got to ask, any other bassers out there ever hear of this bad luck turtle thing? Have any other signs of nature, good or bad, that us use and you’d like to share?

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Chad Keogh

    February 28, 2011 at 8:36 am

    I don’t know if it’s along those same lines, but if I’m fishing for largemouth in a lake or waterbody with beavers, I’ll target their lodges. I’ve won tournaments fishing a largemouth/beaver lodge pattern in the past.

    I’ve found that a black spinnerbait with a smoke grub trailer and a smoke tube with black and red fleck works best around them.

    • Brian

      February 28, 2011 at 10:36 am

      That’s a good one Chad, and it definitely works around my parts of the Midwest, especially in the spring. Beavers = beaver dams = bass, though I’ve had the tar scared out of me a time or two fishing at night when one snuck up behind me and slapped the water with it’s tail.

      Here’s another that came to mind, on the bad side. Those little black whirlilng surface bugs you find in the very back ends of coves where the water is still and calm. Never caught bass around them – this might be why: http://www.pnas.org/content/97/21/11313.full

      • Dan Roberts

        March 2, 2011 at 10:52 am

        That’s pretty awesome. How’d you find that? Are there more detailed studies that you know of on bass/forage?

  2. Dick Durbin

    February 28, 2011 at 9:56 am

    You glossed over that cattle lying down thing too quickly. My father always told us that if the cattle were lying down the bass wouldn’t bite. The first time I ever heard it I suggested that we just stop and chuck some rocks at the cattle and get them moving. Problem solved.

    • Brian

      February 28, 2011 at 10:41 am

      LOL – bonus points for being practical, Dick. Have a simple problem – fix it with a simple answer. I like it 🙂 though my local farmer might not take too kindly to it…

  3. Jacob Robinson

    February 28, 2011 at 1:33 pm

    Never heard of the turtle thing before. I know ive caught bass off of multiple laydowns that had turtles basking on them before i got there and scared them off. Most turtles eat baitfih, so you would think an area with lots of turtles would have alot of baitfish which also means there would be bass around.

  4. Bass Pundit

    March 1, 2011 at 4:54 am

    When the cottonwood trees are shedding and you get in a protected area. Prepare yourself for a pain in the ass or move.

  5. Bass Science Guy

    March 1, 2011 at 7:59 pm

    Some rules of thumb work…
    Growing up in Western NC it was that the bass bed when the “oak leaves are the size of squirrel ears”. In central AL the bass bed when the red clover is in bloom.

    Beaver lodges are great bass attractors…. caught some big ones right out of the moth of the lodge in WI.

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