Can A Bass Hear?

A lot has been learned about the senses of bass. Somewhat like humans a bass depends on its senses to survive. Lets look a little closer at the senses that a bass' survival depends on. They see,hear,feel,and touch, that much we are sure of. All of these senses work together to accomplish one thing, SURVIVAL!

Today we are going to focus on a basses, in my opinion , the two most important senses, sight and feeling. With a bass you can't just pick one of the two, because they seem to work together,pretty much. How does these two senses work for the bass? I will do my best to explain, and I don't profess to be all knowing on the matter. But I have done alot of research on the two.

A bass uses these two senses to catch their prey and/or food, if they are skilled enough and maybe lucky too! When their prey, most commonly crayfish and minnows or smaller fish, move thru water they put off vibrations and/or clicking sounds. Reguardless of a bass seeing the prey they feel it thru their lateral line. Since this is a natural sound to a bass, it alerts the bass that food is close by. Thus on closer investigation, when it closes in on the vibrations it gets close enough for their eyes to take over.Now keeping this in mind , we have a little better understanding of how artificial lures work so well.

A lot of crank baits wiggle and have chambers of bb's that rattle. Get it? Natural vibrations and sounds stimulate a bass's natural predatorial reaction to investigate. Rattle traps have a chamber of bb"s and they wiggle too. Spinner baits have the big spinner and in most cases two big spinners that really set off a big wave of vibrations also, making them a very popular weapon in most fishermens arsenal.

Now days jigs and worms have rattle chambers that are attached to them. Some fishermen have the opinion that in heavily pressured fishing areas fish become weary of this rattling noises, and lures without the rattles become affective if this is the case. I have to agree, as I have experimented with this at times and it seems to be true. As a rule though, the rattle is usually a better choice.

Sound travels faster is is magnified in the water, and when you add movement to it , you will understand a bass and the techniques used to catch these creatures, alot better.

This is why it is extremely important to keep the noise level down while fishing. As some fishermen have stated , a bass becomes accustomed to noises that fishermen make and associate some noises with the threat of danger. For example , rummaging thru a tackle box, closing a live well , walking heavily on the deck of a boat, trolling motors, dropping a lure in the boat. These are just a few things that some fishermen aren,t aware of.Even motoring in to a spot with the big motor alerts a bass of fishermen . I am not saying that it spooks all bass , but in heavily fished areas bass become familiar with these noises and may become wary of taking a lure during these situations.

I have heard a lot of fishermen say that bass are dumb and it takes no skill to catch them. This is so far from the truth, that it isn't even funny. It just shows how inexperienced and naive some people can be. Lunkers don't become HAWGS because they are stupid or dumb. Sometimes it seems like they will bite anything you throw and other times you have to out smart and outskill them.

When you take a basses eyes and and feel and add them together , you can see why they are a natural predator ,even when water is muddy or when it is dark a bass is properly equipped to find their prey. So the next time you are fishing, and you thing the water is too dirty or muddy, remember these pointers and you will have more confidence in your fishing abilities, or should I say the basses abilities to find your lures.

Keep your hooks wet, and fish safe, and remember , keep an eye out for me, cause we will see you out there. Until next time Good luck and remember to practice" catch and release!" Oh yeah in the side panel click on the banner and take the anglers challenge, take a youngster fishing. ; - )