Underwater sounds.

[bfishn]

1 hour ago, tjm said:

How positive can we be that the learned responses in gamefish are not simply reinforcements of instinctual behavior? I haven't checked lately, but do we have any proven knowledge of how instincts even work? or how they are formed? can a future generation of bass be hatched with the instinct to flee trolling sounds?

Man, that's deep. After a frustrating day at work today, I instinctively quaffed 2 shots of tequila and a beer when I got home. Then I read your post. My learned response says it would be better at this point to just have another shot and forget about it for today.

Cheers! 🍻

[tjm]

I just think our expectations of animal intelligence has had too much influence by Disney Creatures, to the point that we often set up "proofs" founded on "expectations". 

[bfishn]

Oh yeah, I agree. I was afraid to use the Anthrop... word, it's too often misconstrued. You said it for me, thanks.

My current position is...

Fish have teeny tiny brains. Compared to humans, they're PFD.

Individual fish can learn. Really basic, fight or flight stuff. That sucked. Ouch. Yum.

There's always more younger, dumber fish coming on.

**********************************************************************************

Aside... someone's gotta derail Wrench's thread or he'll be psd.

As I said, I've enjoyed my tequila tonight. In case no one knew, it's not the first time I PWId (posted while impaired). Hence forth, I intend to tag any PWI posts with an "I" at the end. 

BTW, whatever happened to JoeD?

I

 

[fishinwrench]

7 minutes ago, bfishn said:

As I said, I've enjoyed my tequila tonight

I've been on a bit of a frozen margarita binge too,  since Fathers day. 

They sure are going down smoothly 😋

[fishinwrench]

14 minutes ago, bfishn said:

 

BTW, whatever happened to JoeD?

Either hit the lottery and is currently buried in hookers.......Or he went Babler on us. 🤔

[snagged in outlet 3]

32 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Either hit the lottery and is currently buried in hookers.......Or he went Babler on us. 🤔

Pickleball got another one?😀

[Al Agnew]

Aw heck, I just finished my nightly bottle of Bud Light.  I'm a neophyte compared to you guys.

The question of whether instinctual behavior can be modified and passed on is a good one.  I think it's quite possible that instincts have differences for individual fish.  I suspect that some individuals are not triggered instinctually by certain things like the appearance, movement, and sound of a given lure as much as other individuals.  In other words, some fish are almost uncatchable on your favorite lure.  Now...even though most bass anglers release all their fish, we know that there is a significant amount of delayed mortality.  So the more a fish is caught, the more likely it is to die from being caught at some point.  So more of the fish that are susceptible to the most popular lures are caught multiple times, and therefore more of them die.  Which means that the fish that aren't as susceptible get to pass on their genes to more little fish, and eventually you'll have a population where most of the individuals are not susceptible to most of the lures we use.  

And we see this all the time.  We know that heavily pressured waters are tougher fishing than lightly pressured waters.  Is this because there are fewer fish in those heavily pressured waters because too many of them get caught?  Or is it because too many of the fish that are instinctually susceptible to our lures are caught so many times that they die off, and the ones that aren't susceptible have greater spawning success and their genes become more prominent in the population?

[Mitch f]

11 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

Aw heck, I just finished my nightly bottle of Bud Light.  

Awe heck, you actually get smarter by consuming a small amount of alcohol. But I prefer good bourbon. 😂

[fishinwrench]

Speaking of Pickles.....a pickle jar makes THE BEST margarita glass👍

 

One fish oddity that I've witnessed over & over is that fish shut down LAKEWIDE when a big event like the Big Bass Bash starts.   I'm talking about even in areas that haven't been visited yet.    It's as if somehow the clue to shut-down is broadcast through the water.   So you can't blame it on actual pressure or local boat traffic.  Fish activity changes EVERYWHERE when heavy pressure is ANYWHERE....or so it sure seems.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Great discussion.   I really do wonder if they can determine sounds of certain frequency,  but not others.  Or do they have super hearing that we cannot pick up?  Do trolling motors give a weird vibration that is annoying to fish,  possibly? Maybe it isn't the sound at all.   

We all wonder if our lures are going to entice a fish to bite.   But, what is it about our presentation that draws them away from hundreds or thousands of baitfish?  If they aren't eating the baitfish actively,  why are we arrogant enough to believe our lure should be bitten?