03/01/2000
- Article
Creating
a Successful Pattern on Conditioned Fish
By Karen Savik
Bass
get conditioned to lures. On
one of my favorite lakes a white live-rubber jig and trailer used to
be the hot lure. You
could catch bass all day long.
Now it’s tougher to get them on this lure.
Now a smaller profile jig in brown does the trick. Maybe
it’s a change in habitat that has caused this preference, but I
believe the fish actually discover through their own experiences –
or even the experiences of other fish – that a particular lure
profile, smell, color, or sound is cause for a negative reaction.
The fish in effect develop a negative conditioning to lures
that have caught them or their buddies.
This
conditioning shouldn’t be a problem for the angler as long as they
realize what’s going on. When
they start having problems catching fish on the “hot” bait then
it’s time to discover what the next successful lure or lure
combination is going to be. While this requires some experimentation
it is not necessary to drift too far off the earlier productive
pattern. As an example
just take a look at the minor modifications made on the live-bait
rig that has been successful on heavily-pressured walleyes.
In
the past most walleye anglers used a live-bait rig that incorporated
a snell of about 30 to 60 inches in length.
As walleyes became conditioned to a sinker that was close to
the bait anglers discovered that a longer distance between that
weight and bait was necessary to trigger a bite.
This
resulted in a modification to the live-bait rig that uses a
slip-bobber stop on the line that allows the angler to put as much
distance between the weight and the bait as they need.
On some lakes that might be eight to 10 feet.
On some lakes it could mean up to 20 feet between that sinker
and hook.
Have
you noticed how the introduction of a new bait can sometimes fuel a
better bite? The Risto
Rap crankbait hit the market a couple of years ago and began
catching fish immediately. Major
bass and walleye tournaments were won with the lure.
It is still a hot lure and will continue to be for a number
of years. Fish react to
the bait because it is a unique body style with a unique sound
pattern. They haven’t
become conditioned to the lure.
How
long does it take for fish to get conditioned?
It depends on the body of water; how much pressure does the
lake get, or how much is a particular presentation used on that body
of water. Where that
white jig went cold quickly, there’s a lot of pressure on that
lake and most bass anglers were flipping white jigs because that was
the productive pattern there. Likewise
for the extended distance on the live-bait rig.
Lakes where this is a factor get fished mostly with rigs.
The evolution of conditioning would look something like this.
The local paper or the bait shops discover a pattern is
working and they tell the world.
Anglers always follow a hot bite so they head out to the lake
and use the productive presentation.
Fish are caught, some are kept, some are released.
Before
long the fishing slows down and the roving anglers go off in search
of the next hot bite. These
anglers are quick to say that there are no fish left and the ones
that are left are not the aggressive fish that were being caught
earlier. The local anglers are left to discover another pattern
that works. If they
stick to what was hot they’ll likely be disappointed.
In
fact there are still plenty of fish left.
Some have been caught and are conditioned. Some are not prone to reacting to the hot presentation and
some are just not very aggressive and require different timing.
With some experimentation another productive pattern can be
worked out.
If
the hot presentation consisted of flipping a green jig and minnow
along the weedline for walleyes, try a rattling jigging spoon now
instead.
If
the bass were biting on a purple seven-inch plastic worm on a
Carolina rig switch to a three-inch grub tail on that same Carolina
rigging.
There
are a lot of anglers on the water and they’re teaching these fish
what to bite and what to leave alone.
Take this into consideration each time you go fishing and
those little modifications you add to the presentation will make a
tremendous difference.
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