To Catch Fish, You Have To Think Like A Fish! By Gary Howey
When I’m doing in store promotions and fishing seminars, I get a lot of questions, the one that’s asked the most often is “how can I catch fish”?
It’s not really all that complicated; first you have to understand why fish do certain things and when they’ll do it!
What you need to do is to think like a fish.
In order to understand fish, you first need to understand the senses a fish uses to survive.
One of the most misunderstood senses of the fish would be its lateral line.
A fish’s lateral line is made up of a bundle of nerves whose projecting hairs is enclosed in a gelatinous substance located on either side of the fish.
The lateral line is sensitive to changes in the water pressure and as the pressure changes either by a change in depth or an approaching fish or creature causes the hairs to vibrate, sending signals to the brain allowing the fish to detect movement that they may not have see.
The lateral line also helps fish to swim in tight schools with out running into each other.
The eyesight of a fish is similar to that of we humans, they’re able to detect both brightness and color.
Fish that roam the shallow water, such as bass have excellent eyesight. In bright light, bass see many of the colors that humans are able to see.
Other species of fish won’t have the full line of color perception that humans do.
Since water filters out colors, fish located in deeper water can’t detect all the colors that shallow water cousins can.
Walleyes for instance see primarily orange and green, with all other colors appearing as different shades of gray.
Fluorescence hold their color longer in deeper water, what this means is that the fish are more apt to see a florescent colored lure better in deeper water.
Fish that feed in deep water aren’t able to distinguish the different colors so instead of responding to color, they respond to vibration and the flashes of light coming off predators, prey fish or your lure.
All species of fish have an excellent sense of hearing. Part of the reason that a fish hears so well is because water conducts sound better than air.
Fish don’t have ears like other animals; they pick up sound through the bones located in their head.
The way one species of fish will relate to sound varies from one species to another. The vibration made by an angler walking along a bank can spook trout, but panfish don’t seemed to be bothered by noise.
I can attest for this first hand as a few years ago, we were SCUBA diving in Lake Francis Case, most of the fish in the area that we were working, moved away when from the bubbles coming from our gear. The panfish weren’t afraid at all and came closer with the more racket we made.
Taste is another sense that fish have. Taste is not one of their primary senses and not many fish rely heavily on just this sense when feeding.
The exception to this rule is the bullhead and catfish family. They have very poor eyesight and rely heavily on the taste receptors located on the outside of their mouth in their barbells or whiskers to help locate food.
The sense of smell is excellent in most species of fish. As they move through the water, their sense of smell is continually being used, checking out the surrounding body of water.
While swimming through the water, the water passes through the nasal sac located in the snout. The water enters through the front openings, passes over nerve endings or receptors located inside the head and then flows back out the rear openings. The receptors send messages to the fish’s brain letting the fish know what’s happening in their aquatic environment.
The sense of smell varies from one species of fish to another. Larger fish generally have large openings and more receptors making their sense of smell much better than that of a smaller fish.
The species of fish with the premier sense of smell is the salmon family. When it’s spawning time, they use their sense of smell to travel hundreds of miles back to the stream where they were born.
Since fish have five senses that they use to locate food, it makes sense that we as anglers should use bait that arouses as many of those senses as possible.
In dark or stained water, the sense of sight won’t be as important as other senses such as their lateral line, smell or hearing will be.
When fishing dirty water, I’ll use a noisy, flashing lure with some type of live bait or attractant. The noise or vibration given off by the lure will let the fish zero in on the bait using its lateral line and hearing. The flash will help the fish to pick up any light changes coming off the lure and the live bait will not only add to the vibration but it will also be giving off a scent trail that the fish can follow.
In clearer water conditions, I’ll tone down the flash, as a bright flash in clear water is more apt to spook the fish. If I’m using a spinner and crawlers, I’ll go with a lure that has smaller blades.
By knowing how the fish is going to hunt for food, you can use bait that will arouse more of the senses and lead the fish to your offering
Think like a fish and you’ll find that your fishing will become more enjoyable as your fish catching increases.