What happens before a fish bites a lure? This involves knowing why fish bite lures.

[Spoonminnow]

First off, fish don't know anything but they sense everything.

If you've ever studied fish biology, fish senses would be the first thing to capture your attention because they are so much different than that of land animals. Vision is and vibration/pressure wave detection are highly tuned to a water environment via the eye, lateral line and ear. Many articles have been written why fish bite lures, many insisting hunger or feeding the main reason. I'm going to suggest another reason:

contrast

For years is was assumed that a lure was a simulation of a prey animal found in nature. Anything from a Mepps spinner to a Beetle Spin was counted on to represent a fish or a worm or a grub, etc. The problem with that idea is that fish have no ability to categorize different animals much less name them. Their brains are nothing more than conduits connecting their sense organs to their muscles opting to go after anything that provokes them.

Do fish instinctively know a real minnow from a fake look-a-like? I believe they somehow sense when something is the real thing - I have no idea how. On the other hand, most crappie and fish in general have never seen fishing lures and have no frame of reference to suggest a spinner is a minnow or a plastic grub is a grub. Ice fishermen know that live bait left in place will always get far more fish than a stationary artificial grub regardless of scent added.

If fish have no clue what a lure is or that it even lives and breathes, the only thing I can think of is the possibility that since artificial lures don't act real, they still strike a nerve (no pun intended) leading to an attack. If so, what is it about lures that get fish to bite?

Every lure emits its own set of sense-detection characteristics whether they be sight or sound. Prey animals don't move or sound like the majority of lures we use. Being sight feeders fish can see lures, whether muted or bright that contrast against any background. Color outlines shape and indicates size, but more importantly contributes to the visualization of a lure's action. Even if fish had no sense of vibration detection, they could still track and attack an object that has no correlation to anything a fish feeds on.

Motion detection is a blessing to an angler using lures in that lure motions are strange to a fish. Lure speed and lure action speed (vibration, shimmy, etc.) along with color are key to getting a fish's attention, forcing its tiny brain into the track & attack sequence which will be hopefully unbroken until we hold that fish. The sequence starts with getting a fish's attention and then using a presentation and lure that holds its attention long enough (like lighting a fuse) until it is provoked uncontrollably into striking. It's like someone sticking you with a needle - your reaction is involuntary and angry at the same time, no different than a fish's once it makes its move to destroy an object it has no idea of its nature. Push the right buttons and it can't help itself - sometimes even attacking a lure multiple times on the same retrieve.

The key is to consider the many contributions on Crappie.com that indicate why some anglers have great luck using certain lures and presentations in combination that almost always catch fish. I have my pet combos based on unnatural contrasts of lure color, flash, motion, vibration, speed variations, speed in general, shapes and sizes. One or all account for my success and the fact that fish don't know anything but they sense everything.

Thanks for reading and for considering the possibility that the above can help you catch more fish by searching and fine tuning your lure selection and presentation.

[genec]

ALSO U HAVE CUROSITY NOT HAVING HANDS TO PICK UP OR FEEL THEY USE THEIR MOUTH, ALSO REACTION STRIKE,AND A CRITER THAT IS EATABLE EVEN IF HE HAS NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT BEFORE, ALSO IN THEIR STATE OUT SPOT,ALSO PROTECTING BED,ALSO BECAUSE HIS FRIENDS ARE ATTACKING BAIT, MANY,MANY REASON WHY A FISH BITES,BUT THE BEST THING IS THEY BITE AND THATS WHERE MY BAIT COMES IN,LOL

[crappiewisdom]

My question...why DON'T they bite? Even after you think you have all the bases covered and have presented everything in front of them they could want.

[Cane Pole]

Fishing is all about luck. This is a well know fact.

Everyone always asks me: You have any "luck"? No one ever asks me: You have any "fish instincts"?

[Crestliner08]

I believe luck plays a very small role in the percentage of your success on any given day. Some days you just don't feel like a lot of effort in doing those things that you really know will put the odds in your favor. Sometimes you do. But what do I know.

[DockShootinJack]

Makes sense.

[Spoonminnow]

Depending on luck is not for those that have certain bases covered, namely hitting high potential areas and depths. The next option to be considered is the combination of lure and presentation. Location, lure and presentation choices may be wrong on some days - there is no guarantee an angler can find fish to provoke. But if an angler considers simplifying lure choice and matches a presentation to go with it, the search may better discover fish that others pass by always taking into account that lures affect presentation and presentation and line affect lure action. Find the right lure action and you'll have a better chance of unlocking that jaw that hasn't opened in the recent past.

Again, there are no guarantees in fishing but there are better choices to consider which separate anglers into those that catch and those that wish they could without depending primarily on luck. On some days many lure designs and colors work; on other days, the best selection is limited to a few; yet on other days nothing works. All the topic is trying to get across is that if you dial in a lure action that works, use it in other areas in the lake.

Answer this question if you can:
Have you been on the same boat with someone who did far better or worse catching fish than you once fish were found? If one angler catches 20 in 10 minutes and the other only a few, is one just unlucky, especially if both are using the same lure ? I've been on both sides and sometimes don't have a clue why it happens but most of the time figure it out.

[Cane Pole]

Well, again, why do folks always ask if I had any luck if it doesn't play a major role in fishing?

[CrappiePappy]

Well, again, why do folks always ask if I had any luck if it doesn't play a major role in fishing?

What they should be asking is "are you having any SUCCESS" ... they may not be skilled or experienced or informed enough to feel that they would be, or were, successful in catching fish, so they sum it up as "luck" if they do & project that towards others to place them in the same category (not good, just lucky) in order to find common ground.

... cp

[Spoonminnow]

What they should be asking is "are you having any SUCCESS" ... they may not be skilled or experienced or informed enough to feel that they would be, or were, successful in catching fish, so they sum it up as "luck" if they do & project that towards others to place them in the same category (not good, just lucky) in order to find common ground.

... cp

Exactly!

Those who depend on luck have never understood the nuances of fishing nor the selectivity of fish that can change from season to season, day to day, lake to lake. They use the same thing, the same way every time they go out and hope fish will bite. For example, I took out a friend on my boat who did very well in the past on Little Joe Shad minnows with boot tail. I was killing them on my creation and finally he took me up on the offer to change.The reason mine was working was the difference in tail action, jig head weight and slower horizontal lure speed in shallow water. The boot tail affected the other two factors and those factors are the nuances of tackle and presentation selection that can make all the difference on any given day and make searching more or less productive.

"Any Luck?" They may as well ask, "did you change your underwear today?"
My response, "yea, but only after I boated that 14" crappie!"