BASS
BEHAVIOR WITH DR. KEITH JONES
How Bass Learn
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Keith Jones, director of fish
research for the Pure Fishing Laboratory in Spirit Lake,
Iowa, has been studying bass for over 16 years. He’s
an expert in the field of bass behavior. Jones’
scientific research involves finding out what factors
will make bass attack lures and baits.
How
quickly do bass wise-up to a lure? Jones explains, “When
we first set up our laboratory to study lures, we discovered
that we were using a large number of fish. After each
experiment, we had to purchase more fish to test new
products.” Originally the bass used at the fisheries
laboratory cost $3 to $5 for one 3/4-pound fish. Jones
wanted to know if he could reduce his expense by using
the bass for more than one experiment. He knew he had
to determine:
* how bass learned about lures.
* how quickly the bass recognized that a lure wasn’t
food.
* how long bass could remember that a particular lure
wasn’t food and that they shouldn’t attempt
to eat it again.
If
bass couldn’t remember that a lure wasn’t
food, then Jones could use the same fish repeatedly
for his experiments. “Our tests rely on bass being
naïve,” Jones says. “We purposefully
buy farm-raised bass that we know have never seen lures
and probably not natural bait before. They’ve
only seen artificial food in pellet form. We want to
use this kind of fish because they have no knowledge
of lures or natural bait. These naïve bass enable
us to learn what triggers their natural response to
feed.”
TOMORROW: THE LURE TEST
|