Some University ponds were clear and easily monitored, others murky. I couldn’t see movement or schooling in the stained water, but I did spot bass hovering a few inches under the surface within a foot of cover and facing it. When visibility was low, they apparently moved closer to cover to detect prey at the cover edges. Bass would appear out of the murk, hold for a minute or two, then disappear, only to reappear a few yards down the shoreline. I concluded that bass in murky water hunted much like those in clearer water, but were less likely to move in groups.
Cruising bass may be harder to see from a bass boat than from an overlooking shoreline. Yet I’ve often seen bass demonstrate patrolling behavior. Active bass may move in one direction for many yards, or back and forth, but they tend to move rather than lie in ambush. Every basser should be able to see this movement.
The idea that bass hunt from ambush inside cover has obscured the reality that most active, catchable bass are cruising along cover edges or moving under lines of cover in a series of starts and stops. Once this behavior is seen and understood, it’s possible to make better decisions on where to cast or how soon to return to a productive spot.
At the university, a round pond held catfish, carp, sunfish, and largemouths. I watched as students chummed bread on the water. Bass weren’t interested in the crumbs, but catfish and sunfish massed in the area. Bass previously nearly invisible in holes in the vegetation rose and circled the feeding fish. They ignored nearby sunfish that appeared wary and alert, but dashed up to 10 feet to take preyfish that became distracted by the bread and had focused too long on eating.
When I’ve tossed live minnows near moving bass, they’re usually taken immediately. But bass hidden in cover and apparently inactive usually ignore minnows tossed nearby. Yet a series of tossed minnows seems to arouse inactive bass.
After several minnows swim within easy striking range, bass seem to awaken and start feeding. This situation may be duplicated by repeatedly casting a lure near cover where an inactive fish is hiding. The appearance of many prey nearby give bass a cue to leave cover and hunt.
While scuba diving in Travis Reservoir, I watched the same predator-prey relationships I’ve seen from shore. Sunfish that can see bass (bass can see a prey’s eye) are ignored. But an injured preyfish or one turned so it might not see an approaching bass is considered vulnerable. Vulnerable prey within striking range are struck immediately by active fish. Vulnerable prey farther away likely are slowly stalked until they’re within range.
While diving, we saw totally inactive bass inside cover, apparently digesting food and totally ignoring nearby prey. Preyfish would hover within inches of these bass. Semi-active bass suspended near cover and drifting about attacked only nearby vulnerable prey, ignoring healthy sunfish holding about three feet away. But one eye of nearby prey always looked toward the bass.
