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Artificial Lure
Wary Pike - Myth or Reality?
written and published by
Captain Blaubaer, author in Askari German forum.
When visiting new waters
and asking local anglers for the most effective bait, one often hears, 'The pike
here won't take artificial lures' or 'The pike here are very suspicious of
artificial lures' or 'The pike here are so used to artificial lures, if they
could speak, they could tell you the make and model', etc, etc,
etc.
What can/should you do when you
hear such comments?
Anybody with a little
knowledge of fish will listen to these old stories and realise how ridiculous it
is to treat fish as an intelligent species comparable to human beings. Fish have
relatively small brains and would be challenged with complicated concepts such
as 'line', 'artificial lures', 'angling/angler', etc. and are not be able to
make any associations. So, what can fish do?
Fish and their ability to
learn
Fish have a limited
ability to learn. Anybody who owns an aquarium will understand that - the fish
learn where and at what time they are fed. They can also recognise feed and the
different types of feed. Fish can be trained, up to a point, but this takes a
very long time and requires much repetition. Even then, it might only be
successful if one has a particularly 'intelligent' fish. Generally speaking, due
to the lack of long term memory, fish will forget anything they have been taught
after a relatively short period. The fish in my aquarium for example, learnt to
feed from 'stick on the glass' feed. As long as they received this treat once or
twice a week they retained the ability to find it. After removing this feed for
a few weeks, it took the fish a long time to find the new source and start
feeding there regularly.
You can then rest assured
that a pike which has been taken a few times on artificial lures will not have
learnt much more than aquarium fish. So, why are there some large, old (smart)
pike? The answer lies in the individual 'character' of the fish.
Fish and their character
traits
Here, once again, those
who own an aquarium will know that within one species, there are varieties of
character: smart, cheeky, careful and shy fish, etc. This has been
scientifically proven in a study of behaviour patterns in fish, e.g. Trout. So,
fish have a variety of character traits, such as 'wary' and 'nosey' but I would
like to limit myself to those character traits most important to
angling.
The variety of character
traits makes sense, especially when viewed with respect to survival. In waters
with little natural feed, the 'nosey' fish take greater risks and have a greater
chance of survival. In waters with larger natural feed, the 'shy' fish, who do
not take risks will still find their fill and survive. Where both character
traits are present in a species, their chances of survival are increased.
Although predators possess a natural and an acquired sense for prey: behaviour,
look, taste, etc. we can take it for granted that they possess a certain amount
of curiosity and will experiment. How curious, is dependant on the individual.
Fishing with artificial
lures
So, we'll agree - fish are
stupid but there are 'nosey' and 'shy' fish. Guess, which fish is most like to
take an artificial lure - the 'nosey' or the 'shy' fish? Yes, it stands to
reason that the 'nosey' fish is more likely to go for a lure that differs from
its natural feed. In heavily fished waters, we can then assume that most of the
'nosey' fish have already been caught and that the only fish that are left are
the 'shy' ones who, as I have already said, generally tend to stay with what
they know and live to a ripe old age. If there were no bait fish anglers, they
would probably never be caught, but bait fish, when presented correctly will not
raise any suspicion amongst 'shy' fish. When angling with bait fish, it makes
sense to select a softer and less conspicuous trace than you would when angling
with artificial lures. I would say that, when angling with artificial lures, the
choice of lure and how it is presented is much more important. When in doubt, I
think it a good idea to use lures that behave in a lifelike manner, look like
the original and are fitting to the season. The greater the similarity to
natural bait, the greater the potential interest. This is not the case, if you
wish to provoke fish and play with its natural curiosity and territorial
characteristics. The more suitable bait would be aggressive and striking. One
should be aware that the chances of success are less, but the technique can
prove successful when the fish take less feed (for example, in summer or
winter). The best example: salmon take no feed when rising but plenty are caught
during this time on artificial lures (for example, an attractively coloured
fly).
Conclusion
In reality, it is not so
black and white. Dividing fish into 'nosey' and 'shy' is too simple. There are
definitely a larger variety of character traits that can be associated with fish
and should be taken into account. Apart from that, it is equally false to treat
fish as an intelligent species with human characteristics as it is to deny the
fact that fish possess 'human' character traits and are purely driven by
instinct. Fish are neither intellectuals that understand the complexities
involved in angling, nor are they purely driven by instinct and will react to
anything that moves.
Returning to the original
comments
The comments of anglers
may sound ridiculous but the experience hidden behind these comments are usually
not so ridiculous.
The comment, 'The pike
here are very suspicious of artificial lures' can be interpreted as follows =
'Very few pike can be caught here using artificial lures'.
The search for the reason for
this can help:
1. Are there
any pike in this water at all? If not try another spot
2. Are
artificial lures used often? If not the chances are good
3. Have many
fish been caught using artificial lures? If so try using bait fish, etc.
I think that you should
more or less look and some of these more dubious angler myths analytically and
try to understand what lies behind.
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