01-05-2005, 01:59 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Hey Bigcat, I don't do SERMONS. Dissertations, diatribes and downloads...but never "sermons".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think the three words describing fish modes are ACTIVE, NEUTRAL & INACTIVE. Those ain't my words. I borrowed 'em from the bass chasers. They seem to need more high-falutin' excuses than we mere mortals. Heck, I am content to blame a bad day on a full moon or empty water (didn't plant this week). But bassers are as bad as fly flingers about wantin' ta make everthang tecknickle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The concept is simple. Active fish are usually cruising around, looking for their next meal. Sometimes they are "looking down"...watching the bottom for creepy crawlies or minnows hiding in the weeds. Sometimes they cruise at a certain depth, either following a temperature line or staying at the same depth as their prey species. A good sonar will tell you that they are moving at at what depth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]What a sonar won't tell you is whether "they have their mouths open" or not. It will not tell you whether they are actively feeding or whether they may be simply "working off a big meal" from the feeding period just before you stuck your transducer down the hole.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]What a lot of people do not realize is that fish do not feed 24/7. In a system that has lots of food for them, they are likely to feed only for brief periods, until they get full. Then, they go into an "inactive" or "neutral" period until their hunger signal rings again.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is generally accepted by those who study these attitudes, that fish will sometimes strike a bait or lure while in the "neutral" mode. If you present the right lure (or bait) in just the right place and in the right way, you can prompt an instinctive munch. The fishyologists call this a "reaction" bite. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fish sometimes act like cats who see a moving object and pounce on it whether they intend to eat it or not. At other times, especially during the spawn, while guarding nests, fish will smack anything that encroaches into their nest zone. That is most common with bass and other members of the sunfish family (like bluegills).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When fish are totally "inactive", they may simply lay on the bottom, not moving or feeding. They may also cruise aimlessly at some depth above the bottom, not responding to even the easiest food offering. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Inactive fish are often "glutted". Like humans, in the presence of a lot of food they will overeat. They don't have belts to loosen, so they just take a nap or swim around to work it off. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Other things can cause fish to become neutral or inactive. They do respond to pressure changes...like fronts moving through. Sometimes that stimulates them. Other times it shuts them down. In open water they are affected by rapid temperature changes...up or down. Under the ice, they slow down as the oxygen levels drop after months under the ice.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]While some species do not seem to be adversely affected by lots of overhead activity (ice fishermen), others are more sensitive. A hot early morning bite can drop off or shut off once there is a lot of commotion in the area. It is strange, for example, that walleye are very sensitive to noise but their smaller cousins, the perch, are seemingly attacted to groups of anglers drilling holes and making a ruckus. Not always though.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]So, those are the words. Figuring out when is which and why is always the fun part. Is it science or is it art? Sonar is science...to help us at least know when we are amongst the fishies. The art is in figuring out what mode they are in and how to appeal to the fish. If you get it right, BINGO. If you don't, then your sonar will only let you know how many fish you DON'T catch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]End of download. Return your eyeballs to their full open position.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I think the three words describing fish modes are ACTIVE, NEUTRAL & INACTIVE. Those ain't my words. I borrowed 'em from the bass chasers. They seem to need more high-falutin' excuses than we mere mortals. Heck, I am content to blame a bad day on a full moon or empty water (didn't plant this week). But bassers are as bad as fly flingers about wantin' ta make everthang tecknickle.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The concept is simple. Active fish are usually cruising around, looking for their next meal. Sometimes they are "looking down"...watching the bottom for creepy crawlies or minnows hiding in the weeds. Sometimes they cruise at a certain depth, either following a temperature line or staying at the same depth as their prey species. A good sonar will tell you that they are moving at at what depth.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]What a sonar won't tell you is whether "they have their mouths open" or not. It will not tell you whether they are actively feeding or whether they may be simply "working off a big meal" from the feeding period just before you stuck your transducer down the hole.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]What a lot of people do not realize is that fish do not feed 24/7. In a system that has lots of food for them, they are likely to feed only for brief periods, until they get full. Then, they go into an "inactive" or "neutral" period until their hunger signal rings again.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It is generally accepted by those who study these attitudes, that fish will sometimes strike a bait or lure while in the "neutral" mode. If you present the right lure (or bait) in just the right place and in the right way, you can prompt an instinctive munch. The fishyologists call this a "reaction" bite. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Fish sometimes act like cats who see a moving object and pounce on it whether they intend to eat it or not. At other times, especially during the spawn, while guarding nests, fish will smack anything that encroaches into their nest zone. That is most common with bass and other members of the sunfish family (like bluegills).[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When fish are totally "inactive", they may simply lay on the bottom, not moving or feeding. They may also cruise aimlessly at some depth above the bottom, not responding to even the easiest food offering. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Inactive fish are often "glutted". Like humans, in the presence of a lot of food they will overeat. They don't have belts to loosen, so they just take a nap or swim around to work it off. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Other things can cause fish to become neutral or inactive. They do respond to pressure changes...like fronts moving through. Sometimes that stimulates them. Other times it shuts them down. In open water they are affected by rapid temperature changes...up or down. Under the ice, they slow down as the oxygen levels drop after months under the ice.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]While some species do not seem to be adversely affected by lots of overhead activity (ice fishermen), others are more sensitive. A hot early morning bite can drop off or shut off once there is a lot of commotion in the area. It is strange, for example, that walleye are very sensitive to noise but their smaller cousins, the perch, are seemingly attacted to groups of anglers drilling holes and making a ruckus. Not always though.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]So, those are the words. Figuring out when is which and why is always the fun part. Is it science or is it art? Sonar is science...to help us at least know when we are amongst the fishies. The art is in figuring out what mode they are in and how to appeal to the fish. If you get it right, BINGO. If you don't, then your sonar will only let you know how many fish you DON'T catch.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]End of download. Return your eyeballs to their full open position.[/#0000ff]
[signature]