Q&A AI
Does releasing smallmouth bass scare other bass in an area?
Great question! The release of smallmouth bass into an area can indeed cause other bass to become either scared or alert, depending on the circumstances. Let's break this down using the information from the video context and some general bass behavior principles.
Alert vs. Scared Behavior
Alert Behavior: When bass are put on alert, they sense that something isn't quite right in their environment, but they don't feel an immediate threat to their lives. In this state, bass often move slowly and nonchalantly to slightly deeper water. This could be a shift from three or four feet to around eight or nine feet, as mentioned in the Steve Rogers Outdoors videos. They might circle around and eventually return to their original spot once they feel the disturbance has passed.
Scared Behavior: On the other hand, when bass are scared—meaning they perceive a direct threat—they will flee the area quickly. This is a more immediate and pronounced reaction compared to being on alert.
Impact of Releasing Smallmouth Bass
When smallmouth bass are released into an area, the reaction of other bass can vary:
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Stress Indicators:
- According to the BassFishingHQ video, stressed bass (e.g., those with bloody fins or large hook holes) tend to take longer to disperse. This means their presence could potentially cause other bass to be on alert due to the unusual activity and stress signals.
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Behavioral Changes:
- If the released smallmouth bass are calm and not showing signs of stress, they might integrate into the environment without causing much disturbance. However, if they are stressed or behaving erratically, this could put other bass on alert or even scare them away.
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Environmental Disturbance:
- The act of releasing bass itself can be a disturbance. If the release process is noisy or involves a lot of movement, it could scare nearby bass. Conversely, a quiet and gentle release might minimize this impact.
Practical Tips
- Observe Behavior: After releasing bass, observe the behavior of other fish in the area. If they seem to be moving to deeper water or acting skittish, they might be on alert.
- Minimize Disturbance: Try to release bass as gently and quietly as possible to avoid causing unnecessary stress or alarm to other fish.
- Fishing Strategy: If you notice that bass are on alert, consider fishing slightly deeper or waiting for the area to calm down before continuing.
By understanding these behaviors and adjusting your approach accordingly, you can minimize the impact of releasing bass and maintain a productive fishing environment. If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask!
Related videos
Transcript
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03:09
WATCH What Bass Do When on Alert or Scared | Underwater Proof by Steve Rogers Outdoors → bass are aware of our presence way more than we actually give them credit for well I wanted to actually show you what bass do when something's not quite right in their environment and the first thing that we need to do is Define a couple terms between alert and scared when bass are scared when they are fearful for their life well they are fleeing they are taking off very very quickly could go in any direction but when bass are put on alert when they feel like ah something's not quite right I have seen it again and again and again where they kind of slowly nonchalantly just make their way to deeper water they're not in a rush they don't panic they just kind of Coast down to deeper water and the key here that we need to remember is the term deeper it doesn't necessarily mean deep it could be moving from three or four feet down to somewhere around that eight or nine foot range what I have seen often supports this they just slide down a bit another way that you can think about it is look for that light penetration line so that is the point where the sunlight stops penetrating The Depths very very clearly or easily an easy way to kind of check this is put a lure out there let it sink and see at what point you can no longer see it and then fish just a little bit
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Witness 3 Bass Behaviors You MUST Understand by Steve Rogers Outdoors → chance chance that there's some bass down there taking advantage of it number two is one that I've seen again and again and again and it just always just surprises me how often we fall into this trap when bass are startled or put on alert now I want to very much make the difference between put on alert as opposed to absolutely terrified when they're terrified boom they're gone right like you slam a rod Locker you may see a bass really shoot out of that area but when they are suspicious of something going on in their environment so often what they do is they just slip to a little bit deeper water not necessarily deep they just go a little bit deeper circle around and they come right back so often if they were comfortable in that area before when that disturbance clears the area they come right back I've seen it again and again and again now think about this this is where it can be frustrating as an a anger so you're working down the shoreline in a boat or as a Shore angler just pitching to different stuff as you go and you work up towards some stumps or lay downs well think about this a lot of those fish especially the better ones if they sense something not right your Shadow a vibration that's a little bit different even there's lures just pop plopping down into the water they sense
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5 Yr Research SHOWS Exactly Where TOURNAMENT BASS Go After Being Released (I Shouldn't Share This) by BassFishingHQ → on lake champlain instead the bass hugged the shoreline as they started moving out of the bay similar results were found in a study done by gila land in 1999 that showed 84 of tournament release bass traveled along continuous shoreline and only 16 percent cross deep open water researchers suggested that bass use different landmarks to get from place to place there were a few smallmouth that made it back to the vermont side of the lake but this was after they had traveled along the new york side to the northern part of the lake and then crossed into the vermont waters all of these fish crossed into vermont water in less than 65 feet of water another interesting thing about this study is that the more stress the fish were the longer it took to disperse out of cumberland bay researchers assessed how stressed bass were by looking at things like bloody fins dorsal fin erection and large hook holes in the bass's mouth the more beat up and stressed out the bass was the longer it stayed in cumberland bay looking at another study at lake shasta in california the department of fish and wildlife tagged 580 tournament cop bass of the bass that were tagged there was 497 smallmouth and 83 largemouth similar to the study done at lake champlain fishermen that recaptured the tagged bass were asked to report the fish catch to the department of fish and wildlife this study lasted
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Let These Creatures Lead You To The Bass! by Matt Stefan Fishing → there and watch them all day long uh but generally speaking I don't think they're that good for the fish I think the fish definitely recognize them as a threat and therefore they go out of a feeding mode into a we got to get out of here mode or just they shut down and they become much more aware of their surroundings so that's something to pay attention to I'd love to hear though from you guys in the comment section what are some other creatures that you pay attention to you know I I could throw out that you know you you start looking at your insect hatches your crayfish hatches things like that they can definitely dictate where the fish are going to be as well uh but I'm talking more about like other animal type creatures I'd love to know what you guys have to say uh one other one that I just thought of too uh right off the top of my head so you can go some places and catch uh catch bass that are following snakes so this happens on some areas that have like good Smallmouth populations and I don't feel like the bass ever really eat the snake but the snakes will be feeding on certain fish species and a lot of times I feel like the bass will follow the snake to see where the snake goes to see if they can take advantage of it so
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Rick Clunn Explains Why Bass Move | Rick Clunn Insights by Fish the Moment → stayed in their little small territory but when we made man man made impoundments and then you had the threat the bait source change where back in that little slough is brim perch and and a few occasional shad or whatever down in the mid-may lake they had new sources of food and i think they've evolved and i think that their migration is not what we it's much more than we think it is i've actually come up with some theories on this in the past i actually made a video about this my theory is basically the bass they have two primary motivations to reproduce to spawn and to feed and i feel like the only time they bath has a specific agenda of where it wants to be is when it's spawning the rest of the time it's dictated entirely on the food source and i believe that in the video i made i estimated 60 to 70 of the bass in a lake migrate with the bait when they're not spawning the other 30 percent stay stationary where there's bluegill up shallow where there's crawfish and this is on a lake that maybe has bigger arms like an ozark lake there's threadfin shad there's good chad it doesn't apply when you go up north it's different because the bluegill spawn perch or the big forage there's a lot of there's a lot of stuff i can get into on this but i guess
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Spring & Summer Spawning Smallmouth Secrets (Bass Fishing How-To Video) by The Bass University → commit they'll get them to do something get them where you can maybe see them a little bit and here's another cool thing about smallies is they bed in colonies you know they're kind of like bluegills not so much but if you got a good Smallmouth population in your Lake you're gonna if you find one better they're going to be there in numbers you know and they'll get right next to each other you can get a good chunk Rock and there'll be two or three beds all around it you know and um so they like to you know they like to spawn together so you find one all right slow down now we could possibly be around some more but this is a a cool deal it's called a flogger and and I've just started experimenting with it but the cool thing about this is it takes that riftage factor off the sheen the glare it gives you like 10 more feet of visibility in our Lakes 10 feet now it's hard to use it's hard to use a trolling motor sometimes you got to drift and use it but you can drift over Shoals spawn or even post spawn and you can see fish so much deeper than you can see under a variety of conditions you know so you're not no longer worried about just a little bit of wind you know and it can really help you it's a little
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