|
|
 |
        |
 |
The Science Behind Orion Crankbaits Understanding angling pressure and its effects on a bass' hydrodynamic imaging capabilities will be one of the most important elements in our future fishing success. Bass Pro Shops and I have designed a new series of enhanced target imaging (ETI) rankbaits based on this understanding. The most sophisticated sensory ability of fish is not sight, smell, hearing, or touch. It is hydrodynamic imaging through the use of its auditory and lateral line system. The lateral line can be compared to echo location in whales. The ability to create very accurate mental images of objects, both stationary and moving, that can not be always detected with its other senses. "Just as the visual and auditory systems of vertebrates are used to form visual and acoustic images of the environment, it is quite likely that fish use their lateral lines to form hydrodynamic images of their aquatic environment." -- Sheryl Coombs, Professor of Hearing Sciences University of Hawaii Lateral line physiological experiments are designed to investigate the ways in which sources of water disturbance are detected by the lateral line system of fish and how flow patterns arising from these sources are represented in the peripheral and central nervous system. All lures, all crankbaits create their own distinct image. Many images are similar and could fall into a particular category. Round smooth sided crankbaits though different could fall into a category of images where rough our grooved-sided crankbaits would fall into a different category. The key word is different and more accurately, distinctly different. Most anglers have experienced how a simple lure change can transform an apparent fishing location from being completely dead to completely alive. Going from getting no strikes to catching fish on every cast is fascinating and yet mysterious, to us the angler. Most of the time we attempt to explain it through our own sensory understanding. Visually we explain it by color and acoustically we explain it by sound and on and on, never truly appreciating the potential sophistication of all the bass' senses working in unison. "As humans, it is easy for us to relate to the possible visual and acoustic images that other vertebrates might have of the terrestrial environment because we have our own perceptual experiences to draw from. Since we don't have an underwater existence, however, nor a lateral line system, it is much more difficult for us to imagine the kinds of hydrodynamic images that fish might form of their aquatic environment." -- Sheryl Coombs As an angler, to develop a more accurate understanding we must combine the theory of Science with our own objective observations and experiences. I believe within the auditory and lateral line system of the bass is a more complete answer. Initially we should understand that a bass can determine even slight differences in its environment. Combine this acute ability with increasing angler pressure and something slightly unusual will make all the difference. All intellectual speculation and rhetoric are worthless if it doesn't translate into success on the water. My experiences support the assumption of this information, that bass have a distinct ability to differentiate even the smallest differences between lures. There are countless examples in my fishing career of subtle changes that make all the difference. The most profound one occurred during my record setting win at the Bass Master Classic at Pine Bluff Arkansas in 1984. After using a wide-wobble, rattling crankbait I caught over 24# the first day and 23# the second day. I returned to the now famous ledge in Pine Bluff harbor on the final day to find the fishing a lot tougher. After making several non-productive passes on this 50-yard underwater ledge, I began to speculate that maybe I had caught most of the fish or the fish had become inactive or had left completely. Many years of tournament experience had taught me to anticipate all possible scenarios that might arise the next day of competition. One of my first thoughts was to give them a different lure, one they had not seen the first two days. I quickly change to another crankbait that had a tighter action and no rattles and within two more passes I caught over 28# off a spot I had pressured very hard the previous days. A simple lure change had transformed this ledge back into virgin water. IGFA Magazine of State and World Records recently reported that the largemouth bass might be one of the most intelligent game fish of all species. They suggest that bass can be conditioned quickly, by heavy angling pressure, to certain lures and may even be passing that information on genetically to future generations. Whether one wants to attribute intelligence to a fish, one should acknowledge that full utilization of sensory abilities enhances ones intellectual skills. Bass certainly utilize their sensory abilities much more than modern humans and must do so to survive. We are just beginning to understand that elephants, whales, and insects have a language below the range of human hearing and vision beyond our perceptual skills. To the angler this simply means, do not underestimate the bass! Our design of the ETI Orion series incorporates this knowledge of hydrodynamic imaging and other perceptual abilities of the bass. The ETI Orion design is a conscious attempt to create distinctly different crankbait not just another crankbait. We will continue to try to better understand and incorporate this information into the ETI series of lures. |
|