Knowing Bass: The Scientific Approach To Catching More Fish (Guest Review)
Book by Keith A. Jones, Ph.D.
by Jeff "Yakfish" Little

I am not what you would call a voracious reader. I read often, but usually not for very long. I prefer magazine articles to novels. I suppose that you could say that I am more of a grazer than one who prefers a big meal of reading material. When I picked up Knowing Bass for the first time, I did not put it down until I had read over half of the 280 page book. After finishing the book, my brain felt full and heavy, a feeling that I have not felt since the end of my last final exam week in college.

The book covers the biology, anatomy, biochemistry, and behavior of black bass in a style that reads less like a science textbook than you would expect. Dr. Keith A. Jones was the Director of Research at the Berkley Fish Research Center. He uses information gathered during his years of research to explain how bass react to different stimuli. Much of the information presented reinforced what I already knew about bass behavior. Some of it refuted what I thought I already knew.

As I read, I took notes on the inside back cover of anything that was new knowledge, or was particularly useful. Here are a few examples of my notes: (Please understand that these are my interpretations of what I read, and not direct quotes from the book.)

Rattles are apparently more effective with soft plastics than crankbaits.

Bug spray (DEET) and sunscreen (PABA) can transfer from your hand to the lure and function as a bass repellant.

All bass have instincts for feeding. They also learn, and can avoid certain lures after a negative experience with a particular lure.

Bass have a certain range of noises that they hear. Above and below that range they filter out the noise.

Oil based scents are not detected by bass at all. The scent must be water soluble to be detected by the bass. (The scents that show an oil slick pattern on the water's surface do not register with the bass's smell organs at all.)

Bass have lateral lines on the surface of their bodies that can detect an object that they may not be able to locate by sight alone. Many fishermen know about the lateral line that goes the length of the body of the fish. They also have lateral lines across the surface of their head that helps them inspect prey objects at close range.

Bass can see a maximum of 50 feet in the clearest of water. They can see in three dimensions in front of them, but can't see a great distance in this frontal range.

Variations of retrieval speed elicit strikes.

The skin on the inside of a bass's mouth is the equivalent of the skin on our fingertips. It is loaded with nerves that can distinguish different textures. It's one way that they decide if something is food or not. It's why bass hold onto soft plastics longer than crankbaits.

I am currently reading the book a second time to attempt to pull more useful information from the book. The book won't teach you how to think like a bass, but it will bring you closer to understand how bass see, hear, feel, smell, taste, and sense their prey. The research on how bass react to different sizes, shapes, and scents of lures is particularly eye opening. This knowledge can certainly help us catch more and larger fish by changing our tactics and methods of fishing to match their senses.