Page 24 - Lady Bass Digital Magazine March 2023

Anglers can tap into the bass’s sense of hearing, utilize a rattle by attaching it to the body of the jig under the skirt to
give off extra vibrations to get the bass’s attention. Therefore, it is important to be careful to approach the bass in a slow
and soft manor. This will ensure that your motion will not send too many unnatural vibrations into the water. To many
unnatural vibrations will cause the bass to flee and scare the other fish in the area.

TOUCH
Often the sense of touch in fish only talked about with the lateral line, but fish do have a sense of that is not part of the
lateral line. Opposed to us where our skin is the most important organ when it comes to the sense of touch, in fish the
most important place where tact is located is inside the mouth. This is because most of their skin is covered by large
scales and covered with slime. So, the sense of tact on rest of the body is very poor. That’s the reason why soft plastic
baits are very effective, they have the same “feel” live animals do.

LATERAL LINE
The “lateral line” is a sensory system that runs between the gills and tail on each side of a bass. It allows bass to accurate-
ly detect locations of disturbances in surrounding water for a distance up to five times the length of its body. In low light
or muddy water, a bass’ lateral line helps detect prey. Additionally, the chemo receptors detect chemicals dissolved in the
water, it also detects variations in the pH and very important for us as anglers, it detects pressure waves and low voltage
electrical signals.

Pressure waves are generated when objects move through water, the lateral line can detect such pressure waves, it tells
the lateral line the size, speed, and direction of the moving object.

SUMMARY
Bass find their prey by sight or sound first. These in tandem with the movement detected by the lateral line que the bass
to investigate. As the bass moves closer to the bait, he is expecting the final stimulus, smell, to be coming from the bait.
As he strikes and crushes the bait, he is expecting confirmation of the flavor of the prey by his sense of smell. Smell is
an important final stimulus. Of all the senses we have discussed, there are two systems that are a must for detecting and
targeting prey with pinpoint accuracy: hearing and the lateral line. As with any organism if one sense is lost, dulled or
not available in the moment, other senses take over.

For anglers understanding a bass is just as important as the equipment they are using. To unlock the mysteries anglers
must know how to fish under different conditions, which baits to use and how to use them, and how to locate bass. Un-
derstanding the senses of a bass can go a long way in unlocking those mysteries.

24 Lady Bass Anglers Association