tyrius.

Odds are it is something, because your experience is outside the norm. Rapala is pretty much all I fish and I've never broken one. I still have a couple jointed minnows that I fished when I was in high school. I've only ever seen one break and that was due to user abuse. The freaking things like to get stuck between rocks though, but that goes for nearly everything I fish in that spot.

Me too. Maybe then they'll go on sale and I'll be able to get more!!!

What are you doing differently than everyone else? Are you using very strong braid with a very tight drag? What are you hooking them on to pull the lips out? Seems to me that you're doing something different than normal to experience this.

It's also a good time to work on your topwater technique!!! ;D

At least you have a chance!!! If I went fishing I'd just catch snow and ice. ;D

I'm trying to not be a jerk here, but I haven't seen anyone else say that they caught two fish on one hook.

Make sure you wash those calipers after you're done measuring your "stuff"!!!

Or not. Market closed flat today. I'm in no mood to try and make any sense out of this market. Volatility and uncertainty are the name of the game.

If you can find a place to store the oil then it's easy money. You can buy oil at the current spot rate for cheaper than you can sell it for future months delivery. The price difference is currently enough that one can make a good return on this. As an example. Let's say one bought a barrel of oil for delivery in March at say $39. They can then sell that oil for April delivery for $48 a barrel. The cost to store it is between $1-2 a barrel. So you've got $7-8 profit or about a 20% return with zero risk. I can't say that I have a problem with this. I'd rather have them spend my TARP money in this way then to start loaning money to unqualified borrowers again.

The paddle tails are "mainly" the same. However, you can get Mattlures soft baits for less than $20 and they are not like paddle tails at all. The Mission Fish is also different than other paddletails.

Tin, Did the hook straighten out or did the hook bend to the side? Did it bend when you were taking the hook out? I bent a hook on an Evo trying to get the jig out of a big carp that I caught. I bent the "shaft" of the hook to the side. I just bent it back and kept fishing. I think I still have that jig too. As for getting hung up, I wouldn't fish the original one (haven't used the new version yet) in brush or weeds, but they work well in the rock bottom that I like to fish. EVERYTHING gets hung up in that stuff. I haven't noticed the Evo hanging up more than any other football jig.

Rapala DT-Fats

Learning through association is not anthropomorphism. Learning through association is what animals do. That's how you train your dog to go outside to do his business. That's how you train your dog to do tricks. That's how goldfish learn that humans coming up to their tank means that they are going to be fed. That's how parrots learn to talk. Cows learn not to touch electric fences. etc, etc, etc. Animals adjust their behavior (ie learn) through the positive and negative results of external stimuli and/or their own actions.

And as further evidence that the markets are now completely irrational the S&P 500 gained back nearly everything that it lost yesterday. Down over 4% one day and the next day back up over 4%. Based upon nothing substantial.

Yes, I find it a more fair assessment than aquarium testing. However, I find the distinction completely irrelevent. It matters not where bass show that they are able to "learn" associative behaivors. What matters is the fact that they do "learn" them. Do you disagree with the statement that bass exhibit the ability to "learn" through association?

Then let's just drop this because if you can't see the difference between a pond and an aquarium then there's no point in continuing this discussion. Just for the record I grew up fishing small ponds (some probably that small), but I'm pretty sure that I've never made a cast into an aquarium.

ahh, I thought in your earlier post you meant what did the angler learn. If you want to be specific in the terminology even the original article puts learn in quotes when talking about what bass "learn". Here's another reason why bassresource.com rules: http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/angling.html

So you agree with the results but not the method the results were obtained?

Hmm, this looks remarkably familiar!!! Is this not what those on the "bass remember" side have been saying the entire time? In essence, bass can be conditioned against hitting certain lures. Then after a variable period of time the bass will no longer retain that condition and will be able to be caught again on that lure. Same thing no?

I disagree completely. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if bass can learn associative behaviors and then to see if they can retain those associations for a given period of time. The fact that this occurred in an aquarium is irrelevent to the fact that the experiment clearly shows that bass are able to learn and retain associative behaviors. Now, the big question becomes how does this apply in the wild, in HUGE lakes, small lakes, and backyard ponds? How should the angler apply these facts to his/her fishing? How should it affect lure choice (most soft plastics being shown as the "least" retained/learned)? What does it take for a fish to learn and retain these same associations in the wild? How long do they retain those associations? etc. etc. etc.

Because as you say below bass aren't geniuses. They can not remember every single lure for their entire lives. Also, each individual fish has not seen/been caught by every single lure/color/retrieve combination possible. This is irrelevent to the discussion as we are first trying to establish IF bass are capable of associating lures with danger or lures with no food value and learning to ignore them. This study even showed the individual fish has varying degrees of retaining the associative behaviors. So, the real answer is that it varies fish to fish. This theory is proven when an angler gets the privilege of fishing a body of water than no one else has ever fished. Everyone that I know (including people who have posted in these threads) who has had this privilege has much more success in the first outings then they do after they have fished it regularly for a period of time. The angler continues to catch fish, but not at the same rate as the first outing (given similar weather/seasonal conditions). This is especially true for baits that do not resemble normal prey. Baits that closely resemble normal prey continue to work because while the instance of being caught with the lure provides a negative association that negative association may be counteracted by subsequent positive associations of striking the actual prey and successfully feeding. Sounds exactly like what everyone else is saying.

I agree with you on taking a large fish. For the rest google selective harvest or search for it here. I've been through it too many times already and don't really have the energy for it today.

Factually incorrect.

No. Animals typically learn through associative behaviours. Get a hook rammed through their mouth and pulled from the water provides a negative association to whatever they were doing prior to being hooked. They require no logic for this, simply conditioning. It's the same with any other animal. Dogs are conditioned to pee outside, sit, do tricks, not bark, etc all through positive and negative associations. If a largemouth bass can be conditioned to certain behaviours in captivity then it can be conditioned to those same behaviours in the wild. It is just much more difficult to provide the same level of conditioning.

No, because no one is saying that all bass retain all lures for the remainder of their lives. This is where I think that you are applying this theory much more strenuously than anyone else is.