They're capable of some type of learning. I know a guy who has a pond where he feeds the fish and they hardly ever hit a bait but they'll show up along the same shoreline each evening as he walks the edge and just follow him while he flings dog food and other things in the water. They eat it immediately. I watched him throw a bunch of bluegills in once and they devoured those as soon as they were in the water. Same at the BPS tank when the guy throws shad in. They know. That indicates clear learning abilities.

Ever hook a fish and fight it to the boat and then give it slack line? I do that often with little fish to see if they'll throw the hook so I don't have to unhook them. A lot of the time they'll stop fighting and just swim away slowly like nothing happened. I've always believed they felt more the pressure of being pulled away from where they want to be. So take away that pressure and their flight instinct goes away and they go about being a fish that's worried about nothing but eating and not being eaten again.