My wife and I were fishing when a joke was made that we must be catching the same fish over and over.  Well that lead to her asking, Is that really possible?  My answer was probably not, mainly due to the fact that after being snached crosseyed, drug out of the water, held up by its jaw, and having a hook jerked/twisted/pryed out of whatever it's stuck in, all while basically being suffocated,  they probably aren't thinking about biting anything else for at least a while. But I told her I could be wrong and that I would ask. So, where do bass most likely go when released?  Another question is are bass so territorial that they will eventually wind up in the same spot they were caught (if they were caught in cover) even if they are released elsewhere on the lake/pond?  Do they have that kind of instinct or sense of direction that most other animals do?

Thanks,

Randy

most likely to the nearest cover/structure...this makes them feel secure. if its during the spawn...the bass will return to its bed. if the bass is released across the lake from where it was caught...i doubt that it will find its way back. i have caught a bass in clear water, then released it and watched it slam a worm in the water not more then 30 seconds after being released...so some bass will bite right after being caught.

Gobble dog had made a post about bass returning after a tounement.  It was deleted and I don't think he ever put it back on.  I think it said that a small percent returned to were they were caught from (maybe 20%) the rest remained in the new location where they were released.  I have seen bass turn around and retake a lure.  In the case of a one annoying little pike at least 5 times.

my brother-in-law kayak fishes a pond about 15 minutes from his house and swears that when he is having a slow day, he can count on a certain black bass under the same dock/pier to hit a t-rigged worm every time.  like clockwork he says.  

I caught the same fish three times yesterday morning in about 10 minutes.  I know because this little sucker was blind in one eye, had a big hole in his lip and his cheek was all beat to **** when I caught him the first time.  He came from the exact same spot each time.

i think it happens sometimes because i was fishing the other day with three people in cluding me. we all caught the same bass. it was a little guy and my brother said that maybe it was getting pushed around by all the bigger fish because it was eating everything we threw. this is a 4 inch fish eating huge crank baits. so my brother thinks it was either the fish was so hungry because all the other fish didn't give him a chance to eat, i on the other hand think it was because he was young and didn't relize he could barly fit it in his mouth. my guess is based an the fact that the baby sunnies are trying to eat huge crankbaits.