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Do Fish Sleep

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We went fishing today and I swear, that they all must have been sleeping,,we laughed and joked about it,,and then my partner asked me,,,Do fish sleep ?,,,,,,,I thought about it,,and said I don't know,,,,,,,,,,"DO THEY SLEEP ?"

  • Super User

Yes they do.

Not sleep as mammals know it, but fish do go inactive. many species rest on the bottom during this "sleep", others simply hover, and most pelagic fish never stop swimming. Bass and other members of the sunfish family do enter the inactive "sleep" I mentioned earlier.

  • Super User
Not sleep as mammals know it, but fish do go inactive. many species rest on the bottom during this "sleep", others simply hover, and most pelagic fish never stop swimming. Bass and other members of the sunfish family do enter the inactive "sleep" I mentioned earlier.

Fish that always swim just as aquatic mammals ( like dolphins ) "sleep" , half of their brain shuts down to rest while the other half remains active.

  • Super User
Not sleep as mammals know it, but fish do go inactive. many species rest on the bottom during this "sleep", others simply hover, and most pelagic fish never stop swimming. Bass and other members of the sunfish family do enter the inactive "sleep" I mentioned earlier.

Fish that always swim just as aquatic mammals ( like dolphins ) "sleep" , half of their brain shuts down to rest while the other half remains active.

Very interesting. Raul, care to add some more detailed info for us?

Yep they sure do, I caught one sleeping the other day and snatched his butt in the boat.

Yep they sure do, I caught one sleeping the other day and snatched his butt in the boat.

Only got his butt?  The front half must have still been active!

I saw one sleeping on its side on top of the water....pretty deep sleeper too, it wouldnt wake up no matter how hard i tried......

I feel like this answer could have been easily googled

I'm not sure about sleeping, but I swear the fish in one lake near here are "union fish" - they bite like crazy right up 'til 10:00 AM and then it's like somebody blew a whistle some where and they all shut down at once until 5:00 PM or so. ::)

I feel like this answer could have been easily googled

so could every other question that's posted on here.... but that kinda defeats the point of having a forum.

Yes they do.

How about vacations? I swear they do.

They sleep but can wake up and smack a bait in an instant if it's presented correctly. I have found that when the bite slows, I have always been more productive if I slow down as well and tune in more to their security zones than to their feeding areas.

This doesn't mean that the fish move far away but merely find a secure area to settle into for some quiet time or SLEEP. These fish can be very predictable and the proper bait easing down right in their quiet zone will Git Bit ;) They are opportunistic feeders....kinda like me ;D Some call this "grinding out the bite" because it can be a slow and arduous process.

Hope that helps

Big O

www.ragetail.com

  • Super User

Bass sleep once a year, depending on geographical location it happens between January - June.  That's when you'll find them on their "beds". 

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