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How Bass Eat Wild Shiners

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How Bass Eat Wild Shiners

Hugh talks about the process which bass go through when trying to eat wild shiners.

How Bass Eat Wild Shiners

Open your mind and read on. When a bass sees a shiner, he studies how to catch the shiner. This involves stalking . If your shiner is moving there is a possibility that a bass is in the stalking mode. Scientific studies have shown that a bass will gets its prey 70% of the time when the prey is swimming off the bottom. So........if you hook up with 7 of ten bites you are perfect. Once a bass has begun the stalking mode he his focused on the bait. The bass will seldom stop the attempt. If the shiner swims too far, if the angler removes the shiner then the bass quits. When the bass goes to step two he will try to eat the shiner. This means the bass gets into position to swallow the shiner head first. This is a very quick movement. If the bass is successful this is a hop in the line. Then the bass swims off. The bass has no reason to hurry--he just ate. That is the slow steady pull on the line. If you could open the bass s mouth you would see the tail of the shiner sticking out of its throat.

A wild shiner knows what a bass is and what is going to do to him. The wild shiner does not want this to happen. The first attempt by the bass to eat may be unsuccessful. The bass will then go into the stun the shiner mode. In this mode the bass will swim into the side of the shiner with his mouth closed. The idea is to knock the wind out of the shiner. Then the bass will move face to face with the shiner and swallow the shiner head first.

Again, the wild shiner does not want this to happen. This is some of the exciting part of wild shiner fishing as the bass does his thing and the shiner does his thing. The shiner may jump out of the water. The shiner may swim vigorously away from the bass. The bass remains focused. The angler must remain focused and patient. The angler may read the water. The angler looks for swirls indicating the bass is making his move. Always the angler must remain on point. The angler must observe, study the water and remain on point. When the balloon goes under; when there is a slow steady pull on the line- the bass has been successful.

A few hints about how a bass eats a shiner. A bass has no hands, arms or pockets. He does not carry the shiner. He does not scale the shiner and then swallow him. A bass swallows the shiner in one gulp. A scaled shiner is an indication that the shiner was in the bass s belly to its tail and was then spit out. When the bass goes into the stun mode he strikes the shiner in the side. This will cause scales to come off the shiner. This is not scaling. Only scales on part of one side come off.

Hugh Crumpler