Sounds like…? Sounds like…? Sounds Like Success

Posted: March 27th, 2013 by Bill Dance

Well, I will just speak of bass, but sound is important to many species of fish. The hearing apparatus of a bass is so highly developed and so sensitive it can sense the noise of a crawfish moving under a rock.

Bass detect sound through both the lateral line and their inner ear. At distances beyond 30 feet they detect sound with the inner ear and sounds less than 30 feet with their lateral line.

Sounds play a vital role in the daily activities of bass. Through the combined use of the ears and the lateral line, they can detect any disturbance in the water — associating it with fear, sex, food or something else.

Bass can hear sounds up to 1/4 mile away. But that old belief about not talking too much or risk spooking fish is mostly myth. Sounds carried in the air, such as a conversation between fishermen, do not affect fish at all. The water’s surface will reflect 99.9 percent of the sound energy in the air.

Also, the mysterious way in which schooling bass in certain areas of the lake begin to feed at one time may very well be due to hearing. Bass are very competitive about feeding, and why not? They have to be to survive.

As always, catch one for me!