Knowing Bass: The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish
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Product Description
Bass, especially largemouth bass, are easily the single most popular freshwater gamefish in the United States. Knowing Bass is a book about the science of bass fishing, with particular
emphasis on the bass itself: What bass can sense, how they use their senses to feed, how they relate to fishing lures, and ultimately, how they interact with anglers. Understanding why bass do what they do will greatly improve anyone’s chances of being a better and more su… More >>
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This book’s title sounds good. Who wouldn’t want to know the results of controlled studies on how fish react to different techniques. Well that makes up about 10 pages of this book. In case you want to know: putting a flavor on a lure seems to work, scent not really, and bass will hold on to soft baits much longer than hard baits. Most of the book reads like a biology lesson charting out various organs in the fish and describing their functions. The problem is that there is no real connection made between this and fishing techniques. Does it help me to know how different sense organs attach to the Bass’ brain? for me not really. If you are really interested in Bass physiology perhaps this would be worth reading, otherwise I would not recommend it.
Rating: 2 / 5
This book is a bit to hard to follow sometimes. It reads like every reader/angler is a scientist, this is not the case. Most of the books content comes from scientists who have run tests in labs and in controlled enviroments owned by large tackle makers. Don’t get me wrong there is usefull info in the book but like the title says “The scientific approch to catching more fish.” this is true. I would consider buying a different book to get basic info and tips. Like I said the book can be usefull but a bit to indepth for the average angler looking to better his catch. So overall average book. Good luck on the water!!
Rating: 3 / 5
More than simply another book about bass fishing, Knowing Bass is an up to date compendium of fish physiology and behavior perhaps making the subtitle, The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish a more accurate description of the book. To be sure, most of the research presented by Dr. Jones was carried out at the Berkley Fish Research Center in Spirit Lake, Iowa (Pure Fishing Corporation) on largemouth bass, but his melding of behavioral science and fish physiology will allow a better understanding about how to fish for any species. Dr. Jones has a chapter on each major sensory system (lateral line, taste, chemoreceptors, vision, temperature, pain and stress etc), which he describes with the exactness of a careful researcher and still provides practical observations pertinent to fishing practices. Dr. Jones exhibits unusual writing talent by combining the accuracy of a scientific researcher with a lively style of engaging prose.
He dispels many false hoods of our traditionally superstition bound sport. Such as the effectiveness of fruity flavored plastic worms or that natural prey shapes make the best lures or that lure color makes a difference.
I am a saltwater fisherman and find plenty in his writing about bass to help me. Thus, when he says that the DEET in mosquito repellants and PABA, the active ingredient of many sunscreen brands are powerful repulsive agents to bass, I assume that they have similar effects on marine fish. His tidbit about adding a few drops of over-the-counter oil of cloves to a live well as a way improve bass survival has also improved survival of baitfish in my saltwater baitwell.
I suppose the overarching take home lesson for me is “that fish obey the laws of probability; their behavior shows numerically describable tendencies, traits, and habits.” In other words bass (fish in general) can’t change what it is and must operate within its physical limits.
In many respects the book could serve as a textbook of fish anatomy, physiology and behavior. It is lavishly illustrated with electron micrographs, photos, and multi-colored diagrams and tables. It is a great read for better understanding the complex world of fish whether or not you are a fisherman.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is the only book I have found that provides facts about bass backed by research. I am tired of fishermen’s wild guesses and speculations. Dr. Jones as 20 years of experiments and reading to share. Unfortunately much of the knowledge is not likely to help me catch anything. But there is value in understanding and in knowing that much of common knowledge is dead wrong. It is sometimes tough reading but I enjoyed it.
Rating: 5 / 5
Do not buy this book if:
1. You are looking for a practical, `how-to’ bass fishing book with lots of techniques
Do buy this book if:
You want the best book out there to know the how, why, what, etc. of bass so you can apply the science and principles in this book to your already existing techniques, lure-bait presentations, fish locating skills, etc.
The critiques of the other reviewers are understandable if they did not read the product description before buying it. This book is very much unlike other bass fishing books available in that it hardly gives any practical fishing techniques or lure presentation at all. Even though the title broad enough in interpretation to mislead someone into the expectation that they’re going to get a book with an arsenal of how-to’s on fishing techniques or lure presentation, the title does actually hit the exact target that the title illustrates the book is about.
This book truly deserves every bit of the 5 stars rating I’m giving it because it delivers its weight in gold as it relates to understanding the fine science behind the what, how, where, & why’s of bass. The total, complete science behind bass is explained & illustrated here in this book better than anything I’ve ever read. Even if you don’t read the content, the very numerous amount of color graphs & pictures illustrating the points that the author is making or illustrating lab test results is worth triple the price of the book!
Yes, this book is hard to follow at certain points & does not give many fishing techniques to employ as a result of the science. However, the book is a more than adequate to provide a treasure trove of information for the novice to professional level bass fisherman to incorporate into what they already know. That’s because this book will provide a TON of key knowledge for the experienced fisherman to apply to their already existing bass techniques and approaches while using the science in this book to also explore many new techniques not used before. But you will have to use your existing knowledge & fundamentals to create new ideas or make adjustments as to how you will try new presentations & approaches based on the science learned.
In others words, this book is likened to a 300 or 400 level college course in bass fishing. One would almost have to have a minimum knowledge base and experience with bass fishing for the content to make any sense at a level that can be translated into practical use for bass fishing. A novice level or more experienced bass fisherman will be able to mentally translate most the myriad of useful information in this book into many successful changes to their current techniques and even lots of ideas for new approaches in their lure/bait presentation.
This book is probably the closest that anyone of us who are not on the pro circuit are ever going to get to having a sponsor-paid scientist do lots of research and testing for us to be able to develop the strategies that gives us the best chance to win a huge tournament. The information in this book will definitely put you ahead of others in bass fishing, but only if you already have a good, solid bass fishing skills foundation to apply it to.
If you are just beginning to learn or enjoy the sport, then this book is likely to confuse you and maybe even frustrate you. I would definitely not recommend this book to anyone who does not have a passionate commitment to bass fishing & at least a novice level of experience with it. If this might be you, you’ll find a lot more satisfaction and useful content in one of the In-Fisherman books out there such as the Critical Concepts series or anything from Gene Kugach.
Rating: 5 / 5