To strike or not to strike? That is the question. Dr Roger Munro looks into fish biology and feeding behaviour to help answer this enduring question all anglers have asked themselves. The results are guaranteed to boost your hook-up rates this winter
Many years ago, on fine summer days when the height of the tide was just right, the old road bridge crossing the Loughor Estuary was packed with anglers fishing shoulder to shoulder attempting to catch the grey mullet which packed the holding pools just down-water from the bridge. It was common practice to load a silver Mepps spinner with bunches of maddies and allow the force of the ebbing tide to lift the bait just below the surface, tempting the mullet to take the juicy offerings. More often than not, most of the anglers caught a fish or two except for one regular participant who never caught any. His nickname was Dai Lightening, so named because of his propensity to strike. Dai would constantly lean over his fishing rod, legs astride waiting to pounce whenever he thought he had a bite. With a wide, sweeping movement he would dramatically swipe his rod backward over his head simultaneously shouting “fish on, fish on” and darting backward into the roadway, endangering both himself and the passing motorists – his lead weight often flying alarmingly backward over our heads.
Dai’s behaviour was a perfect example of how not to strike a fish. We have all been there: a rod tip continuously knocking furiously or displaying small, regular, jerking movements over and over again. Convinced that we have captured our target fish, we excitedly retrieve the line in anticipation of a prized catch only to discover that our hopes have been dashed. It’s a miserable, disheartening feeling not helped by the fact that we can’t explain why we have blanked after such positive indications that we have secured our prey. I have always naively believed that if the rod tip signifies a positive bite then a fish has taken the bait into its mouth, but this is not what necessarily happens at the “business end.” The rod tip frequently vibrates because of a variety of other reasons. With the exception of wind, weed, current or crabs, what else could be causing such animated movements of the rod tip?
When a fish first detects an object, even one off to its side, it will turn and face it in order to examine it. This enables the object to be brought within the narrow range of the fish’s binocular vision. Fish are near-sighted and focus on objects much nearer to their eyes than humans do and will often approach very close to their intended prey to inspect it, frequently making accidental contact with the bait or lure in the process. Dependence on sight varies greatly in fish and a general clue to the use of the eye is its relative size. Fish such as bass, that feed both during daylight a
