How smart are fish?

Question

do fish learn not to eat certain baits/lures if they keep getting caught on them?

Answer 1

fish are dumb as ****

Answer 2

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH WOODCHIPPER once i was fishing and i caught the EXACT SAME FIsh 2wice so i decided to put like a Blue post it and check if it sticks on so i did that and the SAME fish kept on getting caught in my hook over and over (i let them go) but see? in like 10 secs they forget about the whole world XD hahahaha

Answer 3

they have an IQ of -500

Answer 4

I don't know where these other people fish, but I find that fish do not repeatedly bite after being hooked.    I have never caught the same fish twice on the same day, and I have fished for over 50 years.    Also, lures that work well some years, do not always work in subsequent years, so why is that?   Fish have an instinct to avoid shadows, disturbances, and predators, also.

Answer 5

Fish don't think, they react. If you catch and release them, they'll be "spooked" for a while just as if a shark swam by, but they'll be back to normal in a little while (depending on the fish) . I've seen the same fish (for sure -- both were tagged) caught twice in under an hour on two occasions.

Here's a quote from Dr. Robin Milton Love, Marine Biology Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the introduction to his book "Probably More Than You Want to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast":

"How smart are fish?

Let's say you've got yourself, oh, 10,000 mice and you run them through all sorts of mouse exams. You put them in mazes, you give them little mouse IQ tests,... you run them through the whole enchilada. And out of those 10,000 mice, you find the most stupid mouse, the one that can barely get out of its own way. That mouse... is smarter than any fish that ever lived.

I know, I know, you're going to bring up 'Old Mossback' or 'Old Snagglejaw' or 'Old Duck Slurper,' the 'smartest durn' catfish, kelp bass, steelhead or guppy you've ever heard of. Well, you are wrong. A fish's brain (and we're talking about a really big fish) is not much bigger than a walnut and most of it is used for interpreting sounds, smells, sights, and tastes, not for thinking. What passes for smarts in 'Old Squid Snarfer' is really a well-oiled set of instincts. They don't think; they just react in a way that impresses you."

The book is fun to read (he's got a fun writing style, as you can tell from the above) but it's full of good information if you're interested in California's ocean fish.

Answer 6

Fish operate on instinct for the most part- the smaller species such as the sunfish can be caught over and over and over- but fish are like the different breeds of dogs- some breeds are smarter then others- so it is with the different species of fish. In the old days I did a lot of fishing with hoop nets and webbing- a net would load up with buffalo, gar. catfish and crappie- the bass were too smart to follow the lead into the net and get caught-in many years of net fishing, I can only remember catching 10 or 12 bass in them- but I can remember catching 273 crappie in one net in one run. So from that experience , I have to say, in my local waters the bass is the toughest to catch and the smartest fish in my local waters.

Answer 7

I heard somewhere that a fishes memory is only 10 seconds long, which is why sometimes you catch fish that have 4 or 5 hooks in their mouths.  If they were really that smart, they would recognize a hook and never bite one again.

Answer 8

if they keep getting caught on them then they aint learning nutin. they must be pretty dumb if you ask me.

Answer 9

I think they do develop a disliking to some things, if that's the case why don't the bass bite your same lure every time you fish with it? i think that even though fish may have a short memory span, they learn to avoid certain things, Ive found this the case with some streamer lures, things they haven't see before will generally catch you the odd bonus fish, but not always.

Answer 10

some are smart some are stupid i have been fishing and i know the fish are smart enough to take the worm off the hook but stupid enough to get the hook stuck in their mouth

Answer 11

So smart that we spend "thousands" of dollars for stuff to try to catch them!

Answer 12

I'm with Bobby - I've been fishing for about 40 years and I have caught the same fish weeks later but not the same day or week.

This live their lives based on instict, they do learn about what food sources are normally found in their area and what they smell like and like any other predator they learn their habits and where to find them.

  Sometimes fish react totally to instict - like when you cast a lure into a body of water and the fish hits it almost the second it hits the water.  Or if a fish sees the flash of a spoon and the spoon is moving just like a minnow or shiner (that would be found in that body of water) then it may hit it.

If there is alot of fishing pressure they are very aware of the extra activity and if they are hungry they are less inclined to be picky.

  Most times when we are fishing there is alot of food available in their environment already we are trying to entice or tease them into biting.

It takes a long time for a hook to fall out of a fishes mouth if it's lodged in it good - hopefully it isn't obstructing their mouth so than can still eat -and live.

If you do happen to catch a fish repeatedly it is instint - like when a bluegill is sitting on a nest -  drop a fly on it and chances are he will hit it - not because he/she is hungry but because it is invading their nest.

???  If they weren't that smart then why do some fishermen catch fish in one area and others that are standing right next to them not catch a thing????  

They can also smell things on your hands such as gas...

Answer 13

You ever see that Disney moive "finding Nemo"?

That "Dora" fish with the short term memory thing is about dead on, add that with no measurable I.Q. (instinct & fight or flight behavior)