Do Fish Have Memories?

I often wonder if fish can get “educated” to the fishermen’s tactics making them harder to catch a second time. Any science behind this? Are some fish just smarter or dumber than others? I suppose the same could be asked of fishermen!

Welcome to the IDO forums Bob. That’s a good question. I know of some guys that have caught the same fish within several casts. But that may be more about being hungry than a memory.

I think RRR has a red craw rap story.
There’s a almost 60 inch sturgeon that’s been caught 5 times (first one was tagging it).

Oh are you talking scaly fish?

From what I know and have read… they do not have memories but they can be ‘conditioned’. Sort of like Pavlov’s Law… the animal was ready to eat when it heard the sound of a bell. It doesn’t remember why… its conditioned. I read an article that said a musky caught by someone fishing out of a red boat wouldn’t follow a lure to another red boat but would to any other boat color. I think its things like that… colors, sounds, etc that fish can associate with a bad experience. Their goal is to survive… they’ve evolved to avoid things that threaten their survival. I wouldn’t call it memory though.

Fish having memories is a bit too anthropomorphic to me.

The way BK catches the same ones day after day for different clients, I dont see how they can…….

I believe fish like walleyes and bass do get educated. How scientific is it??? Don’t know.
But on a smaller scale lake that is easier to cover, I have witnessed some intriguing behavior over the years.
Lake X I fish frequently is a 60 acres clear water lake with no weeds. Very limited structure and easy to cover the key points in just a couple hours.
Year 1 – pounded the snot out of L/M & S/M on black-blue (swim jigs, chompers,…) end of the week on there, the bite slowed WAY down.
Year 2 – catch a couple fish on black-blue – over all, very slow. Change to same baits in watermelon, and game on – catching tons of fish…
Year 3 – only a few fish caught on black-blue or watermelon. Change to purple Game On again…..
Year 4……..the pattern continues

So do they get conditioned or educated on the color? I say yes, when its an environment where the majority of the p[population gets exposed to that bait. On this particular, we probably fished to better than 75% of the population or more. On a 1,000 acre lake, presenting to the majority is much more difficult.

I like to think that we are clueless to what fish think, whether they remember or….

But maybe that’s just because the more I know the more questions I have.

I’m with youngfry. All animals can get conditioned. I don’t think any lure really acts like something alive. They are close enough to get a bite from a fish that hasn’t been caught many times or at all. But they are different enough that a fish that has been conditioned by having bad experiences will stick to natural food. Even fish that have been caught on live bait might begin to recognize bait on a hook and line as bad.

That’s obviously an opinion and I have no proof. Just putting together animal behavior 101 and some thought.

But I’d guess from a fisherman’s point of view, this is only a concern on very small bodies of water.

I also think schooling fish would be apt to override the conditioning and bite out of competition.

Makes me think I should try more whites and bright colors at the pond. Been following advice from 2 guys who say black is the color to use. Although previous attempts haven’t worked. The deal is these ponds are loaded with Catfish.