Ontario Shore Fishing Forum

Found this article very interesting.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-33782321

This could apply to shore fishing as well. I would love to study the habits of a largemouth from 2015 in terms of how it approaches our bait and lures versus one from 100 or 200 years ago.

Not just bass, any fish really.

I think the biggest example of this is carp fishing in the UK and the extent they have to go to catch a 10 pounder. Canadians catch them accidentally at times and they're much bigger than 10 pounds.

Canadians catch Common Carp on purpose all the time...and they are much bigger than 10 pounds

It doesn't take that much for fish to learn to evade bait or lure. Fish like Common Carp and Bowfin learn to avoid an area or some bait and lures if they had been hooked before. I see it all the time, especially with fish with distinctive markings such that it is possible to identify individuals.

The idea in that article isn't surprising though. It's just evolutionary pressure...survival of the fittest. In nature, predators put pressure on prey to evolve to be faster (such as gazelle and cheetah). Here, human trawlers play the role of the predator and the prey fish (the ones that escape and survive to breed) possesses the genes of individuals that are more fit.

I posted a report of the first four carp I've ever caught. Such a great fish. Waiting until its moved to Fishing Reports.