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Posts: 938
Location: NeverNever Lake | I was wondering about gill flairing. I know in some fish species that flairing actually displaces the water by way of sucking the prey into the mouth of the preditor. I have seen many times fish flairing on my bait while following.
My question is, do you think that some misses are due to the fact that a bait with a line attached can't be sucked in ? Or perhaps this has no bearing on anything ?
My other take on this is that the flairing just allows the water to freely pass through the gills, otherwise the bait would be merely pushed out of the way. |
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| Sometime when you are out in an eating establishment, carefully observe a couple in a heated debate; the female will often exhibit this "flairing trait as the male gestures and speaks. If her anger reaches a certain level, she will suddenly lunge forward, flair, and inhale the dudes head into her gaping maw...he will thrash and struggle to free himself, and this is a good time to say "check please!" Actually, I have seen fish do this while in a stationary position in a none feeding mode; perhaps to rid itself of silt or other foreign particles. I'm really not sure..... |
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Posts: 938
Location: NeverNever Lake | LOL, I knew I could lure you in with this one!!!
I have noticed that the female of the human species has a success ratio of nearly 100%. |
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| The term "Flairing" also may relate to Rick Flair, who would raise his arms at a back angle and inhale opponents, pulling them into his head/chest area...and yes the percentage IS daggone nigh 100...:( |
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Posts: 364
Location: in the white boat | Whether or not the fish is trying to suck the bait into its mouth is debatable. I used to think that this was the intent, but after keeping muskies in an aquarium, and observing them for countless hours (my wife will attest to that!!) I'm not sure anymore. Quite often the muskies would be inactive, just lazily sitting on the bottom and would do the gill flaring thing, almost looks like they're yawning. I also saw it when they were chasing baitfish as well, so maybe this has more than one purpose. |
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Posts: 1536
Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | Some form of "tasting/smelling" of the offered lure. Maybe to tell what it is perhaps. Just another one of those theories of mine. I often see fish following while nipping at the bait gills flaring etc. Strange behaviour but seems to happen a lot. |
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Posts: 69
| Hiya,
The way fish 'bite' depends on the fish, and from what I've read the behavior you describe (literally vacuuming up whatever's being eaten) isn't a possibility for muskies.
Panfish species like bass or crappies feed by inhaling the target - gills flare a split second before the mouth actually opens, and the resulting vacuum sucks in water and the target. If you ever want to see this in action see if you can track down a Video called 'Bigmouth' by Glenn Lau. It was filmed in gin clear water in Florida, and there's a segment to footage on there where a largemouth bass repeatedly inhales and spits out a crankbait with two trebles without ever getting hooked, and without the angler being aware of it. Really amazing.
Pike and muskies, on the other hand, feed by actually advancing and closing their mouth over the target.
Walleyes, interestingly enough, can do either one.
That still doesn't explain the gill flaring though. Someone had suggested 'tasting' and I suppose that's a possibility. My guess is it's just a part of their 'body language' when they are feeling aggressive tendancies to some degree. I know when I see a following fish popping its jaws or flaring gills, I figure it's a good sign the fish can be convinced to do business...
Or maybe they're yawning? Ho-hum. 'Nother bucktail... 
Cheers,
RK |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | I've had a tough time converting those "nippers". My friends and I have discussed this frustrating behavior at length... and have no credible theories but lots and lots and lots of speculation. One friend of mine is convinced that this is a taste/smell test to confirm that the lure is legit.... and has concocted some of his own nasty scents (with some interesting results) in an attempt to capture more of those lazy, yet excitable, fish that just seem to nip at the lure without eating it. DougJ stated in an Esox Angler Article co-authored by RK and myself that perhaps this behavior is a territorial response and an attemtp to scare away the intruder (your lure).
When I see a fish FLARE its gills.... I fully expect to catch the fish, as that usually signifies to me they are about to attack and overcome the lure. Big difference between a "nip" and a wide open mouth (flare)..... so I'm assuming Raze1 is referring to what I call a "nipper". I sure like it a lot better when a fish comes to do business (flare) rather than just tease you (nips).
Oh the joys of musky fishing!!!
jlong |
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Posts: 20211
Location: oswego, il | Sponge, I was inhaled once and was stuck crossways and could not get free. Boy was that a scene at the old country buffet.
I do think the line attached and the speed at which the bait is travelling can have an effect on this. |
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| perhaps we can get Mr.Worral to chime in on this - after listening to his presentation on lure sonics, it's got some direct application.
i've heard it emphasized that muskies are sight feeders - they're using sound to locate a target/bait, but once close are making a final decision based on sight. when a lure is too close to their nose, the muskie can't see it with both eyes so can't make a decision on what to do. this is when i've seen the nipping/flaring behavior (perhaps muskie "frustration"?)...and the human frustration that goes with it, "Come On and Hit!"
what i took from that was: with a close "nipping" follow, speed the bait up and get it out further away to move it into the muskies binocular vision cone (read in: NOT the myth about "simulate fleeing prey"). a good figure 8 does this as well, moving the bait across the vision cone.
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | From what I have seen, I think it is some kind of test. I think the muskie will do this while following a bait to see if it gets a responce from its prey.
I also think the muskie gets some kind if taste or smell out of the flairing.
Last year I had muskies do this and it was from a big girl. She followed the bait and flaired 3 or 4 times that I could see. The Drop Belly Slammer must not have been exactly what she wanted, she tested it for about 30 yards and three times around the figure 8.
Are they looking to get a reaction out of the prey when they flair?
Are they just getting ready to strike and need some kind of trigger?
Will sent help get them to strike?
I am glad this only happens a few times a year.
Just eat the bait will ya !!!
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| Yet another angle...after carefully studying the book "The 3 Leetle Pigs", I've come to the realization that in actuality, the fish is flaring his gills in a huff and puff mode and blowing the bait ahead of it in a vain attempt to "blow the bait down". Anyone who has read the story evidently sends a muted transcript mentally to the fish's brain, and the fish takes on the character of the wolf subconsciously; the bait has become the pig. In reality, both the fisher peep and the fish become a living part of an age old story in modern day times...I'm currently involved in a study of the "Leetle Train That Could... |
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| AHA! that explains why this happens to me most often when throwing an odessey Pig... |
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