I think fish can get conditioned to any bait... but that depends on other factors: lake size, bass #s, etc.  I think more important that conditioning is that the bass might want the other bait (possibly the cheaper or more expansive one) for its given characteristic difference - either vibration, motion, rattle, etc.  And alot of times the high dollar baits offer something different in those characteristics.  I know I have had some luck w/ balsa baits when the bass refuse to hit my plastic ones, yes they probably hadn't seen the balsa ones b4 (bc they are custom) but I think it was more the fact that they offered more of a finesse presentation. 

- Jon

I guess I'll jump in and share my $.02 USD.  I tend to fish a lot of smaller lakes for a variety of reasons.  I can assume that most of those smaller lakes do not have as many bass as some of the larger bodies of water.  I usually pick my crankbait size, color, and running depth based on what I believe the primary forage is for that time of year and how deep I think the fish are.  I have been fishing some of these lakes for 15 years or so and I still catch fish on the same style/color crankbaits as I always have, and no, they are not the $20.00 japanese baits.  I assume, and maybe wrongly so, that I have caught the same fish at least a few times throughout those years.   I think if your bait choice resembles the primary forage and is down where the fish live, if they aren't in a neutral/negative mood based on weather changes, barometric pressure, fishing pressure or whatever other small thing puts them in that funk, they will hit your $8.00 Rapala as well as they will your $14.99 Lucky Craft hardbait, or your $25.00 Megabass Cyclone, IMO.

The fish have no idea how much it cost, if it looks like food they are supposed to eat, they will try to eat it.

Now I am not saying that the three crankbaits above are all exceptionally made or will last as long as the other, etc.  I'm of the opinion you get what you pay for but I also don't pay $25.00 for a crankbait, period.

  Is it Fish Conditioning or have the Japanese manufactures conditioned fishermen?  Do Japanese crankbaits have on the label in small print, "made in China"?
  Not to get off of the subject of Japanese crankbaits but lets consider a plastic bait. Do fish become conditioned to them? Lets consider the Senko, made by Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits. (Is he Japanese or American?) This bait has been out long enough to where I believe every bass in the nation has seen them numerous times. Yet there are numerous nock-off's such as the Yum Dinger, Tiki Stick and many more too numerous to list here. They all catch fish, yet how many times do we as fisherman use the cheaper knock-off up untill tournament day. Then we use the more expensive Yamamoto Senko.
  Are the fish conditioned to bite better the more expensive bait or have fishermen been conditioned to have more confidence in the more expensive bait?
  My final thought, have the Japanese, due to higher fishing pressure in Japan, learned to produce a bait that is far superior to triggering the bass to strike?

I logged on to take a break and found Chuck had another outstanding post.  Sweet!  My belief is that fish are more "conditioned" to react to weather changes than to baits.  If we are talking genetics and the finer points of evolution, my fishing experiences has led me down a path of trying to understand the nuances of a bass relative to weather.  That said, BigGreen's post is more along the lines of my thinking, confidence.  Why has Honda been such a good selling automobile over the years, in comparison to some American born vehicles?  Reliability, quality, and dependability are some of the reasons.  The quality of the cranks is what leads me to spend a bit more.  I wore out a typical bait on Banks one year in a single day, hooks went bad, lip chipped off, and the hook eye completly disengaged from the lure.  The bait caugth fish all day, but in the end, I had to throw it away.  That was 8 years ago.  I went into the store that evening, spent $18.50 and am still throwing the same bait.  Not sure if I helped the conversation, but wanted to add something to the dialog.

The main reason I like to throw some of the more expensive hard baits is the quality of manufacturing. From rattles to finish to hooks. These traits leads to confidence and if you have that working you pay more attention to smaller details which leads to more fish in the boat.

Comparing plastics to hard baits is apples to oranges.

I think a perch, minnow or shad has looked the same for a few hundred years and bass still eat them, so why does the crankbait have to change to trigger strikes?

I would think fish would get more conditioned to a lure like a plastic being dragged slowly over the same spot for years. When you're talking about a bait that is a reaction bait, it is going to entice strikes at the right times.

Having experimented the last two years trying to throw hard baits more and more...Angler confidence and discipline plays the biggest part.
If you are very involved....like Chuck....You deal with the nuances of baits and techniques and track results better and thusly have much more confidence in application of certain baits for certain situations.
I have...through pre-destined genetics.....and a touch of ADHD....have taken a wide, tangent strewn road that is hampered by an addiction to Senkos and other plastics preventing the in-depth study required.
In short..(Finally you say...) I will be visiting Chucks site very often to hope for something to stick to the goo inhabiting the cavern that is my skull.

Help me help myself.....more info please!!

I had a website were a guy had a bass in a fish tank I cant find it now But he did lot of testing with baits long story short he found hard baits the bass would not hit over & over but soft baits it did not matter.

Ditto Ex-Prez post - A fish is a fish and when they are mad or hungry they will eat anything that swims.

Rev,
 A few years back, Connor and I did a little "test" on a bedding fish.  I realize that it's a bit different but the fish was a fish.  He and I, while on Scootney caught and released the same fish off the same bed 4 times IN ONE HOUR while using the same bait all 4 times!  Point is, if a fish is hungry (or pissed off), he's going to eat it. If he couldn't remember that the bait he ate 6 minutes ago was a quick trip to a boat, rather than a threat to his nest............ I don't care what country the bait is from, if it swims, they'll eat it!
 One more thing, if living creatures (fish, people, animals and so on) become accustomed the things to a point we ignore food items why are we still eating McDonalds after seeing that movie about how bad it is for us?!  Isn't McDonalds like a billion years old by now?!  See my point?  My .02

Russ,

Do you think that may have something to do wityh the size of the lake and the fact that they haven't seen that many crankbaits like yours?  Or are you saying "Fish are fish - and if it looks like food they'll eat it"?

Good Post.

I have been using the same crankbait on Potholes for about ten years now and they still catch fish.

Russ

I will say ditto to Henrys statements  & one more twist.I tend to catch more small fish on cranks I feel this is due to fishing pressure One only needs to recall your high school sociology when we learned about B.F. Skinner Pavlog's Dog. I would think as we catch fish many times toss them in a livewell take them to weigh in they wise up The term wise old bass is there for a reason. Also on some small lakes I have used crank baits that work great one year but not the next so did I catch all the fish in the lake & now they are all wise to my bait Nope I think each bait will catch a set number or % of fish others will never touch it weather they have been caught on it or not.This can also be seen when bed fishing a fish will not hit until you put the right color or size bait down & oddly enough when I fish small lakes I get to see the same fish on a bed more then 1 year & guess what soft baits in the same color & size are the only thing that can get them off the bed year after year. Conversely I have used crank baits to catch bed fish & came back  the next year & with the same crank bait same fish with no luck. Now all this has a fudge factor as all fishing does so you could put that bait in front of a fish you have caught b4 & he is distracted or having an off day & hits it again but when there guard is up I think you may not be so lucky.
One last thought I have notice that when I fish a lake the first time I tend to do well but each time I would go back my catch rates started falling as I started employing new baits or techniques I would see a increase.Dam what am I doing letting such things out you guys kick my butt enough all ready. It was all a bunch of lies just forget it.

Chuck, my theory is different than the two you have offered up. Before I start let me state that I don’t consider myself a “cranker” but I am an angler and seem to own and pack a few hundred of these all over with me and some of them actually get wet time to time.

My theory is evolution and not of the fish but crankbait its self. I don’t think fish have changed they eat what they have always eaten. The bass we target are predators if they see something wounded that will fit in there mouth they eat it. I have heard the statement a thousand times “there is a reason he got that big” true not because they can tell the difference between a crankbait and an actual minnow but because they eat.

I think that good old American crankbait still works the same as it did when I was 10 years old and my dad would let me use is lucky blue and silver one, he doesn’t need to let me borrow it I can buy my own at Wal-Mart. Those good Japanese crankbaits are just more effective louder rattle chambers, more tail wait for longer casts, the finish alone is unbelievable, and the key factor the hooks I catch more fish on a Japanese lure because I actually hook them. Pretty much I think if you can stay in the strike zone longer with a lure that sounds better, looks better, you will get more bites and be able to land more fish with better hooks. 

After interviewing Randy Blaukat I've been chewing on some of the things he said - and wondered what you guys thought.  He said that one of the main reasons he encourages anglers to try Japanese Crankbaits is because the bass in today's heavily pressured lakes get "conditioned" to traditional baits that have been used for several decades.  He believes that Japanese baits differ in profile, vibration, color, etc., just enough to trigger strikes that would not otherwise come on baits they have seen again and again.

The other camp says - hey, bass have brains the size of peas, and evolution doesn't occur in a decade or two.  So it's just a bunch of clever marketing rhetoric  to put doubt in angler's minds about classic traditional lures in order to sell over priced "designer crankbaits" at $25 per crankbait.

What do you think: do fish get "conditioned" in a matter of decades and somehow pass that information on to the next generation of the species as a part of evolutionary "survival of the fittest"?     Are fish "smarter" than they were 30 years ago?   What I mean is - are the crankbaits of 30 years ago less effective today?  Or are anglers just more gullible than before? 

I doubt if this will raise any comments because if I've learned anything over all these years - the members of this club never have any opinions ...  Choke...choke...

Who's first?