Reaction strike

Predatory fish have a hardwired response to something fleeing or fluttering nearby. It fires before any decision about whether they are hungry. A bass that has ignored a bait all morning will crush it the instant it snaps out of a grass stalk.

This is the working principle behind several techniques. Ripping a lipless crankbait free of grass, deflecting a squarebill off a stump, snapping a jerkbait sideways, and hopping a blade bait off the bottom are all attempts to produce the same involuntary reaction.

It is the answer to a tough day. When fish are not feeding, changing color rarely fixes anything, but changing to something that triggers a reflex often does.

It explains a lot of otherwise odd lure choices. Chrome, chartreuse and other colors nothing in the lake resembles work because the goal is not to look edible, it is to look like something escaping.