Eyes on baits....

[Chuckleberry FIN]

I would like to see opinions on a question I am asking myself.     I just recently bought a Carrot and Skinny Carrot mold.   And I also bought "eyes" to put on the baits. 

I think the eyes will make a fantastic addition.  I really love the way it looks in the catalog. 

 I then look at the same bait without the eyes. It still looks good but it just doesn't have quite the same appeal. 

My question is this.....   Do bass think the same way I do ?    Do the fish really care or respond to them ?   

Or is it only a mental crutch for the fisherman ?     I may feel more confident in having a bait with eyes.....  therefore I will fish better by just having that little bit of extra confidence in my lure.         

Your opinion on this matter is appreciated.
Thanks !   

[Jerry V]

Do fish think the same way we do?... certainly not, or I would guess that fish would be a little higher on the food chain.  Until we can teach a fish to talk I guess we'll never know for sure.  I think the eyes may have their advantages when you're imitating a bait fish.  The eyes (we guess) draw more attention to the bait as a living, edible being, but I don't think all that detail means too much to a Bass.  If he's hungry and the bait is the size and or color of something he's used to eating... he's gonna eat it with or with out eye balls.  I don't believe that a Bass thinks twice about an eye ball on a bait. 

Teach a fish to talk and then we might get the answer, however I'm not sure most anglers would believe a Bass if the fish told him what was what.

I do believe in the confidence thing though... I believe anyone fishes a bait more precisely, more thoroughly and is much more focused when fishing a bait that they have confidence in.  But that again is a human reaction and actually has little to do with the Bass.

That's a good topic Mr. Fin, thanks for inducing provocative thought to my day, but don't start getting carried away with it.  I'm prone to headaches. 

[MO QWACK]

Well... I think BIG eyes do make a difference but how much I don't know. I don't think a bass turns his tail up at a bait because a bait has eyes but having eyes might get you an extra bite or two vs not having them.
  On a minnow bait I try to use eyes but worms and such I can go either way

[basshunter5]

Just my 2cents but putting eyes on baits may very well get you an extra fish to bite when its tough. But putting eyes on baits  def gets more fisherman to bite. Just as an example I sell the do it bigfoot frogs and I save all the left ovrr sprues and extras and mix the plastic colors to make a color I call kitchen sink. They usually turn out a brown or green and since I can't always control the flake and color outcome I sell them for less. I've caught tons of fish on these plain and even though they are cheaper  baitshops sell  the same ones with the 3-deyes 4times better for me than the plain.

[Billmo]

i agree with basshunter.. the eyes will catch you fisherman.. i have fished the wutz it with and without eyes and I can tell you the stripers dont care..

[Lamar]

   For me where I fish the water is seldom gin clear and the bass hit on reaction. An example would be a bright chartreuse and blue crank bait or a black and blue jig. I'm sorry but I've never seen either of those two swimming live in the water before. Yet many fish are caught on them. I do know up at Lake Erie when the water gets clear the smallmouth will get picky and if your using a drop shot it better look like bait. But the largemouth doesn't seem to matter as much. So if your fishing largemouth my answer would be no. Worry more on putting it in front on the fish in a matter of which he wants to eat it. That's bass fishing in a nut shell.

[Igor]

 Eye - aiming point for the predator. Some fish have a false eye on the tail.

[efishnc]

I'm in agreement with all -
First and foremost, Jerry is right and I've said the same thing for years, confidence is half of catching fish! I can't tell you all of the goofy stuff I've thrown to prove a point to others about presentation (that is, providing the illusion to the fish that this thing at the end of the line is something they should eat)... most times it's about action of the bait, but sometimes, as Lamar stated, there can be an inverse relationship between water clarity and the gaudiness of the bait the fish will hit; so, color can make a difference.  And as Igor mentions, false eyes exist in nature for a reason.  I don't sell my baits, so I don't use eyes... and I definitely get my share.

The reason BS5 sells more baits with eyes isn't due to a 'pretty' factor, it is due to a confidence factor for the one buying.  Think of all the lures bought through out history (except by collectors) - from the lure packaging of yesteryear, to the infomercials with the flying lure - they were all sold because the fisherman had confidence that THAT LURE would catch fish, not because they were a work of art. 

The better the lure looks to the fisherman (in his view), the more likely he will buy it; the better the lure looks to the fish (in its view), the more likely it will strike... which ultimately comes down to presentation (movement and color)... I believe this goes for every specie, bar none.

[ctom]

I seldom use baits with eyes personally. There are a lot of pro's and con's tossed out here though and all have validity. I will add that when the water goes cold up in these northern reaches of the world, the fish slow down and will often slip up to a bait and study it very closely before hitting. This can be documented by those who fish using cameras thru the ice. Sunfish, crappies...maybe the worst offenders of this practice. I have seen times when eyes made all the difference in the world when the fish get into this study mode. I'm not saying the fish needed to see eyes to get them to hit, but identical baits with eyes got hit more consistently than those without. That said, I do think that at times eyes have their place with certain species under specific circumstances.

From a selling standpoint, if people feel they do better with eyes on baits, they certainly will not mind the extra cost to get what they want. I've also had people specifically say "no eyes" and still pay the eyed bait price. I don't ask why the eyes are needed nor do I ask why not. Every bait I have sold to a bait shop where walleye and crappies reign supreme has been without eyes.

Personally I feel that color is the most important ingredient in getting fish to hit and that is followed closely by action, then by noise. If I do fish a bait with eyes it is always put on a jig without paint or eyes. If I cook up a bait that has some great color attributes I'll add eyes to show them here on the site. In this venue everyone likes eyes. I love eyes on baits but I don't feel as though they do enough on a year-round basis to "need" them on the baits I fish with. Even in the winter in super cold water, when crappies go on a feeding binge they'll aggressively pop much larger baits  without eyes so Lamar's statements on reaction hitting ring true with me. Jerry's comments on what the fish "really see" since we can't really ask them what they see pretty much have been my stance for years and years. I will agree that Igor's reference to false eyes makes a point too.

This is a great topic. I never get tired of people's differing perspectives on ideas of this nature.

[Denny Welch]

Used as a jerk bait, I use eyes.  Used as a ds, tr, etc., I don't.

[pjmcla]

I think scent has more influence than eyes or not.

[DF]

  What we go through to catch fish   I think if you like the eyes, put them on, cant hurt. It gives me a headache trying to figure out what bass want. Caught bass on everything and sometimes they wont bite anything.

[Lamar]

I think scent has more influence than eyes or not.

  This is so true. I can come home and look at my wife straight in the eyes and if I don't smell like fish she'll ask me where I've been.

[gone2long]

I believe that anything you can add to a bait that will match the hatch improves you hookup ration that is as long as it's on the days menu Fish key in on different features on different baitfish like as stated the "kill spot" on shad although it's meant to confuse the predator it adds to realism which keeps the attention of the target species and odds say some time your the fly and sometimes your the windshield

[MicroSpoons]

Prey have eyes so why shouldnt the baits. You can catch fish with out eyes BUT why not. Trophy fish dont get caught often for a reason, they are very aware about what they eat. I have seen fish hit baits with eyes over not having them in the same bait and color. Not always but at times you need every advantage .