SEEING WITH VIBRATION
Researchers were surprised to find out that an old bass that had permanently lost sight was able to feed and survive for years. How was the fish able to do that without its eyes?
As it turns out, the fish has a backup sensory system that enables it to zoom in on its prey with deadly precision, just as effectively as with its eye sight. That same system helps the fish detect prey even in deep or murky waters with zero visibility. This powerful sensory system enables the fish to see by sound and vibration. The vibration sensor of the fish is stretched along its body and for that reason, it is called a “lateral line”. The sensory organ is an extension of the auditory system including the inner ear. It is heavily packed with nerve endings and special sensory receptors called neuromasts, which are located in microscopic pores on the surface of the skin and used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water. When the cilia in the neuromasts vibrate, the fish can feel. The lateral line can also sense and detect water pressure (depth), prey and predators’ movements, currents, and objects.
FISHING AND VIBRATION
Bass will often ignore prey that appear dead, but when it is foraging, the detection of even the slightest movement triggers its predatory instinct to strike immediately.
The fish is tuned to receive vibrations as a sign of life, because often vibrations are created by its prey, such as minnows, shiners, crayfish, little birds, lizards, frogs, and a plethora of insects. All of these species are preferred alive and the vibration that they make is a dinner bell for bass.
The fishing industry has long recognized the appetite of bass for lures with vibration. The market of fishing tackle offers a variety of lures which rattle, click and clunk, all with the same goal to provoke bass into striking. However, these devices are used under water where the angler cannot see, so it takes practice with trial and error to build up skills before you can fish them effectively. These lures are also designed to produce one kind of vibration, giving the angler limited control over the lure’s presentation.
Vibration is much harder to produce in the presentation of soft plastic lures. To achieve some level of success, the angler must shake the tip of the rod (aka “doodle”) with a pattern of repetitions. Despite the efforts, there are many forms of vibrations produced by live prey species that are still impossible to reproduce by the movement of the hand. For these special kinds of vibrations, we have created buzzROD.
WHAT IS buzzROD?
Having the power to control and imitate a fish’s favorite snack has finally found its way to the palm of your hand!
buzzROD is a small, but powerful vibration machine that you can attach to your fishing rod to make it shake like you could not possibly shake by hand. It will create vibrations in a wide range from very low frequency of 10Hz to a maximum of 18kHz and with a proportionally sized vibration power to imitate the exact prey your fish is looking for. You will have full control of the vibration speed, so you can tune it up to the resonance properties of your fishing rod and the tackle you are using. You also have full control on the duration and the repetition patterns of the generated vibration by using a conveniently located on/off button. You can apply the buzzROD vibrations at any time during the presentation of your soft bait lures while fishing them with the drop-shot, Texas, or Carolina rigs. Apply higher vibration speed to lures representing insects and lower speed to worms, lizards, and frogs.
buzzROD will add a new dimension to your tackle presentation, making it more real and lively, and greatly improving your odds of catching more fish.
FISHING WITH buzzROD
The vibration wave travels along the line from its source to the hook and naturally loses some of its amplitude and frequency in the process. The bait in the water receives a fraction of the vibration power created above the surface and with a much lower frequency. This creates a positive effect on the presentation because the fish would not react well to a powerful and loud vibration when it is actually expecting the low and gentle vibrations created by its prey. To optimize the transfer of the vibration wave, it is important to follow these recommendations:.
~ Tune up the vibration speed to your rod type. Your objective should be to achieve maximum vibration at the tip of the rod. Light action, small diameter rods will work best and will use less battery power to operate. Running the vibration module at maximum speed (power) is not always going to produce the desired effect. You should be looking for the speed that makes your rod resonate. That, in turn, will depend on the thickness and the length of your rod.Use a good quality, braided fishing line that does not typically stretch.
~ Use with a Drop-shot fishing rig which works best, as the line can be kept tight when the vibration is applied. Texas and Carolina rigs also may be used, but the vibration will have less effect on the bait of these rigs as it is dragged along the bottom.
~ Apply rod vibration when fishing in water columns no deeper than 20’. In general, vibration will propagate easier with less line in the water.
~ Apply vibration in short bursts, followed by long pauses, which will better mimic movements of prey in the water.