C&R makes it tougher to catch the next time?

[Eskimo]

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This is a good question.
I've often wondered if bass can become educated (negatively conditioned) to avoid lures or if certain bass are inherently so skittish that they are frightened by negative cues given by the unnaturalness of a lure.

I have seen some big, old bass in some of the most heavily fished park ponds you can imagine. The question is, is it operant conditioning or some inherent wariness that causes them to reject the dozens of minnows-under-bobbers they see all week long?

In my uneducated opinion, it's a combination of both. There is a selection process occurring where the aggressive feeders are removed from the system and the reluctant feeders are retained. In addition, some of the released bass will be conditioned not to eat lures that give off negative cues like splashing down when it hits the water and giving off a lot of flash and shine.