Forestry-wildlife juniors Xavier Kirker and Kade Evans studied the effectiveness of different baits on different fish species as part of their WNMU Natural Sciences coursework.
Over three days, the anglers tested spinners, crank baits and worms (both live and rubber). They discovered that worms increased their chances of catching a fish — a finding that they discovered relevant across all species.
“It’s important to know what fish enjoy,” Evans said, “and now we do.”
Zoology junior Tori Pulliam and science/business marketing senior Danielle Barba both like to fish. They were experienced wish a rod and reel and guessed at some best angling practices. But they wanted to formally determine whether they’d have more success with live bait or fake bait.
A #WNMU natural sciences project was just the ticket.
Hypothesizing that the fish would prefer actual worms to fake bait, they traveled to Bear Canyon with their tackle boxes full of both garlic scented nightcrawlers and garlic scented PowerBait. But, a 1:3 ratio demonstrated that the fish in that body of water were best lured by fake bait.
“We were able to turn a hobby we both enjoy into a topic we could research,” Barba said.
Both pairs presented their posters during the spring WNMU Academic Symposium.