One of the strongest theories that I hold is that catchability is most strongly influenced, not by hunger, but by perceived competition.

In other words, if a fish is full or not, if it can see another fish, especially a small aggressive fish that has the chance to snatch the bait away it will respond by "throwing caution to the wind". This could explain some perceptual differences between catchability and its relationship to satiation.

I've watched it personally many times. A fish comes up to the offering, hesitates, then sees one of his buddies making a move to steal it. The results in a sudden "race" to the prize. I personally don't think that any artificial lures look as good to the fish as we think. I believe that a fish is hard-wired to act more quickly and agressively when there is the threat of losing the opportunity.

Holding a redear sunfish is like running with scissors.