Sonar noise?

[Smalliehunter48]

I just fished in my first tourney and got my butt handed to me.... So what I am hearing is that we had our fish/depth finders running the whole time and we are primarily in 3 feet of water.  So all the bass ran away from our boat.  I this even remotely true?  We always have had it on and we always struggle on this lake.  We only caught one small keeper and the guys who won were culling fish after the first hour.  Any advice or info is and would be helpful.

[Ben]

I'm sure that wasn't your only problem.   I'm not totally convienced sonar bothers fish that are 20 - 30 ft from the cone.  I do turn it off when fishing over bass.  I have been a firm believer in that it may shut them down if in the cone.  

I normally don't run my sonar when fishing that shallow simply because it's not needed.  I will run it in shallow stained water lakes I don't know or have a good map so I can locate any channels or cover I can't see.   I've never been in a shallow water situation where I thought the sonar cost me bites though.  I feel stopping and starting the TM or making noise in the boat will lock their jaws a lot quicker than the sonar in shallow water.

[Chris]

It could be a number of things. It could be that you have your fishfinder on fast scroll or your sensitivity on high which will make the fishfinder shoot a signal that's more frequent or louder. It could be your trolling motor is making a noise or from the start and stop of it. It could be the vibration from your trolling motor shifting in a loose bracket. It could be the shadow you cast on the water. It could be that the fish where way spooky and you where to close to them. It could be the splash of your lures.  It could be any of the above or just a mental thing.

[Madhouse27]

Were the guys that were culling fish after the first hour fishing a little deeper than three feet by any chance?

[Smalliehunter48]

I dont think so...but they turned off everything and went silent drifting in the wind...just pounding the water with silver/gray spinnerbaits.... I have determined that we did nothing right...even when I ran us into the pads to do some jigging I left the tm down so it made a racket going in I guess.  Go figure... It was off mind you but still down.  I was just wanting to know if sonar bothered fish in shallow water.

[tablerockkid]

I have often wondered about this myself.   ???

I leave my depthfinder on while drop-shotting however, and catch fish while watching my lure on the screen.  Have even seen them come and take the lure (on the screen).  So it doesn't seem to bother them all that much - at least not all the time.

I wouldn't be running it in three feet of water, however, so don't have any idea of the effect on fish in shallow water like that.

TRK  

[Muddpuppy]

Supposedly the range of sound waves used in sonar is far out of the fish's range of hearing.  Something in your transducer might be makeing a noise that they could pick up on.  We have had this discussion before and someone said that they could hear a clicking comeing from one of theirs when they were in the water.  Since the signals are sent and received if I remeber right ,something like 1,500 times a minute, I wouldn't see how it would be an audiable click.     In 3 ft. of water the area that the cone that you would be viewing would be so small that the sonar really doesn't help much anyway.  My personal feelings are that most anglers that will take the pains to turn off their sonar are also more aware of other things that they maybe doing to spook the fish.

[George Welcome]

If bass had ears that functioned like humans, the ping of a sonar is quite loud. Since sound travels so much faster in the water if they did hear like us you would have spooked them long before you got near them.

"The speed of sound in water is much faster than in air. It does depend a little on your water - fresh vs salt, cold vs warm, pressure - but it is much faster in all conditions - in the neighborhood of 3200 mph or 1400m/s. We can hardly push things through air (at sea level) at those speeds. The fastest bullets reportedly have an initial velocity about 1500m/s."

However, since confidence is a major factor in this sport of ours you need to do what you feel is best.

[Muddpuppy]

You can check these out

http://www.vexilar.com/help/tips/tip011.html

http://www.lowrance.com/Tutorials/Sonar/sonar_tutorial_02.asp

[cedar1]

I have a buddy that does quit well fishing FLW, he always turns of all his electronics when fishing shallow. If I have my transducer out of the water I hear a distinct clicking sound that seems like it would be very loud under water. As a result I now turn off my units also but can't say for sure it increases my bite but it helps my confidence

[Matt Fly]

Your trolling motor puts more noise and vibration in the water than graphs. I am curious to know what type of clicking noise you have. May I ask what type of electronics package you run. I am an expierenced electronics tech and have not encountered that with Humming bird or lowrance. I have seen a in-dash flasher emit a patterned noise similar. When one doesn't need depth or water temp readings, I would secure my electronics. At 2-3 ft, even with 3D or cones at a 45degree angle, your cone isn't seeing very far away from the boat. I will add that chart speed and sensitivity play an important role, big factor is boat speed when determining gain and chart speed.  

I concur with tablerock kid,  I can pull up on a 15 ft brushpile with fish under the boat and catch fish if they're willing.  Never seems to bother the tempermental crappie either.  

[George Welcome]

All transducers make a clicking sound and it is quite audible in the water. However, it is highly unlikely that this will bother the fish.

[Matt Fly]

I swim under the boat thru the summer months, can hear my CD player when on, livewells and other noises, foot steps in the boat.  never heard a clicking noise.  Obviously it has to be heard by the human ear.  Still wondering what units and models are doing this.

[George Welcome]

Matt,

All manufactures, all models - talk to any tech at any company and they will advise to listen for clicking to check if your transducer is working. The clicking can be heard out of the water, but it of course is louder in water.

[Chris]

(Lets ponder this for a second if fish run away from the clicking of a transducer I wonder what would happen if you blast the sound of a Bio sonics.)

If you think that the transducer is preventing you from catching fish then turn it off. In my opinion fish change their behavior when they feel threatened and will leave an area. Sometimes they associate a noise with danger. If its a heavy fished lake it might give you an edge. If for nothing else a mental edge.

[Matt Fly]

since this post, I have checked six boats for this clicking noise that can be heard. No one has heard it. Chris is right the bass should be on the run.

I will say this, I can't find a transducer that is making aloud clicking noise.  If we say sonar, My ship in the navy could ping you to death.  

[Bassjunky]

Garmin and Lowrance both click. I've had both i know this for sure. Asctech is right , if you call tech support they tell you to listen for the click to tell if your transducer is working.

[Ben]

In the summer and winter I do most of my bass fishing in deeper water. I can locate bait fish in ideal locations with the sonar. Using the sonar to hold over them, we can fish and get few to no bites. Drop a marker, turn sonar off, wait 10 minutes and start catching numbers of fish. I've gone through this same situation many times over the years.

I've been using depth finders since 1966 and have read all the research books that say fish can't hear a 192Khz signal, but from my personal experience, over the years, theres something about them they've learned to since and will shut down as long as it's present. This seems to affect them much more while directly over them than when off to the side. Before I totally came to this conclusion, I have been catching fish, turn it on to make sure the bait fish were still holding in the location and have the bite to stop almost instantly.

I've never run into this with stripers, hybreds or any other species but I feel there's something there the largemouth in heavily fished areas recognize. So, about ten years ago I started turning mine off and using markers when fishing over them.

The problem I run into with markers is, if other boats are around, a marker will show them exactly where you're finding your fish so I won't put them out then. Don't want to advertise my honey holes.

[abelfisher]

Why would you want your depth/fish finder on in 3 ft of water? ???

[Smalliehunter48]

Thanks for all the posts guys.  It is interesting to ponder.  I took my own sonarless fishing boat up and still got relatively skunked.  I have come to the conclusion that river fishing has spoiled me and I have lost my interest in lake fishing.  I mean when you have to make 50 casts to get one fish, Maybe.  No thanks.  My buddy and I went to river hole yesterday and it was fish on every cast for an hour solid.... Thats what I'm talking about!  Isn't it somethng like 90% of a lake has no fish in it so you have to find the 10 that does.  Hmmmm.  The river is the same way however it is easier to figure out where the fish are or will be in the river.

[Matt Fly]

My buds pondered this a few times this weekend.  Our conclusion is, a rattle trap emits alot of noise that does not scare fish.    Fish the way you feel comfortable.  Hardly ever does any of my buddies turn any electronics off during the day.  Just chart speed when moving to another spot.