Turning off sonar after mark.

[Todd2]

So I can put transducer noise in there with bananas in the boat, catching a fish on the first cast, or any other superstitions that we blame for a bad day?

[S Hovanec]

I catch too many fish directly under my transducer to buy in to the theory of sonar scaring the fish.

[Turtle135]

While I too have caught bass in the cone of my sonar I have a couple of experiences to add

1. cruising in shallow water (1 - 2 feet) in my kayak I will spook carp when I am actively pinging, if I turn my fish finder off I can slide very close to them without disturbing (these are carp, not bass, but curious none the less)

2. back when I used to fish from a sit inside kayak I could "feel" the pinging where my legs contacted the hull, now that I fish from a sit on top kayak (and have two hulls between me and the water) I no longer feel that ping. Can bass sense what I was able to "feel"? that I do not know

my rule of thumb has been to turn off that sonar in less than 10 feet of water but when deeper it is safe to run it 100% of the time

 

 

[slonezp]

17 hours ago, Turtle135 said:

While I too have caught bass in the cone of my sonar I have a couple of experiences to add

1. cruising in shallow water (1 - 2 feet) in my kayak I will spook carp when I am actively pinging, if I turn my fish finder off I can slide very close to them without disturbing (these are carp, not bass, but curious none the less)

2. back when I used to fish from a sit inside kayak I could "feel" the pinging where my legs contacted the hull, now that I fish from a sit on top kayak (and have two hulls between me and the water) I no longer feel that ping. Can bass sense what I was able to "feel"? that I do not know

my rule of thumb has been to turn off that sonar in less than 10 feet of water but when deeper it is safe to run it 100% of the time

 

 

Carp are spooky by nature and as S Hovanec said, a lot of fish are caught directly below the boat. We tend to overlook that because many of us fish strictly for bass. We forget about all the crappie and walleye and white bass caught vertical jigging off the side of the boat 

[Logan S]

I don't think the sonar 'scares' fish, but I do think that they can get conditioned to it on heavily pressured waters.  Trolling motors, closing compartment lids, and waves slapping the hull fall into this category as well....Boats are noisy.  I've also caught plenty of fish directly under my boat and also at very close range with everything on - So it's definitely not something that's too much of a deterrent.  

I usually turn my console sonar off when I'm fishing but I do it mostly to save a little power (I dim the screen too).  When I go into something like a small marsh creek I'll usually turn everything off and use the lowest power possible on the trolling motor, I try to minimize the commotion my boat makes in those confined waters.  Sometimes when fishing crowded grass flats on the river or bay I'll turn everything off as well.  Can't define whether it helps or how much, but I do know that it certainly can't hurt.  I also know that I've been successful in those situations I described when others weren't, but there are many other factors at play there as well .  

This is a sport with never-ending variables... .

[eddallen]

Never-ending variables for sure.....but, Science is just that, SCIENCE. If we look at this in the same way as we look at the silent dog whistles, it becomes crystal clear. Humans hear sound waves up to about 23 kHz. The silent dog whistles transmit sound waves frome about 23 kHz to 54 kHz which would explain why we humans can only hear the dog whistle when we begin to blow it.

 

If your ears or lateral lines are tuned/built for specific frequency ranges, you scientifically can not hear sounds outside those ranges.

Edd

On 11/17/2016 at 4:01 AM, Todd2 said:

So I can put transducer noise in there with bananas in the boat, catching a fish on the first cast, or any other superstitions that we blame for a bad day?

ONLY if you want to be known as a BAD fisherman