curious to know what you guys think about noise

[deepsessions]

I have been changing up my approach the last few months. I've been making fewer casts and have been spending more time surveying with the boat since the winter has had fish schooled up and I've been on deeper water. My question is at what depth do you guys feel you are starting to spook the fish? I have been surveying in my 12' alum with a 6 hp engine. I try to use the troller as much as possible but on a windy day its impossible! Typically I don't scan anything shallower than 15 ft. and rely on fan casting the shallower areas for a period of time.

most lakes/reservoirs are different I'm sure with boat traffic,water clarity,pressure,etc.. but as a general rule at what point do you think you are spooking the fish? would it be best to survey and drop a marker and come back? if so how long are you guys waiting?

look forward to the feedback guys!

[Guest avid]

My personal belief is that the more you become "one" with the environment, that is the lake, the breeze, the rustle of the trees etc.  The more in tune you become with the natural rhythms.  Your fishing and your enjoyment will improve.

good luck and have fun

avid

[CrazedL.IFisherman]

Thats a very good question leftcoast, the few things i would say are, lakes with lots of fishing pressure like near boat ramps the fish that locate here and rarely leave are used to boat traffic and noise. I was watching a fishing show it might of been doug hannon who said this i'm not sure but, they would leave the electric motor on low while fishing in shallow water rather then turning it off, the constant turning on and off makes its more obvious i guess and the fish pick up on this. l personally believe the clearer the water the more bass notice with sight and also therefore locate better with the other senses such as hearing with a noise where its coming from. One thing that some people still get confused with is they say loud talking and screaming is bad because the bass can hear these sounds. To this day my friends dad says this to us all the time and thats in fact not true. As long as your not causing major vibrations like dropping tackle boxes or an anchor on the bottom of your boat then your all good. Lastly if you think you have upset the bass because of  load noise, just back off of the area and come back 10 or 15 minutes later, its the same as a honey hole situation, i just learned this from another fishing show recently, rather than catching a few and having them signal the rest of the fish that somethings wrong, back off of the area for sometime, come back a little later on and enjoy the slaying once again!!!

[deepsessions]

some good input here guys! being at one with the environment is something I really miss about my float tube  

[MakhuluBass]

I have stopped counting how many times my son has landed a fish casting off the back of the boat into a spot that I have just destroyed whilst trying to get my lure unstuck. As I move the boat away from the spot thinking "I have scared the fish off this spot for atleast a year" and next thing, my son is onto a fish. Go figure....

[Johanv]

I have stopped counting how many times my son has landed a fish casting off the back of the boat into a spot that I have just destroyed whilst trying to get my lure unstuck. As I move the boat away from the spot thinking "I have scared the fish off this spot for atleast a year" and next thing, my son is onto a fish. Go figure....

I have been thinking that as well. But somebody told me that bass look for structure and that does not mean just the normal stuff. Structure can be classified as dirty water in clean water. Where the troll motor picks up muck and mud from the bottom. Bass see that as an ambush point and move in.

Can you guys please clarify if this is correct? As I have also picket up fish wile others were struggling to get lures unstuck and muck was thrown up by the troll motor

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Somewhat related. When digging clams in the bay, stripers often move into the areas that have been disturbed. Not right away but you can dig in one spot, move, dig in another spot and then go back to spot A and often mark fish. (not the big ones mind you, the schoolies.)  There are often flounder, rock bass and tautaug mixed in.

[roadwarrior]

"Quiet" is way overrated.

There may be instances where noise effects fish, but on a commercial river, like the Tennessee, "noise" is meaningless.

[KenDammit28]

"Quiet" is way overrated.

There may be instances where noise effects fish, but on a commercial river, like the Tennessee, "noise" is meaningless.

I agree. I think its another thing in a long line of fishing tall tales. "you have to be extremely quiet or you'll spook the fish"

There are instances where being extremely quiet and what not are needed, like sight fishing, being right up on top of a fish and so forth, but for the most part...a bass will BARELY hear you, if at all. Ever go underwater in a pool and try to hear a conversation above water? Also, bass hear lots of creaks and cracks and splashes and so forth all day, every day...its just the nature of the underwater world. Finally, the more boat traffic, the less noise matters.

[Triton21]

While fishing a tournament at Lake Cumberland I witnessed the effect noise has on baitfish and Bass.  We were fishing a flat that was loaded with shad and 3 to 5 lb Largemouth.  A 5 lb'er followed my non-boater's jerkbait to the boat and when it turn away he stomped his foot on the deck.  We could see the wake as the shad left.  No Baitfish, No Bass.

Kelley

[deepsessions]

I know in some cases bass are going to react regardless of the noise going on and some aren't....I've driven through a few points that were loaded with shad up at Clear Lake only to witness 20 minutes of acrobatics while we remained fishless... maybe I should clarify a little bit....what methodology do you use when looking for fish and what seems to be most productive? do you idle with the big motor over a small or big stretch or run with the troller and use search lures?

let's say either on a new body of water or one where you know the bass are schooled up

[silvercliff_46]

I have to go with crazed on this one. It depends on if they are used to it or not.

I sometimes bank fish on the Peshtigo river for smallies. The place I fish is the same place that they put in rafts for the whitewater run. When the rafters pull up, I haul in my line, light my pipe and watch the young folk carry on. They jump in the water, throw in their rafts, splash around then proceed down the river. There maybe twenty, thirity of them. Once they float down the river I watch the birds, and keep smokeing my pipe. After about 15 minutes I go back to fishing. I caught fish on the first cast sometimes.

The bass just get the heck out of the way, the way I do. I don't know if they got a pipe to smoke, but I do suspect the watch the crazy land critters flopping in the water. When the land critters are gone they go back to messin' with me.

[titelinez]

According to Bill Dance about 98% of all noise is deflected by the water. Especially if there is any kind of chop. Not sure if it's true but I'm I bet his people did more research than my Father who always told me to be quiet when fishing as a kid. I'm certainly not as concerned about it as I was back then. I don't yell in the boat or anything but I won't hesitate to carry on a conversation with my fishing partner while we are fishing.

[flippinout]

I think noise only matters where noise doesn't usually occur.  I worry more about unnatural shadows than I do the noise.  I fish shallow water alot and if your shadow crosses a bed or an ambush spot...you can bet that fish will spook or get a bad case of lock-jaw.

[deepsessions]

According to Bill Dance about 98% of all noise is deflected by the water. Especially if there is any kind of chop. Not sure if it's true but I'm I bet his people did more research than my Father who always told me to be quiet when fishing as a kid. I'm certainly not as concerned about it as I was back then. I don't yell in the boat or anything but I won't hesitate to carry on a conversation with my fishing partner while we are fishing.

I saw that episode I think he's talking about experiments from a padded fiberglass boat I'm sure if you were fishing from either a canoe or alum it may be different..since sound resonates and turns into a vibration through dense material on water....I think he mentioned that bass can hear 30x better than humans because water transmits so much faster.... If you were to drop a firecracker in the water while someone was scuba diving it would either kill them or make them deaf if it was near them. Try a few experiments of your own next time your in the bathtub its crazy.

one thing I do remember about keeping fish tanks (both reef and african cichlids) when I would buy fish the first few months the newer fish would be a little more skittish and would hide in either the reef or lava rock when I'd enter the room. After awhile they'd get comfortable and come out thinking it was feeding time. Also with the african cichlids there would always be a dominent male who would scare fish out of his lair if anyone was to come close. He also had the best piece of real estate in the tank. mind you these are domesticated pets that have no fear of predatory fish.

my main question has more to do though with disturbing the water with either a gas motor or troller and not so much about conversating. Rivers I understand typically make more noise and heavily pressured lakes make the bass more accustom to disturbances however it has also been said that bass that have been caught can relate engine noise to danger. This easily could be a topic split into two different schools of thought since I'm sure most of us have caught fish behind the boat,after we've dropped something in the boat, after someone  has jumped in to go swimming etc. Bass are more reactive I understand and use sight as their #1 source with the lateral line making up for a lost eye, murky water etc.  What preventative measures are you guys taking for piece of mind? Most of the lakes/Res. I fish are clear water so fish can quickly associate any noise with what they see.

[Catt]

Sound is one of those strange things like color; some times it matters some times it doesn't.

I have about a dozen honey holes that are within easy casting distance of a major boat lane, two of them have produced many a double digit bass. I seen times when the lake was completely calm/quite then someone would crank an outboard and I'd get bit.

I can also prove that the bass on Toledo Bend bite better during the week when there is less boat activity; especially during pre-spawn and the spawn when the are thousands of boats on the lake.

I listen to a radio/CD a lot while night fishing and have never seen it effect on the number of fish I catch. But then again when I night fish it's usually in water that is 15' or deeper.

[roadwarrior]

My partner and I play Country Music real loud. The big bass must think they are invited to a party and come a runnin'!

However, they don't like the Dixie Chicks.

[RiskKid.]

My partner and I play Country Music real loud. The big bass must think they are invited to a party and come a runnin'!

However, they don't like the Dixie Chicks.

TOO FUNNY RW     As Hank Jr says "All my rowdy fish are comin over tonite"

[Troutfisher]

Heh Heh Good one Roadwarrior  

Noise doesn't seem to affect the fish here, unless you really make a ton of noise when first approaching a spot.

[Guest avid]

Like everything else, it's all relative.

Go out some night on a quiet lake.  drift into a flat where you can hear the schoolie bass feeding off the surface, and catch one on every cast with a jitterbug.

Bang on the side of your aluminum jon boat.

Now tell me that noise is overrated.  

You can talk as loud as you want, play music or yodel with no ill effect on the bass.

Drop your takle box on the bottom of the boat or anything that will transmit the unnatural noise through the water and it will spook the fish.

If you fish big rivers or waters like Lake erie or the hudson river with alot of big clanking commercial vessels, I'm sure the fish are much less spooky.

Question - why would you want there anyway?

[Z71]

Yes, I think noise can have a negative effect, but for how long who knows? I try to limit banging, bumping noises but as everyone knows it is IMPOSSIBLE  to remain totally quite all the time so I don't sweat it too much..

If I miss that state record or PB because I made too much noise I'll never know it anyway.

[deepsessions]

some good and entertaining responses here guys ;D I still haven't gotten any kind of clear response though!  

main thing I'm looking to find out from you guys is how do you setup to fish schooled up bass in clear deep water....with bluff walls,chunk rock, and boulders bigger than a VW bug....I know clear water fish tend to spook alot easier than fish in stained or dirty water so I'm looking for some methodology on HOW YOU GUYS NAVIGATE IN YOUR BOAT! do you survey for 30 minutes with the big motor chucking marker buoys,make long fan casts with the troller on low, or troll in search of schools.....what is YOUR most productive technique or is it a wash?

[FlipnFanatic]

I think noise depends on what type of water you are fishing....

Here is a good one for ya.... Get your hands on "Knowing Bass: The Scientific Approach to Catching More Fish". It is written by Dr. Keith Jones, the Director of Research at the Berkeley Fish Research Center. It's an awesome read and it will open your eyes as to how and why bass behave the way they do.

I would like to say that I remember all that stuff from my college days as a fisheries biology major, but I have to admit I don't remember a whole lot of it because I'm not in the field anymore...   :-/

[gatrboy53]

noise IS relative.a lake i fish has a canal from the ramp to the lake . at times bait congregates at the mouth which brings in the bass.sometimes large ones.i have made a day sitting at the mouth of the canal as all the other boats go by looking for fish.many times the best action was when a boat came whizzing by.it stirred up the bait and turned the fish on.some boats out of respect would idle by but they did nothing for the bite.it was the guys who you see running all over the lake that think they own the place and come flying by that made my day.

on the other end of the canal is a smaller lake,real shallow,i fish and catch many bass out of. i have been on a good bite and just a couple boats come whizzing by and the bite QUITS for 30 min. or more.time and time again if that lake gets a few of the idiots on it you might as well go over to sampson, cause they'll shut it down in a hurry.

when i fished out of my jon boat i pulled into this little cove that a friend was fishing in and pullin in bass one after another.i eased over to the opposite side and in attempting to lower my anchor i dropped it on the aluminum flooring making a loud noise .he didnt get another bite. i could see the fire in his eyes and could read his mind and i agreed.he picked up anchor and moved on.i sat there for awhile and didnt get bit either.noise is relative.

[Hookem]

Small water....quiet.

Rec lakes.......who cares about noise. Cig boats make more noise than I do rock and rolling.

Besides.....

Doesn't Ike yell, scream and dance on the front deck after he catches a fish, then drops his line right back in the same hole???