fishing and noise

[WyoChris]

How much does noise from your boat effect fishing? For example, if i have my loud 2 stroke motor going while im trolling will that effect fish biting my lure? Or if im walleye fishing and me and my buddies are being pretty loud on the boat and listening to a radio or somthing, will the walleyes hear that and be less likely to bite?

[musky hunter]

For certain, there is no fishing upside to being noisy. Fish do not "hear" but they can sure feel vibration. Dropping an oar in the bottom of the boat is bad. Just talking at normal levels shouldn't have much impact, sound waves don't travel well from air to water. The boat banging is much worse than the normal talking, because those vibrations travel directly into the water and likely would spook fish. I can't remember an instance where the noisiest boat caught the most fish. But then, noisy fishermen usually aren't paying much attention to fishing anyway.

[Dan Thiem]

This is a very good question. I have been crappie fishing in the boat near some good structure. I had to be very quiet as far as dropping the tackle box, minnow bucket, etc.. Because that would spook them away.

But another time I was fishing in a deep hole on the Zumbro river. Nothing was biting untill some kids showed up to swim and jump off the rope swing. I wouldn't have believed it but as soon as they started making commotion in the water we started getting bit.

But I do think fish are very sensative to noise and that any uncommon sound most likely will scare them away.

[efgh]

I have been in a darkhouse many times on winnie for opening of spearing season and there will be pearch or a small northern laying in the spear hole, all of a sudden they will leave fast and then you will hear a snowmobile or a 4 wheeler coming towards your darkhouse, dont know how noise on open water affects fish but would assume it to be the same, I know for sure if ancored and fishing sunfish you hit the bottom of the boat with a tackle box or ore, it takes a while for the bite to pick up again. I;ve had a lot of experence of the tackle box ore bit with my three sons in the boat years ago, now its my grandkids, but I wouldn;t have it any other way.

[abens1078]

As soon as someone gets clumsy or a little noisey I like to ask them if they feel they could make more noise with the aid of a hammer. Some guys are more prone to making noise so I like to have the hammer in the tackle box when I know I'll be fishing with them. I like to just hand it to them while they are in the middle of something clumsy.

Usually good for a laugh..

[hip_hop_fisherman]

Thats a good idea, I know exactly what you mean!

[gspman]

I've found the fish like Johnny Cash playing in the background. Especially the Folsom Prison album. Works great while ice fishing.

[kslipsinker]

A fish can sense another fish through their lateral line. If you are making noise in a boat, you can only imagine how "loud " that would be for a fish. Anything that is an unnatuaral sound will spook them.

[Slyster]

What about fish finders? I can hear the clicks myself through my aluminum floar.. can't the fish?

[Hooked On a Feeling]

I once believed that absolute silience was neccesary, but more often than not I have motor running, tunes on, and seem to catch fish on a consistant basis. I do, at night, or calm conditions, use sileince as much as possible. And most of my walleye fishing is 15 feet or less of water.

Hooked

[guideman]

There are situations where fish can be very very spooky. Shallow water, clear water and lakes that get a lot of fishing presure. I was fortunate to have fished several days with a FLW touring pro a few years back. Any time we fished shallower than 6ft, he would shut off his electronics. He told me of some studies that were done with bass, back in his home state of Maryland.

They found that under some conditions, even your locator will spook fish in shallow water. He had been doing this for a couple years and he said it did appear to make a difference, especially with Smallmouth.

I know since I stopped listening to music while I fish, my catch rate has gone up. I also found out how much I enjoyed the quiet and I started to see

and to notice much more about what was going on around me.

But Hey, that's just me!

"Ace"