Sonars negative?

[pikerliker]

I have a question for everyone. I am planning a Red Lake trip with a buddy in Early March. I happened to mention to him that I have a Marcum LX1 that I recently purchased. He told me that the group we are going with will not allow anybody to use them because they heard that the sonar negatively affects the fish bite. He claims that the fish will actually avoid the area where the sonar is in use. Have any of you ever heard of anything like this with Vexelars, Marcums, etc? I know they don't all avoid it because I have caught fish while using it, but is it possible that some fish are sensitive to the sonar and do either avoid the area or stop biting? I'm interested to hear what others have heard/experienced.

Thanks!

[muchowja]

Have a contest. See who catches more fish; you using your marcum or him not using a flasher. I guarantee he will change his tune rather quickly. You may not always outfish him with the flasher but 8 out of 10 times isn't too far of a stretch. I own a Vex but it is the same principle. Whenever I fish crappies with someone who doesn't have a flasher they are either constantly asking what depth they are at or trying to sneak a peek at my screen. Using your flasher will allow you to fine tune your presentation when fish are present while your friend has no idea when to change his presentation. I personally believe that some fish do not like sonar but it helps you catch more of the fish that are still there. Most people will say that sonar doesn't affect the fish though. There is really no possible way to see if more fish would bite if there was a flasher or if there wasn't because you cannot recreate fishing conditiions exactly using the flasher one time and not using it another. Take youe Marcum with and maybe you'll have some of them buying a flasher as soon as they get home. Good luck on your trip.

[simcox282]

Yes I have heard of that. What I was told is that the fish sense the sonar waves and thus they can avoid it. In other fish they are attracted it the sonar waves such as whales. I have a friend that swears that he catches more fish without his sonar than with one. In truth be told he does. HE catches more fish than those that have one and stay stationary. Now there are other factors involved as well such as acid in your sweat, time of day etc. It is an interesting notion though.

[Borch]

Truth be told I'm not aware of any studies of the manner that show that the use of sonar have a negative effect on fish.

All I know is that you won't see me out there without one. But if you're fishing in his house you need to follow his rules I guess.

But I'd still bring one along. If the weather is nice some exploring would be in order. Bring your sonar for that.

[iffwalleyes]

I have heard that to but the truth is that I have caught enough using on that I will never change. As a matter a fact I am so use to using it now I would be lost without one. I to have never heard of a study to proove this so I assume it isn't true.

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Grip it and Rip it

IFFWalleyes
I Fish For Walleyes
[email protected]

[EBass]

I won't fish w/o mine that's for sure. But red lake is real shallow from what I've heard. Yup do the test. Go explore and bring it along. Lettus know how it went.

[Gissert]

I won't fish w/o my vex, but try this sometime in the summer.

Stick you xducer off the dock, and swim underwater. You can feel and hear it. If a human can feel it, the fish sure can. That said, I have never felt that the sonar is spooking the fish.

[canvasback kid]

i think i read that article in the enquirer!!!

[fishface5]

I turned on both the FL-8, and the Marcum side by side at the store. The marcums transducer is very loud. I don't know how this would affect the fish. I bet it could. Maybe attract them some days, maybe scare them others. I have an FL-8. I won't fish without it. I won't switch to anything else.

[walleyehawk]

I think the only way to really test it is in the water. Take a FL-8/FL-18 and a Marcum out on the ice. Get a good underwater Zercom camera and wait until the fish come in, turn a unit on and see if they react. If not, try the other unit right away. No reaction, this is all talk.

My guess is this is all hogwash. Too many people catch fish in the winter for there to be something to it. And too many people without sonar go home skunked. I think the advantage of knowing where the fish are in the water column and testing their reaction to different jigging techniques far outweights the remote prospect of fish hearing noise on any of the units.

Fishface. I have a homework assignment for you. Get out your FL-8 and go to your sons aquarium with the fishies in it. Put the transducer in the water and see how they react. If they don't react in the small confined area of a 20 gallon aquarium, they won't notice in the lake. P.S. You still catch more crappies than anyone I know and you use a sonar. If this is true, they would have to outlaw you from the lakes if you quit using a sonar.

[Ragnar]

Piker,
Vexlar and Marcum would be out of business if they didn't work. I've crushed other fishing partners (cheeseheads) who were to cheap to purchase one. They couldn't stand it, so they finally coughed up the dough bought their own. I'd be willing to bet that you'll catch more fish than scare off.

[Northlander]

Well theres no way they effect the fishing in a negative way. We caught tons of fish on Red last week with both Marcums and Vex's.

[the olde man]

hey canvasback kid was that next to the article about the japanese fishermen caught a mermaid in thier nets ...sadly they were starving so they smoked her then eat her...

[knoppers]

if fish can feel or hear sonar, they must like it, because I seem to catch many fish.

was using my marcum last weekend, and the gills were going absolutly nuts, I didn't even have time to drink a beer the bite was so fast.

[mpester]

I fished Red Lake on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Out of the group of five, I was the one with the Vex. I was the only one fishing outside the house and moving around. I also fished inside the house. I got about 20 perch, 12 walleyes and about 25 crappies. The other guys got about three walleys, a couple of perch and TWO crappies. I got more fish than all the other guys and I think it was because I use the Vex to know what the fish are doing when they come in. I did work harder than the other guys but I think the key was the Vex.

[canvasback kid]

hey old man you read that one too!!! I thought i was the only one!!!

[Crusher]

I feel that I have definitely caught more fish than missed do to the use of a flasher.
Won't leave home without it.
But one must go with the house rules.

I'd bring my portable just in case.
Maybe next trip you'll be making the rules!!

Regardless hope you guys rip lips,

Crusher

[iland99]

At least now I have another excuse for the next time I get skunked......"darn fish musta heard the LX-3......"

[bigV]

hey Pickliker
I think your buddies are just rationalizing an excuse to level the playing field. They are likely too cheap to buy a flasher or have not used one.
I'd watch my backside to avoid any more smoke being blown up your butt from these boyz.

[simcox282]

Just because you catch fish does nt mean that the use of a sonar negatively affects your fishing outcome. for one study goto www.biology.uky.edu/../yan/amyscholik-v2pdf. If there was not a negative affect of sonar on fish life I do not beleive that there would be a marine mammal protection act or other various groups that are protesting vigoursly against the navy's sonar, trollers sonar, and other's use of sonar. I am not saying that it is wrong to use sonar, I use one everytime I go out--I want to be informed about my decisions and are there things that I could do while enjoying fishing that would be helpful not only to me but to the fish as well. We are all part conservationists when it comes to wanting to fish for life. sorry about the length.

[phin101]

If you want to annoy a friend or spouse, play a little game with your sonar. I use an eagle LCD, that has a demo mode, for ice fishing. When I was having trouble with it, I had it in the house on simulator. It was funny to watch the reactions of the wife and dogs when I'd point the sonar's directly towards their ears. The dogs would shake their heads and scratch their ears and all that. I set it up where I could test it for myself and when I walked into the peak of the transducer, the sound was piercing. It actually hurt a little. I apologized to my family for playing the trick on them. That said, I do think that fish can hear the sonar if they are directly under the center of the cone, but it won't really bother them unless they turn to the side and take the brunt of it on the ear drum. Otherwise it's just a minor tick, tick, tick and probably not noticable under a few feet of water.

[Bob Horn]

If fish can hear it, which I think they can, I don`t think it bothers them enough to turn them off of the bite. If you want to catch fish, then your electronic should be on ice not at home. I think your friends just don`t want to be out fished. I use a LX-3 and had fish in 5 feet of water and they didn`t care. I think it more hipe than anything else.

[pikerliker]

Just an update for everyone. I used my Marcum today in about 7 ft of water and had fish under me all day. I caught my limit of sunfish and threw back more than I kept. I also had a big ugly bullhead to throw in. They didn't seem put off by the Marcum at all. I'll let you know how Red Lake goes.

~Piker

[pikerliker]

Hey guys just got back on Sunday from my trip to Red Lake. I went up with the crew on Friday and didn't use my Marcum until Saturday night around 9ish. The bite had been very slow and the guy who owned the house said he didn't mind if I used my sonar. After marking fish and trying different jigging techniques I caught 3 nice slab crappies in a row and missed a 4th all while the other guys went fishless. Needless to say I had to rub it in a little bit about how "these things scare the fish away"! I ended up tying for the most fish in the house for the weekend all while using my Marcum. Just thought you'd want to know!

Later ~piker

[cold one sd]

The sonar I use in the summer has five times the power that my Vex has. I should never be able to get near a fish with it. Maybeeee that is the reason. LOL

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