Is your Boat Scaring Fish?

• Mar 3, 2015

• #1

Micropterus Salmoides

Banned

It’s hard enough to catch fish without having a boat issue that can scare the fish away. Spooking fish is actually a far more common problem than many people realize, and people often don’t even think about the factors that cause it.

Electric Trolling Motors, for example, aren’t always as silent as we think. Nor are our own voices – yelling is probably the most common way anglers shut down a good bite. But there are some other, more insidious ways that the fish become alerted to our presence. In fact, your own boat could be turning the fish off, if you have one of these problems:


http://fishgame.com/2013/01/is-your-boat-scaring-fish/

 

• Mar 3, 2015

• #2

noah3d

Senior Member

I definitely think some of those things scare fish more than we think, but talking loudly in the boat probably does not affect the fish. Sound waves do not penetrate the surface of the water. The surface of the water will reflect these waves.

 

• Mar 3, 2015

• #3

Gone Fishing

Senior Member

I can tell you that pounding the crap out of a yellow jacket with a can of bug spray at Bear Creek in an aluminum boat does not effect the fish biting at all. I know for a fact.

 

• Mar 3, 2015

• #4

B

bird35

Senior Member

You are not using the bug spray correctly.

 

• Mar 3, 2015

• #5

Backlasher82

Senior Member

bird35 said:

You are not using the bug spray correctly.

Click to expand...

 

• Mar 3, 2015

• #6

Gone Fishing

Senior Member

It was for mosquitos. I would spray the yellow jacket when it came up and stun it then pound the crap out of it. Smarty Pants. Well at least I can be of entertainment

 

• Mar 3, 2015

• #7

F

Fletch_W

Banned

#3 in the article is interesting.

Also explains why I can never catch anything I see directly under the boat on my FF.

Many years ago I fished offshore a couple times with a guy who would always turn his FF off when we got over a reef. I figured he was just worried about battery life, but maybe he knew something too.

I'll be mindful of #3. Next time I mark fish, I'll just shut it off.

Of course this can't be the case 100% of the time, as there are numerous people on this site that post pics of their FF marking fish, followed by fish in their boat.

But it's still interesting.

 

• Mar 3, 2015

• #8

pesce

Senior Member

Last year, I noticed that I could hear my newly installed transducer after I switched from mounting it inside my kayak to an underwater mount. It's mounted just behind me and I can hear it making a rapid pulsing sound. I wonder how far that sound carries underwater.

 

• Mar 4, 2015

• #9

T

totterypolebranch

Member

I was fishing at Rocky Mtn. PFA and passed two guys in another boat. Sound carried real good that morning. After we separated one said "I wonder if he knows that red boat scares the fish"

Made my day.

 

• Mar 4, 2015

• #10

Browning Slayer

Official Voice Of The Dawgs !

Wouldn't trolling scare the fish?

 

• Mar 4, 2015

• #11

Gunny146

Senior Member

My boat scares everything.

 

• Mar 4, 2015

• #12

Scrapy

Banned

Gone Fishing said:

I can tell you that pounding the crap out of a yellow jacket with a can of bug spray at Bear Creek in an aluminum boat does not effect the fish biting at all. I know for a fact.

Click to expand...

Don't break hearts , we got to be stealthy ad play the wind. I threw abeer can in the water at Charlesto and all the fish haul buggied to Savannah. My dog barked near a private high dollar lease near Jacksonboro and all the deer haul buggied to Garden city. Like to broke their necks in the traffic jam they cause a crossin the River on I-95 bridge, Frusterated heck outr the weight station. Had to close it down and let the Big dogs roll.

 

• Mar 4, 2015

• #13

sinclair1

Senior Member

Maybe in some cases, but I fished with a guy who would do donuts over the hole before we fished it.
It was some old school trick he learned on the tour to get the plankton active. We caught fish, so I guess it works.
The same guy was the most successful deer hunter I have ever known and wore jeans and smoked while hunting, so there is a good chance something that applies sometimes is being sold as a must.

I have also watched a guy on here do a presentation in a tank with kids banging on the glass and get bit over and over. They are used to that in the tank, just like some fish are used to boat activity.

If you're sneaking up to some protected fish in a shallow creek, maybe this would be the method.

 

• Mar 4, 2015

• #14

M

mtr3333

Banned

Rocks hitting the water while some drunk is on the bank yelling, "get off my hole!" doesn't spook them even at night.