That got your attention, didn’t it?
The other day I was asked about noise by a man who’s in the process of upgrading his fishing skills. He wanted to know what effect, if any, boat noise has on fish. Here’s what I told him:
Let’s talk about music first. I play my iPod when I’m fishing. It helps me keep my focus at the end of a long day. It doesn’t seem to bother the fish at all. It’s much like talking as far as I can see. The noise above the boat and the water doesn’t mean anything to a fish. At least that’s the way I see it after years and years of fishing experience.
But, and here is something really important, you have to turn the bass (the low or deep end of the sound range) down – completely off is even better. Bass tends to vibrate through the boat and into the water. In my experience that really bothers the fish. The vibrations are something they aren’t used to feeling. That makes them wary.
So, talk and play music all you want but avoid the bass.
Following the same line of thinking, I suggest you carefully close the lids on the storage compartments of your boat after you open them. When you allow them to drop or bang shut, the noise travels into the water and scares the fish. One of the worst people you can have in the boat is someone who slams the lid shut and then stomps on it a couple of times to make sure it’s down tight. Avoid him like you avoid bass.
And, do not slam or drop your rods down when you’re finished using them for the reason I just mentioned – that’ll kill your bite. Besides, it’s hard on your tackle.
Something else I do to avoid spooking my fish is that I turn off my electronics when I’m fishing shallow. The pinging of the SONAR units might not be something that we hear, but I firmly believe that the fish can hear or feel it and that it bothers them to the point that they stop feeding, at least sometimes.
Rocking the boat is something I avoid, too. That’s not technically noise, but it creates waves and pressure in the water that the fish know or sense isn’t right. It’s not a normal part of their world. That’s all it takes to kill a good bite.
If I hang on a stump, and I often do, I fish the area as best I can before I try to get off it, and I do everything possible to get loose before I start rocking my boat back and forth.
The bottom line on all of this is that you want everything to feel as natural as possible to the fish when you’re trying to catch them. If something – noise, boat movement, shadows or anything else – is unnatural you shouldn’t do it.
It’s never good to scare a fish or to heighten its survival instincts. Bass (the fish type) are predators. They are also prey. Keep that in mind when you’re fishing.
