Sound and the bite

[Phone]

All,

 

Today at coffee the subject turned to sound. Not regular everyday sound but the sounds made by radios with the ability to break your ear drums.

 

They are quite common on pleasure boats in the US.

 

How do you reckon fish respond to sounds loud enough to make the water ripple? Especially the base boom boom boom.

 

Phone

[Ken L]

Natural sounds can be pretty loud too

 

[Phone]

All,

 

Come on - this is your chance. You younger guys should have a better idea than those of us who pre-date this technology.

 

As for natural sound. I can't attest to sound per-se but I know small earthquake trimmers shut the bite down for a while with some species. I guess, or suspect the "waves" would be about the same.

 

Phone

[jack1432]

Catfish anglers (mainly in France I believe) use a device which the name escapes me, where they go out in a boat and hit the top of the water with this device and it makes a low gulping sound. It attracts the catfish and bingo fish on.

 

I'm not a catfish angler but I have watched them do it on the tele and read about it in books, but I may stand corrected.

 

I watched a match men on a carp lake a few years back and he kept on casting to the same spot over and over again with his feeder (no bait on the hook or in the feeder) for about 25 minutes, I thought he must be made " he will spook all the fish" I thought.....I was wrong. The moment he put a bait on the hook he never stopped catching all match and he Won.

 

My theory is the carp must associate the noise of the feeder with food.

 

But as for things like radios I haven't got the foggiest idea I'm afraid Phone.

Edited September 16, 2013 by jack1432

[Phone]

jack,

 

Here's what I think you are talking about (I think(?)). Klonk or Clonk

 

 

 

Not exactly the "sounds" I was talking about. We use sound recordings to attract grass carp too.

 

While they (loud music with lots of bass) were "hot topic" at coffee it doesn't seem to generate much comment in the UK. Our discussion mostly revolved around "whippersnappers" ruining our fishing - - - probably isn't true - - - - but maybe?

 

Phone

[jack1432]

That's it, a clonk.

 

jack,

 

 

Not exactly the "sounds" I was talking about.

 

 

My bad.

[Phone]

Jack,

 

HECK NO ! Your GOOD. I hadn't even considered klonking as a positive. You got me thinking.

 

This kind of boom-da-boom-da-boom at 90 decibles may not be popular in the UK (?).

 

Phone

[Anderoo]

Absolutely fish respond to such noises, and not usually in a good way! And they are often not nearly as loud as making the water ripple...

 

I firmly believe that if we knew just how many fish we scare away from us, we'd probably take up golf.

 

On some waters It's probably true that you can make a certain noise for a Pavlovian 'dinner bell' response, but I don't think this is the case on most types of water.

 

I guess there are 2 main ways to frighten fish, by sight and by noise/vibration. Some species seem quite hard to scare on one way but easy in the other. Some species are just out-and-out spooky all the time. In general, the fewer individuals there are and the more available food, the spookier they'll be.

 

Hammering in bivvy pegs or having a radio up loud is unlikely to do you any favours, just like standing on the skyline and pering into clear water (even if you do wear camo).

 

Interesting topic...

[goosequill]

I have always considered that bankside vibrations are a no no.

A lovely old carp lake I used to fish in Devon allowed me to spend hours and hours watching carp next to the bank. Any bad footsteps or clanging on the bank was a negative. Likewise movement on skylines was a bad bad idea. I undertook various experiments with voice levels and even screamed on occasions to observe the carps reactions which was not as bad as the thumping of feet/equipment or skyline movements. However if fish are used to certain noises (traffic on bridges for example) then most of what I have said is tosh. It's an interesting topic and I suspect it varies from water to water.

[jack1432]

I have always considered that bankside vibrations are a no no.

 

I agree that if you drop your gear on the bank the fish in the margin in front of you will spook, I've seen it happen. But vibrations on the water that originate say...10 meters out I think can be good in a way. An example is when I used to fish a farm pond for roach on the pole I used to use a pole pot and drop 5 or 6 maggots in the water from about 4 meters in the air and the maggots used to make a bigger splash than throwing them from the bank. Soon I notice the fish had come up in the water and I was catching them about 6 inches under the surface.

 

Then I was running low on maggots so I just dropped in lake water from the same height and I could see the roach darting about under the surface, the same way as when I dropped the maggots in. But if you tried this with chub or barbel on a crystal clear river it will properly have a completely opposite effect

 

I think if the fish accociate a certain vibration with food it will attract the fish rather than spook them. Anyone else had a similar experience?

Edited September 18, 2013 by jack1432