Electronics "noise" disrupts fish?

[Cane Pole]

I read somewhere most fish can hear 1hz thru 1500Hz. This is part of of our humanoid speech band frequencies. So, when I talked to a crappie, I believe they hears me, but I don't believe they understand what Ima talk about. They open and close their mouth but no sound comes out.

Secondly, what they hear ( if they hear ) would be the ping rate (that vibrating feeling you feel from the transducer when you hold it, which actually is a short burst of the crystal frequency). You can put a pvc pipe under water near the transducer and hear it sometimes, especially if it looses bottom lock and starts rapid fire search for bottom. My take. I am talking traditional 2d.

[prefers shiners]

I remember about 55 years ago while fishing Eagle lake outside Vicksburg.....we were on a long pier and when a boat would come close by the bite would go crazy....go figure....

[TexExp]

Thanks for all the replies!
That clears it up!! bash
But seriously, who really knows what fish think, feel, react to. Fishing tackle experts/scientists check their 'responses' to stuff all the time. Somedays its a noisy, bright pink 1/4 ounce jig with scent and a spinner trolled at .8 mph and then somedays it is 1/64 ounce hand tied ice flea held motionless.
I guess fish are like us. Somedays we want a monster truck rally or NHRA dragsters... and somedays we just want to take a snooze in the recliner.
Somedays we want a rack of ribs or a triple decker cheese burger, and somedays a salad. lol
I like all the 'motor' noise responses, that makes sense. Sometimes it is just curiosity or something different happening in their otherwise boring fish day.

I'll keep checking/testing and see what works on any given day. Trying to get better!
Thanks again for responses. Good fishing!

[Eager Beaver]

Am not sure if most fish can "hear' sonar pings, but am very aware they are ACUTELY aware of unusual noises and more importantly vibrations in some frequencies. And could imagine that so long as you`re "realatively ' quiet (compared to driving pilings in ) you should be OK. Do know sound travels approx 11 X further underwater than thru air, and with very cold water even further. while ice fishing I honestly try to "stealth' after drilling my holes. Anyone figure a way to QUIETLY bore thru 8" of ice?

I never worried about the noise I made while drilling holes in the ice. I usually drilled at least 15 holes thru the ice in one area. I would drill a couple on a likely spot and drop a line in with a bobber on it and have someone watch it and more times than not would have several fish before I was done drilling. Noise does attract fish a lot of the time. I have had a
depth finder down and not had anything on the screen and as soon as someone close by would start drilling a hole and the fish would soon show up to see what he noise was about.

Some say the Navy in certain areas are why the whales loose their bearings and end up on a beach, because of the sonar that they use. EB

[keeferfish]

So, when I talked to a crappie, I believe they hears me, but I don't believe they understand what Ima talk about.

That makes two of us.

[brushnjigs]

Never had any problems using the electronics and we drop shot from 3' under the motor to the bottom. I am more concerned with a sudden noise like a lid slamming or someone walking heavy in the boat. Or the trolling motor throwing a prop wash creating a current over the fish.

[MePreach]

This explains why I never catch anything! Lol

[no1son]

I have also had everything disappear when someone fired up a gas auger nearby. I use an electric drill to punch my holes, which is somewhat quieter, but I still let them rest if there is nothing showing up down there right away and then check back again a while later and often on the second pass there are fish. Punching a hole and letting it rest before fishing it is a common approach, especially on the shallower holes. Of course, if you see the Christmas tree right away, there then is no point in waiting, either.

One thing that shows up real regularly in some spots on some lakes I fish are muskies. there is no question that auger noise often attracts them. Both of the transducers on my flashers have tooth marks from last winter, too. They followed us from hole to hole in some places almost like they are watching for a transducer to drop through the ice. On one spot last winter they even quit chasing hooked panfish and ambushed those we released on the way back down or ambushed them if they rose to the bait. One afternoon a small group of muskies, definitely several, since we both had them on the flasher at the same time in holes some distance apart, ambushed 9 or 10 panfish either on the rise to bite or after release on the way back down. We were actually hand feeding them. We even deserted the area because of it. Very good crappie point on the point, too, when the tooth carps don't crash the party. We both had hookups with muskies last winter, too, and played them for between 8 and 10 minutes, but on a noodle stick with 2# mono, the end was inevitable.

So fish muskies? Not. Season for them in Minnesota closes on Dec 1, well before ice, but they definitely stay active and feed aggressively all winter. Muskies, at least through the ice, are fearless up here, but crappies and bluegills are a whole lot more skittish.

BTW if all you have is eight inches of ice, the quietest way to punch your holes is with a hand auger. You can also hunt in areas that have been fished by shooting straight through the new clear ice that forms in deserted holes, and then only drill to known fish. Just a small splash of moisture is needed for the transducer to get a solid connection for a good read most times.

[Boone1]

I have always wondered if the DF's made any difference on fish behavior. One of the best Crappie fishermen that I know of always uses his DF to mainly monitor the water depth. His stays on all the time, and he catches a lot of fish

[no1son]

I have always wondered if the DF's made any difference on fish behavior. One of the best Crappie fishermen that I know of always uses his DF to mainly monitor the water depth. His stays on all the time, and he catches a lot of fish

In a boat or on the ice, mine is always on, too. I would be lost without that; so if it does have an effect I just live with it.