Turning off sonar after mark. 2024
Todd2 reply :
I was watching a show where the guide said after he marks his spot (fish, brushpile, rocks, etc.) he'll pass on by, turn off his sonar ping and then go back and fish. Do any of you do this? Does it make a big difference? The thought being that the sonar puts the fish on alert. I've been playing around with it but can't tell if it's made much of a difference. Thanks....
eddallen reply :
Sonar does NOT affect the fish...they can't hear it or feel it in their lateral line. They can however, feel the vibrations from a turning prop (gas or electric) at the slowest of speeds.
I wouldn't consider this guide's claim.
Wayne P. reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 4:39 AM, eddallen said:Sonar does NOT affect the fish...they can't hear it or feel it in their lateral line. They can however, feel the vibrations from a turning prop (gas or electric) at the slowest of speeds.
I wouldn't consider this guide's claim.
I agree. It that was the case no one would be catching any fish with vertical presentations while watching their lure and fish on the sonar screen.
eddallen reply :
On the other hand Wayne.......we could make a case for, 'If it works for you...use it!'
Wayne P. reply :
Lots of myths and superstitions in the sport of fishing.
pawpaw reply :
I could see this topic going back and forth between the two opinions. I have buddies on both sides of the argument. I don't know for certain either way so I really have no solid opinion. I have turned mine off during high fishing pressure times like the Big Bass Bash but most of the time I don't. I can't say turning it off helped at all, but I'm pretty confident in saying it didn't hurt at all.
J Francho reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 4:45 AM, Wayne P. said:I agree. It that was the case no one would be catching any fish with vertical presentations while watching their lure and fish on the sonar screen.
Exactly!
Choporoz reply :
An interview I read...few years old, but fwiw: When fishing shallow, he turns off all of his electronics to further hide his presence. "They can hear the 'tick, tick, tick' that the sonar makes," allows (Casey) Ashley.
Mr. Allen, I am not going to argue, but I've heard clicking from some (older?) sonars and I'd be surprised if fish couldn't sense it, too. That said, I have no clue what a bass may or may not be able to hear or feel, so you may well be correct. Either way, I also couldn't begin to guess that even if they CAN hear/feel sonar (or any other noise from your boat), I also wouldn't guess to predict how it would affect their chance of taking your lure.
Todd2 reply :
Thanks for the responses....
Team9nine reply :
Can they hear sonar - not likely. Studies at Auburn Univ on both redeye and spotted bass concluded that, “Long story short, bass are essentially deaf.” Their hearing frequency range (<2.5 kHz on the high end) is generally shown to be much less than ours (up to 20 kHz), so traditional sonar frequencies in the 192-1200 kHz range would be well above what they (or we) could hear. I can't speak to what the "clicking" noise frequency is or what causes it.
Personally, my rule of thumb has always been, when I step in the boat, the sonar units get turned on and they never get shut off until I ramp out. I believe what you learn by always having them on more than outweighs any possible negative effects. I've done this for nearly 30 years, and can't say I've ever felt like it's hurt me, at least in the big picture.
-T9 .
pawpaw reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:02 AM, Team9nine said:Can they hear sonar - not likely. Studies at Auburn Univ on both redeye and spotted bass concluded that, “Long story short, bass are essentially deaf.” Their hearing frequency range (<2.5 kHz on the high end) is generally shown to be much less than ours (up to 20 kHz), so traditional sonar frequencies in the 192-1200 kHz range would be well above what they (or we) could hear.
Personally, my rule of thumb has always been, when I step in the boat, the sonar units get turned on and they never get shut off until I ramp out. I believe what you learn by always having them on more than outweighs any possible negative effects. I've done this for nearly 30 years, and can't say I've ever felt like it's hurt me, at least in the big picture.
-T9 .
Gotta link for the Auburn study?
Team9nine reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:06 AM, pawpaw said:Gotta link for the Auburn study?
Dr. Allen's Lab
-T9
pawpaw reply :
Interesting. Seeing this makes me wonder what frequency the Hydrowave is?
slonezp reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 4:54 AM, Wayne P. said:Lots of myths and superstitions in the sport of fishing.
Amen
ClackerBuzz reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:12 AM, pawpaw said:Interesting. Seeing this makes me wonder what frequency the Hydrowave is?
The BS frequency
12poundbass reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:12 AM, pawpaw said:Interesting. Seeing this makes me wonder what frequency the Hydrowave is?
It is pretty interesting considering there are a ton of lures out there with some type of rattle/noise. Wouldn't that be in the same category as the hydrowave or a transducer as far as sound?
pawpaw reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:05 PM, 12poundbass said:It is pretty interesting considering there are a ton of lures out there with some type of rattle/noise. Wouldn't that be in the same category as the hydrowave or a transducer as far as sound?
I would think so but I really don't know.
Wayne P. reply :
Since sound is the topic, do a web search for Bobo's Thumper.
J Francho reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:57 PM, Wayne P. said:Since sound is the topic, do a web search for Bobo's Thumper.
The testimonials are great. 
pawpaw reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:57 PM, Wayne P. said:Since sound is the topic, do a web search for Bobo's Thumper.
And to think about how when I was a kid and all those times I got smacked on the back of my head for making too much noise in the boat I was actually ATTRACTING fish.
12poundbass reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:57 PM, Wayne P. said:Since sound is the topic, do a web search for Bobo's Thumper.
Interesting. It's appears the fish were curious just like I was and then they thought the same thing I did...man that thumping is annoying. Pretty interesting to see them come right up to it though. The final decision on this topic would be from the fish and I'm guessing they're not going to answer that though.
eddallen reply :
What I remember reading is the range from which fish can 'hear' or sense sound is between 160Hz and 200Hz. Our sonar transducers vary in frequency from 25kHz to about 900kHz. There is a difference of 1000 times between Hertz and Kilohertz.
Maybe we could ask a fish in the Pacific Ocean if he hears his mother calling from the Atlantic coast. If there was anything to this theory of fish hearing the sonar pulse waves, I think all the commercial guys would remove their sounders.
eddallen reply :
On 11/16/2016 at 10:12 AM, pawpaw said:Interesting. Seeing this makes me wonder what frequency the Hydrowave is?
I believe that is transmitted arount 200Hz
Wayne P. reply :
On 11/17/2016 at 7:21 AM, eddallen said:I believe that is transmitted arount 200Hz
"A fish is stimulated primarily through its lateral line. The lateral line is naturally tuned to detect low frequency (1 – 80 Cycles) vibrations created by small prey such as shad, herring, minnows and others. The Lateral Reactive Technology of the HydroWave produces these vibrations in patterns that create a predatory response."
That is sort of far away from 200 kHz.
12poundbass reply :
On 11/17/2016 at 7:26 AM, Wayne P. said:"A fish is stimulated primarily through its lateral line. The lateral line is naturally tuned to detect low frequency (1 – 80 Cycles) vibrations created by small prey such as shad, herring, minnows and others. The Lateral Reactive Technology of the HydroWave produces these vibrations in patterns that create a predatory response."
That is sort of far away from 200 kHz.
As usual Wayne you swoop in at the nick of time and save the day. Makes sense what you're saying. In a nutshell fish can hear to an extent and as we've seen from Bobo they are attracted to sound. They can hear boat noise and sound from our lures but unlikely from transducers.
Edited by 12poundbassGrammar error
Todd2 reply :
So I can put transducer noise in there with bananas in the boat, catching a fish on the first cast, or any other superstitions that we blame for a bad day?
S Hovanec reply :
I catch too many fish directly under my transducer to buy in to the theory of sonar scaring the fish.
Turtle135 reply :
While I too have caught bass in the cone of my sonar I have a couple of experiences to add
1. cruising in shallow water (1 - 2 feet) in my kayak I will spook carp when I am actively pinging, if I turn my fish finder off I can slide very close to them without disturbing (these are carp, not bass, but curious none the less)
2. back when I used to fish from a sit inside kayak I could "feel" the pinging where my legs contacted the hull, now that I fish from a sit on top kayak (and have two hulls between me and the water) I no longer feel that ping. Can bass sense what I was able to "feel"? that I do not know
my rule of thumb has been to turn off that sonar in less than 10 feet of water but when deeper it is safe to run it 100% of the time
slonezp reply :
On 11/22/2016 at 9:07 AM, Turtle135 said:While I too have caught bass in the cone of my sonar I have a couple of experiences to add
1. cruising in shallow water (1 - 2 feet) in my kayak I will spook carp when I am actively pinging, if I turn my fish finder off I can slide very close to them without disturbing (these are carp, not bass, but curious none the less)
2. back when I used to fish from a sit inside kayak I could "feel" the pinging where my legs contacted the hull, now that I fish from a sit on top kayak (and have two hulls between me and the water) I no longer feel that ping. Can bass sense what I was able to "feel"? that I do not know
my rule of thumb has been to turn off that sonar in less than 10 feet of water but when deeper it is safe to run it 100% of the time
Carp are spooky by nature and as S Hovanec said, a lot of fish are caught directly below the boat. We tend to overlook that because many of us fish strictly for bass. We forget about all the crappie and walleye and white bass caught vertical jigging off the side of the boat
Logan S reply :
I don't think the sonar 'scares' fish, but I do think that they can get conditioned to it on heavily pressured waters. Trolling motors, closing compartment lids, and waves slapping the hull fall into this category as well....Boats are noisy. I've also caught plenty of fish directly under my boat and also at very close range with everything on - So it's definitely not something that's too much of a deterrent.
I usually turn my console sonar off when I'm fishing but I do it mostly to save a little power (I dim the screen too). When I go into something like a small marsh creek I'll usually turn everything off and use the lowest power possible on the trolling motor, I try to minimize the commotion my boat makes in those confined waters. Sometimes when fishing crowded grass flats on the river or bay I'll turn everything off as well. Can't define whether it helps or how much, but I do know that it certainly can't hurt. I also know that I've been successful in those situations I described when others weren't, but there are many other factors at play there as well 
.
This is a sport with never-ending variables... .
eddallen reply :
Never-ending variables for sure.....but, Science is just that, SCIENCE. If we look at this in the same way as we look at the silent dog whistles, it becomes crystal clear. Humans hear sound waves up to about 23 kHz. The silent dog whistles transmit sound waves frome about 23 kHz to 54 kHz which would explain why we humans can only hear the dog whistle when we begin to blow it.
If your ears or lateral lines are tuned/built for specific frequency ranges, you scientifically can not hear sounds outside those ranges.
Edd
On 11/17/2016 at 8:01 PM, Todd2 said:So I can put transducer noise in there with bananas in the boat, catching a fish on the first cast, or any other superstitions that we blame for a bad day?
ONLY if you want to be known as a BAD fisherman
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