Slough Crew | Wed Dec-31-08 10:30 AM |
Member since Jan 22nd 2006
177 posts
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#10902, "RE: Boat spook"
In response to Reply # 0
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I try to be as stealthy as possible when I'm fishing. One of my buddies always steps down from the deck to the bottom of the boat very hard. When his feet hit the floor it sounds like somebody dropped a brick. He always slams the lids on the compartments too. I am always reminding him to be a little more quiet because that sound will travel a long way and scares fish. Subsequently he hasn't caught many big fish.
Sometimes if I am very familiar with a spot and don't need my electronics I will turn them off. I'm not sure if it makes a difference but it can't hurt. Last year I experimented with an anchor, I'm sure alot of you guys have done this before but it was a first for me. It was actually kind of a relief not having to hit the trolling motor all of the time to reposition the boat.
I think you would need to have a log like Nico and Rob's log and have kept track of all these different variables over an extended time period to see if any of this stuff works. I guess if it means a couple more fish and year it's worth it. Jake J
http://calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/jakej/
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Sacto John | Wed Dec-31-08 12:41 PM |
Charter member
1105 posts
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#10904, "RE: Boat spook"
In response to Reply # 2
Wed Dec-31-08 12:44 PM by Sacto John
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I am sure there is something to the fact that I always seem to catch better fish when I am fishing alone. As anyone who has fished with me can attest I like to talk, and I have a feeling that even this sound is transmitted to the fish.
I fish Folsom lake quite a bit and it is one of the busiest lakes in Northern California. I have noticed that while the fishing gets tougher when the skiers and pleasure boats come out you do not need to be a stealthy. As an example I was on a pod of fish this last April-November. The same group of fish were on one of three points every trip I took. Early in the mornings before it got crazy with boat traffic the fish were very spooky, but more willing to eat a bait, especially the bigger fish in the group. Now when the boat traffic would pick up in the late mornings into the afternoon I would get far more fish following my baits, but only the smaller fish in the pod were willing to eat. The most success I had with the bigger fish in this pod was rolling up on them quietly, with no electronics, before the boat traffic got heavy.
When they put the 5MPH restriction on the lake this in early fall, I found that I had a harder time locating the fish because they were more spooky. It took me knowing that the fish were there to figure out that I needed to be a bit more stealthy in my approach and sure enough I would get the fish to show themselves and sometimes eat. Going back to what I said above about being not as quite when fishing with others, I tried to show a buddy of mine this pod of fish on three different times and the only time we had any followers was in the middle of the day when the skiers were everywhere and never when we had the lake to ourselves. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have-yous
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swimbait | Wed Dec-31-08 01:07 PM |
Charter member
9890 posts
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#10905, "RE: Boat spook"
In response to Reply # 0
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Nico - I think you should put a 1/2" pad and some shag carpet in the new boat :) That would cut down on noise, not to mention how cool it would be to have shag carpet in a boat.
Aright seriously... noise is half of the problem trying to catch a big bass IMO. If it were possible to get a boat that was 100% silent, you could catch a ton more fish. Oh wait, that's called a float tube or a kickboat :) But then of course the problem is that you can't go very far in a rig like that.
There's been a few times when I've been lucky enough to get on a big school of prespawn swimbait eating bass from my kickboat/tube, and it's a big difference between that and a regular boat. You can lay cast after perfect cast in the right spot without moving or making any real amount of noise. A lot of times in a boat you can pull in and get a fish but then you have to leave for a while to get another one. So instead of capitalizing during the time when the fish want to bite most you have to kill time and catch less fish total.
I hate hate hate the fact that my aluminum boat makes a ton of noise fishing upwind. Splash, splish, slap, splash, splash. Ugggggggg. The worst. I think it's due to the raised metal ribs on the boat. As a result, I always fish downwind, like Nico says. Glass boats are quieter. They do displace more water which I think is bad, but on a windy day I'd much prefer to be in one. Certain glass boats seem quieter than others depending on the shape of the bow.
The drawbacks of glass is that you have more electronics. Fish finder, bilge, aerator, etc. You want big bass consistenly you need to turn all that off. The irony is that in tournaments you often want/need to turn it all on. Could be a reason why so many people catch big fish in practice and small fish come tournament day. Just my opinion.
Sometimes big bass act real stupid in spite of noise, but most times they don't. The more variables like noise you can eliminate the better off you are.
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Matt Peters | Wed Dec-31-08 04:06 PM |
Charter member
2036 posts
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#10907, "RE: Boat spook"
In response to Reply # 5
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Man, heavy topic.
I 100% agree that boat noise is a huge issue with guys. The other closely related topic is boat positioning. Some guys have problems not getting into the rhythm and flow of the conditions.
For example, when I'm fishing really well, I can fish a row of docks with minimal touches to the trolling motor for minimal durations. You have to stop and start a lot dock fishing, and the less do, or less overshooting and backing up stuff the way better. I'm learning this in my new Z520. I've never owned a MinnKota, and I've never had a recessed trolling motor mount on the deck. I must say, Minn Kota is impressive. Not saying better than Motorguide thus far, but impressive. Quiter, and less jerky/smoother. I love the built in transducer thing and connection to Lowrance. Getting off topic, but trolling motor noise best keep to a minimum. When I'm burning a bait and covering a lot of water, I pretty much have the trolling motor on the last 10 feet or so, if I can see no fish is following or on the bait. Occassionally, I get burned, but the idea is have your foot on the trolling motor as your bait is out of the water, even in flight, during the casting process.
Turn off your electronics period when trophy hunting. No front or back graphs, no auto bilge, no aerators. Release your fish quick: take your pictures, party with your catch, and be done with it.
I am always trying to improve my boat positioning. I now have a boat w/GPS so having the main graph on while the gas engine is running, and getting right on spots and places I have marked. That is huge in my mind in some situations for landing right on your fish.
Slapping water on your hull, agreed. Again boat position better, and definitely don't fight wind and current if you don't have to. Go with it.
Nico, have you found bluegrass music or something? You have truly been talking about the finer things in bigbait fishing. I love the topics. They are on point.
Shaka all, Happy New Year.
Matt
southernswimbait.com BigBait Fishing in the South
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Oliver | Fri Jan-02-09 10:29 AM |
Member since Jan 12th 2009
238 posts
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#10922, "RE: Boat spook"
In response to Reply # 0
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I absolutely hate it when the person I'm fishing with makes noise. I honestly prefer fishing out of my 14' tin can than a full size fiberglass boat when I can get away with it just because I can get a little bit sneakier.
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