Noise on the Water

[Yaklash]

A couple of things got me to wondering about TKFers' attitude towards noise on the water. After all, many on TKF see the stealth of the kayak as a distinct advantage.

This first thing was a response to a thread on this board. The thread about podcasts had a reply about a certain guide’s incessant babbling on the water. This guide is a known trophy trout hunter. It strikes me as strange that knowing how well noise travels over calm waters, that a guide would make regular practice of being noisy. Now, I have been known to chatter a bit and have some friends who will tell me when stepping out of the boat for a wade to keep it down.

On the other hand, a couple of weekends ago, while fishing big trout waters, 2 buddies and I had a conversation about talking too loudly when you are on the water and whether it might spook fish. Later that morning, while fishing shallow & calm/quiet water (and all three of us talking; tho not yelling), one guy hooked a damn near double digit trout not more than 25 yards away.

So what are your thoughts and practices on the subject of noise?

[GoDoe]

Well it sure doesn't help anything. I think the shallower and cleaner the water the bigger problems noise is.

I have poled the kayak right over the top of fish in 2-3' water before they spooked but in half a foot of water that won't work. I have coughed and spooked my target before. I was stalking a pod of tailing reds when the Coast Guard Helicopter flew over and busted the bunch off. I see reds all the time flee from me bumping something in the skiff while trying to prepare to put the sneak on them.

I don't see many trout where I normally am but I would believe they probably react similarly.

Noise out of the water would be less troublesome that noise in the water I suppose. Like banging stuff around in the kayak/boat or even dropping the anchor overboard.

I see all the fish I catch so I am acutely aware of what makes them not eat my fly. Movement and sound are two huge factors in stalking fish.

[kickingback]

I am in agreement with you in a way Yak.
I know that sound travels faster and farther under water but for sound above water to hit the surface and penetrate down deep enough to spook fish I would say it is a mixture if the water is calm or wavy to deflect sound or how clear the water is and what, if anything, there may be that can spook fish as well.
I just can't see talking to a friend 15 feet away wading or in a kayak will make that much difference unless the fish are closer than your friend. I am not "deep voiced" but I would imagine a low deep voice may travel farther and if there is no waves and clear water there may be a chance of spooking fish within 30 feet.
The thump of something loud on a kayak will scare fish for 50 feet or more, I know that from experience. But that is sound traveling from above to below by means of surface contact. Just like a slap on the water will spook fish for 50 feet or more.
But isn't it funny how you can throw a lure or popping cork and make a big splash that that would spook them away faster. But with a popping cork you are dragging it back to you making it clack loudly to draw fish in. That is what I find intriguing...

[Big Kahuna]

To me the question would be the amount of pressure the fish or the area has been having. When I fish an area that others or myself have fished hard recently they tend to be spookier. As for conversations on the water, most of the time when I am yakking I chat and laugh. But when I get into an area where I can see signs of fish I tend to quiet down quite a bit and lock in.

[mwatson71]

Generally speaking I agree with the quieter the better, but I think it depends on water conditions and not just the time you are fishing but the normal conditions of the spot overall. For example, I was fishing a spot just off of deep boat channel and a regular from the bank yelled out “when that barge goes by, cast right over there” and pointed to a spot. As the barge went by, I put a swim bait right where he said. Boom! 25” trout. He laughed. Ten minutes later, he yells out “when that boat goes by, put it right there” pointing to a different spot. Boom! 24” red. I did that 4 times in about 45 minutes. Every time some loud boat would go by, he would yell from the bank where the fish was going to be and every time he was right. The boat was making noise, he was yelling, I was laughing and yelling back at him, and none of it mattered.

I think the difference was these fish were used to the commotion. Kind of like fish that hang out under bridges with a lot of road noise and traffic.

If you are fishing a quiet back marsh, then I suspect those fish have a very different noise tolerance.

[imaoldmanyoungsalt]

When I was a kid I know my grandfather always told me not to talk at all while fishing because any sound at all would spook the fish. Well, I think we can all agree that probably had nothing to do with the fish tho!
Most of my experience is with freshwater (other than surf fishing which doesnt apply so much to this conversation) but I do think noise can definitely have an effect on fish and it depends on a lot of variables like the amount of pressure they get or where they live and how agressively they're feeding or not. I've seen fish spook from the slightest disturbance or noise and I've caught 5lb bass just feet from where my kids were swimming. I think the best approach is to always minimize any negatives and I think noise for the most part would be a negative.

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[Zackthefisherman]

Most of my fishing experience has been on hill country rivers which are usually deeper than the flats down on the coast. Most of these rivers are super clear so I can see how the fish react. Without a doubt, sound has a huge effect when targeting spooky fish. I'm referring to noise such as bumping the yak with your paddle, splashing, etc. I really don't think that a normal conversation level voice travels very far under water. I have no scientific evidence of this, but when I'm swimming underwater I can't hear someone talking above. Whenever someone does something to physically disturb the water you can hear that sound amplified underwater. Again this is not scientific evidence, I might be completely wrong, it's just an observation from someone who has grown up around the water.

With all that said I'm still super quiet when I fish. I'm not a social fisherman and prefer to fish alone. Being quiet helps you pick up on small noises such as shrimp popping which can give away the location of predators.

[TroutSupport.com]

I think you have the right idea Andy, I don't think noise above the water is as important as noise in the water. Noise in the water being boat noise, paddling, bumps, anchors, wading loudly, I've seen places where my footsteps on the shoreline could be felt by the mullet that were within 25 yards and if the sound moves a bunch of mullet in shallow water it could alert a big smart fish. That's probably the other half of the equation, small fish are young fish and and they're less apt to notice or care. Big fish have at least been around a while and in calm shallow waters I would think more noise in the water might make a bigger difference.. As you pointed out, that big fish didn't seem to care that you had been talking.

[Ron Mc]

you hear all kinds of strange arguments against noise in the air - click-pawl reels - no, they don't spook fish.

Normal conversational talking doesn't get transmitted into the water.

Now boom boxes on boats - I hate the things - hate hearing them across the water. And for people who like them, they turn your hull into a speaker, and put all that noise directly into the water.

[Cigarsnjeeps]

I don't think conversations are an issue although I'm sure there are exceptions to that. A buddy and I were fishing and we were talking and I was telling him "that fish should be here, not sure why they aren't" when something caught my eye and two large bows were swimming around right in front of and between us....depends on the fish and the conditions. I normally fish alone, so other than me busting my ass in a good spot or snagging on a rock on my first cast where I have to walk in to get it, normally don't worry about it...

@cigarsnjeeps

[Kayak Kid]

you hear all kinds of strange arguments against noise in the air - click-pawl reels - no, they don't spook fish.

Normal conversational talking doesn't get transmitted into the water.

Now boom boxes on boats - I hate the things - hate hearing them across the water. And for people who like them, they turn your hull into a speaker, and put all that noise directly into the water.

I have found very little correlation between noise and success at catching fish. Lots of different factors at play.

Heavily fished rainbows spook at everything. Reds on shallow flats seem to spook at movement more than wading or talking noise.

Boom boxes on boats?????? I will put my normal calm, forgiving self aside, and have very harsh words with the inconsiderate boom boxer that comes anywhere near me on the water.

[kickingback]

LOL funny you mention boombox. I have a waterproof radio I use on my kayak. I know how sound travels through materials to the water by way of the kayak so i padded my side rail with foam and placed a Scotty quick release mount on it and attached my radio to a Scotty flat top camera holder. The sound vibrations from the radio go through the Scotty mount into the foam and then my kayak if any sound gets through.
When fishing lights at night I have my radio on until I get about 30 feet away and I turn it all the way down to mute for two reasons. One to concentrate on the fish and listen for pops at lights nearby and two so that I do not disturb the residents of said light. I know even a low radio can be heard in the homes in the canals so I respect their privacy and quiet hours. I also turn it down when around other kayakers or people fishing I am passing by or fishing next to.But once I am away and moving between canals I rock out! Helps me focus and think of where and how the bait is moving or where I want to throw my next cast.

[Ron Mc]

that doesn't help the guy a quarter-mile away who because of the way the water surface carries sound hears hears the puh-puh-puh of the bass and the drone of the midrange. I wouldn't like it even if Jessye Norman was singing Beim Schlafengehen

It's bad enough in traffic, but it's anathema in nature.

[kickingback]

That's why I have it on low at all times. It is loud in my yak for me but I have gotten close to other kayakers and they could not even tell I had a radio on until I could physically touch their kayak.
Trust me, i am not a loud music freak. If I can hear it then I have respect for those around me. 22 years of military and just common sense ingrained in this old mind.

[karstopo]

I think human generated noise on the water disturbs me more than the fish. I don’t see any evidence playing music from a boat messes up the catching because I’ve been on boats or close by to boats blaring Luke Bryan or whatever at 90 decibels and caught fish (I almost wish we hadn’t so I could cite the music for messing up the fishing)

I read somewhere that redfish are one of the few or only fish that have different degrees of spooking. I’ve seen this play out while out in the kayak. A lot of fish like sheepshead either are all calm or spooked and there’s no in between. Redfish can be all calm or spooked to where they are heading for the door, but they can also go from being calm to knowing something isn’t quite on the up and up, but they will hang around anyway and will even take an offering like a fly in that state. A paddle thumping the side of the kayak can put them in the semi alert state and then they will shortly calm themselves again. So it’s like they have a DEFCON system. If they are in high alert, DEFCON 1, forget even casting to them. They are usually moving too fast in that mode anyway.

Redfish are just moody fish up shallow and sometimes I think there’s some kind of drug or toxin they ingest in the food they eat. You might laugh, but I’ve definitely observed grass carp getting drunk on fermented acorns. I’ve noticed sheepshead get real weird when they munch on the green algae growing on oysters in late winter. They sort become oblivious to danger. And they won’t take a fly no matter how close you put it to them.

So I’d say noise spooking the fish is dependent on the fish, the conditions, the depth, the source. Too many ifs. Calm still conditions normally make for spookier fish than windier, choppier seas. Hull foot stomping, Irish step dancing, and plier dropping, anchor shot putting and discus launching, dragging the anchor chain across the gunwales and deck, backflipping and canonballing into the water I believe disturbs the fish more than talking and music. Even high fives and shouting and whooping doesn’t seem to bother fish much because I’ve fished near folks that do this with every guppy they bring aboard and the guppies keep on coming.

[Nano-Skiff]

Depends on your voice. Do you sound more like Morgan Freeman or Fran Drescher?

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[Yaklash]

Depends on your voice. Do you sound more like Morgan Freeman or Fran Drescher?

I'd like to think Morgan Freeman; deep resonating tone