IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Massachusetts => Ice Fishing Massachusetts => Topic started by: ufirst on Feb 26, 2022, 07:43 AM
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What is your thoughts?. Do you cut your holes set your tilts , and get away from them ? Or stay with them and not care about the noise? To me it depends on what you are fishing for trout and pike in shallow water I stepped quiet but jigging I drop it right down . When we jig we will group together and stay on the perch school. But I wear my cleats almost full time on the ice noises or not I just don’t know
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. But I wear my cleats almost full time on the ice noises or not I just don’t know
I'm curious why you wear your cleats full time if the ice isn't slippery?
Do you catch alot of trout?
Are you satisfied with the number of flags you get when trout fishing?
Do trout tend to drop the bait when you approach your flags?
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You got it right ...." it depends"
The variables on when and how much noise matters are many ... time of day, ice thickness, snow cover, depth of water, type of fish, time off season, water clarity, type of noise, suspended or bottom hugging fish ....
At the risk of over simplification:
minimize any harsh or unnatural noise when you are ice fishing.
most unnatural above ice noise and vibrations will move fish down and/or away
hungry active fish will tolerate more noise
As an experiment use sonar or a camera to test HOW MUCH noise matters. Next time you are on an fish school or bite make different noises and see if/when the fish move or stop biting. As mentioned the above conditions matter. I have fished when a Buckshot rattle attracts and have experienced days when the same Buckshot rattle will scatter fish .... it depends.
Generally ... less is better.
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Does anyone have an underwater microphone/hydrophone? If someone can point me toward one, I would do some recordings and share if it would interest people.
Not that human and fish hearing is an apples to apples comparison but I'd be curious what noises are present in the water and what noises people on the ice near the microphone add.
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Does anyone have an underwater microphone/hydrophone? If someone can point me toward one, I would do some recordings and share if it would interest people.
Not that human and fish hearing is an apples to apples comparison but I'd be curious what noises are present in the water and what noises people on the ice near the microphone add.
I've seen YouTube videos filmed with underwater cameras with sound, you can hear all kinds of noises. I want say Uncut being one but don't remember which ones.
Some noises carry amazing far under water. Think about when you were a kid and banged two rocks together underwater when swimming. Well, at least we did that as kids. Maybe not everyone did. Point being you could hear that underwater from a long way off. And these are vibrations so it's a safe bet fish sense them. Either that or the rattletrap concept is bunk.
The other day we were out before sunrise on a really quiet peaceful pond. Way across the pond two guys walked onto the ice and I could clearly hear them crunch crunching on their cleats even though the were very far away. I couldn't even see them but heard them plain as day. From a very long way off.
Now granted, sound travels different in air, but to think fish don't hear/feel such harsh vibrations from close by is not realistic.
There really shouldn't be any question that they sense it. The question has to be, does it scare them?
My opinion based on doing this a very long time, is yes, certainly with trout, possibly other species that are easily spooked.
Another thing to consider; it's conventional wisdom to believe that fish caught and released get smart and learn to avoid certain baits or locations. Isn't it reasonable to believe that fish caught and released through the ice learn to associate noise on the ice with danger?
There's always gonna be that guy with anecdotes about how he caught a trout or two while crunching around on cleats or pounding a chisle. Just like the saltwater guys who claim false albacore are easy because they caught a couple on poppers with a steel leader.
There's always exceptions, but the best odds are with stealth. In my opinion.
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If I am crappie fishing at night and the ice is constantly cracking, it doesn't seem to affect the bite at all.
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Have you ever been to a ice derby when it starts all you can hear is gas augers blasting holes but people are still catching fish ;I saw it two weeks ago at a club derby.As for cleats I get more ice than snow on the ice this season but I would prefer it quite
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Fish near a military air base I swear the noise and rumble of the jets gets the fish to bite and gets me HARD.
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This is a great question
I have won a few derbies in the last couple of years by fishing this way
I get in the ice early put 10 traps on the ice in a large circle
I then drill my 5 holes inside of circle and put my traps up
It keeps the 4 wheelers and sleds and people away from my
Tip ups I don’t walk around
Usually around 10 to 12 when everyone is moving around to eat and drink and shoot the crap
I will get that one good flag where it’s been quiet
Works for me don’t know why but I’m sticking with quiet 🤫
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If I am crappie fishing at night and the ice is constantly cracking, it doesn't seem to affect the bite at all.
Agree.
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I prefer to be quite near the hole if the flag is up. With that said, I will walk to each hole once or twice per hour on a slow day. Just to wake the bait up. Usually just walking next to the hole you will see your bait take off from the slightest crunch of ice or heavy steps.
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Not right next to the hole but on slow days I'll pound the ice with a small hatchet. Seems to work every time. So much so I have had my buddies ask if they can borrow the lucky hatchet on days I can't make it. Hmm...
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I'll have to try the hatchet trick. A colling fan on a truck seems to do it for pike. Every time it kicked in a flag went up.
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So my first time hardwater trout fishing ever, I caught both rainbows as I approached the trap to check the bait. I have no idea if the sound of my cleats caused the fish to bite, or they were hooked and swam away when they heard the noise.
When my boys and their friends are skating, I can see the perch on the underwater certainly swim away and scatter. Once the noise stops, they come right back to where they were.
Chris