Live Scope signal affecting fish behavior?

[thomasthepikehunter]

And for open water, if you're in a metal boat fishing for muskies gotta play Metallica really loud. Game changer... 

I actually know a guy that believes this (not me necessarily). Though when we fish from his boat, he does play Metallica (plenty loud) and we most often catch fish (usually more than one).

That's not even a myth. There's nothing better than muskie metal. It works on pike too. Avenged Sevenfold works most days.

[ice4066]

PRIEST!!!!

[Scranton Joe]

PRIEST!!!!

It's Thursday night and the Priest is back....

[IceAddict87]

I forget which podcast it was either the clam ice team or Jason Mitchell but they said they had a guide who 100% believes Livescope messes with fish. After I listened to it I had to agree as well. He said he uses his to locate fish then switches to flashers. Last year I fished lake of the woods in a shack with 3 other guys, I sat next to the guy with live scope and the other two were on the other side of the shack. They caught fish all day long and my buddy next to me who had the Livescope caught 6 between the two of us. They missed more fish on a dead stick than we caught. I think they are great tools for finding fish and structure but even if I had one I would use it for that and still use the flasher to fish with.

[jethro]

I don't know, the Fish/Hunt Manatoba guys all use imaging sonar and it doesn't seem to slow them down. I can't say because I don't have one but someone in this thread said fish are "learning" about imaging sonar and I think that's giving them too much credit.

[52isntbigenough]

Just got mine in November and used it for a Musky trip. Fish didn't react at all from what I saw.

Had it out on first ice for 8 days and the same. 8-22 fow, pan fish had no reaction that stood out, but I keep it in Forward view

[lowaccord66]

Anyone who thinks they are scaring fish with their livescope Ill buy it from ya 75% off.  Go back to conventional sonar. 

[missoulafish]

Putting it out there now after another month using the scope. Some fish under some conditions are 1000% detrimentally affected by the scope. No, I am not going to sell it ‘Cord;)

[52isntbigenough]

Been on mine now for 2 months of the ice season and have fished a bunch of different water. I have yet to see any fish refusing to enter the cone or leave once I turn it on.

That said, I have scared them off because of my shotty jigging techniques.

[SLAYERFISH]

Putting it out there now after another month using the scope. Some fish under some conditions are 1000% detrimentally affected by the scope. No, I am not going to sell it ‘Cord;)

I tend to agree with this!  Several friends have the LV and the perch schools get real finicky when they are around. You can mark all these perch but they rarely bite.  After a couple hours the schools simply move away.  The schools stay around when Im using just the marcum.

[MLBob]

I caught a dozen perch yesterday in about 20 FOW with my Livescope on.  I always use it in forward mode and I routinely see schools of perch, crappies, and blue gills working their way towards me, seemingly unaffected by the Livescope.

[thomasthepikehunter]

I caught a dozen perch yesterday in about 20 FOW with my Livescope on.  I always use it in forward mode and I routinely see schools of perch, crappies, and blue gills working their way towards me, seemingly unaffected by the Livescope.

I would like to again state that I don't think any possible sonar effect is comparable to drilling holes, or just walking on ice with cleats. That said, opinions such as yours do not really prove anything. You have an observer effect going on where you can't possibly know if the fish are effected by the sonar in any way. The only way you could say that is to watch the fish with a camera, which itself might draw in fish out of curiosity, then turn on your sonar and see if they do anything different. Even in open water, you are in a boat, which itself is surely a greater disturbance than the sonar.

As far as I can tell, there is no true way to test if sonar effects fish in a lake. The only legitimate testing I've seen show fish can not hear at the very high frequency that our fishing sonars operate, or even people, and yet, we can all hear the clicking/static type noise our transducers make. It's not the true frequency we hear, but it does make an audible nosie, and if I hear it in air, I can guarantee fish hear it in water.

[missoulafish]

Ok Tom, whatever you say. I have eyes, see what is happening and see it happening with other users across the US. The more often anecdotal evidence occurs and is observed by more and more people, at some point it will just become a fact and wont be debatable.

[filetandrelease]

 I have a bud that seems to think it bothers occasionally,

[missoulafish]

Yup, definitely not all fish in all situations but definitely some fish in some situations.

[lowaccord66]

I would like to again state that I don't think any possible sonar effect is comparable to drilling holes, or just walking on ice with cleats. That said, opinions such as yours do not really prove anything. You have an observer effect going on where you can't possibly know if the fish are effected by the sonar in any way. The only way you could say that is to watch the fish with a camera, which itself might draw in fish out of curiosity, then turn on your sonar and see if they do anything different. Even in open water, you are in a boat, which itself is surely a greater disturbance than the sonar.

As far as I can tell, there is no true way to test if sonar effects fish in a lake. The only legitimate testing I've seen show fish can not hear at the very high frequency that our fishing sonars operate, or even people, and yet, we can all hear the clicking/static type noise our transducers make. It's not the true frequency we hear, but it does make an audible nosie, and if I hear it in air, I can guarantee fish hear it in water.

Its been tested and the science is out there....go read it.

[lowaccord66]

I have a bud that seems to think it bothers occasionally,

No doubt Fred.  You can literally go read about what freqencies fish cna detect but people dont and then they want to blame livescope for scaring fish.  I guess that's easier to do than admit they suck at fishing?

[thomasthepikehunter]

Ok Tom, whatever you say. I have eyes, see what is happening and see it happening with other users across the US. The more often anecdotal evidence occurs and is observed by more and more people, at some point it will just become a fact and wont be debatable.

Geeze, I'm agreeing with you.

[missoulafish]

I guess that's easier to do than admit they suck at fishing?

I do aight Anecdotal adds up.

[Boglake]

When fish avoid my cone I think it’s mostly due to my jig, not the scope.  No jig in water, fish seem to pass without issue.  No difference between lvs32,34 or 62 when it comes to this IMHO, you’d expect some difference due to the major differences in frequencies of the ducers if fish were avoiding. 

[TheCrappieFisherman]

Livescope has shown us how spooky fish can be when drilling on top of them or walking on glare ice with cleats.
How pressured a lake is, fishes mood, etc all come into play, including species of fish as each have a different lateral line.
If they are already skidish, blasting them with a high sonar frequency could make them move even faster. Because of this a lot of guys are using livescope to find the fish, turn it off and switch to a flasher putting out less power.

We've fished shallow water and low power vs high power on a Vexilar made a difference.  Other days they don't care and are mashing every lure. 

[lowaccord66]

Putting it out there now after another month using the scope. Some fish under some conditions are 1000% detrimentally affected by the scope. No, I am not going to sell it ‘Cord;)

I missed this.  Ive been using the scope since panoptix and now am on my third unit, so 6 years of use.  I posted a link to the actual science and guys ignore it. Scientists are apparently idiots and we the fishermen know better. 

[jethro]

I posted a link to the actual science and guys ignore it.

Birds aren't real!

[missoulafish]

Oh I read that stuff you posted. I still see that the Livescope affect fish under certain conditions.

[sra61]

What I can say without a doubt is that fish are WAY WAY more spooky and tuned into their environment than most people can believe. I have seen fish spook by the sounds of people walking or making noise in their shelters. For sure every time a machine comes near they run. Same goes for augers, even electric. My experience is that all noise spooks the fish. Without Livescope I would never have known just how much my movements affect those fish 20' below! I can't say that I've noticed fish spooking with the scope turned off, because I ain't fishing with it off. I can tell you that I had a large panfish within a foot just about to bite and my screen blacked out, my battery had died! That fish didn't bite, and he was nosed right up to it! Based on that experience I have to believe that no scope scares them off!

[PyroZuki]

In my personal experience, I have to agree with y'all sayin the scope doesn't actually scare the fish. I also agree that with such technology, we are just able to pick up on how the fish actually interact with their surroundings and the different aspects that do in fact spook them.

Pyro

[lowaccord66]

Oh I read that stuff you posted. I still see that the Livescope affect fish under certain conditions.

It affects them all right, right onto the ice for me for future filleting.