Originally Posted by
A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE
Quiet wins!
For every story you are going to hear about a fish being caught when there is noise about, which will always add to statistics in that favour because you won't ever have any points in the statistic box when zero fish were caught in noisy situations.
Hard to follow, well you have nothing to compare it too for the number of fish you actually spook and could have caught. Eg if you were nosiy and landed 8 fish you say well what a load of crappity smack is the noise issue, but if you or the neighbours were dead silent you may have landed 14 fish. If you catch barra when it is noisy it doesn't mean that all fish stayed. Maybe Mrs 125cm and her two smart and wise girlfriends did a runner? Ever wondered that? You wander through the bush, you talk loud, you see pigs and you shoot two young sows, but unbeknown to you Mr 130kg Boar did the runner when he first heard you talk. You never see him. Wise animal.
Barra that stick about in noisy conditions are usually in a mode where they are more tolerant to that noise and are willing to stay and feed. On the days where they are not tolerant, they will move on or not respond. A barra focused 100% on feeding will cross the line and almost forget where and who he/she is.
In lakes in their early days if you made any unnatural noise barra would shoot off like missiles. As years and experience rolls on fish do become conditioned to boating activity but never to the point where you should go out and make lots of noise. That is a no no. If fish have heavy cover like a massive thick weed bank they can be harder to spook than barra on an open featureless bank.
Commotion from lures like poppers or lures cast onto branches that can provoke interest from barra is the wrong type of noise that we talk about when we use the term spooking fish. Lures are more subtle commotions apart from those casts that land directly on a fish and spook the daylight out of it. Dropping pliers, stomping on the deck, rattling anchor chains and banging esky lids and so on are the bad noises, so too is a barra that kicks and shakes on the deck. The calmer it is, the worse the effect. The rougher it is, the louder the water column becomes and the more noise you can get away with- to a point.
Shallow flats in winter require a stealth mode for best result, but this is where statistics need to be laid over each other to get a better idea.
An average angler might land 4 barra in a session and go home thinking that was super success, but a quiet angler in those same circumstances might land 9 fish. It's those extra 5 that shy away that angler one never knows about. Too noisy!!
By hooking fish and having them jump and splash will undoubtedly kill a session eventually. When a big Awoonga barra jumps and splashes and kicks up the sand and tears through the weeds it will spook more fish on the average day and it is then time to move on and maybe return when things settle, but the initial strike and commotion from the first barra might promote other fish to become keen until spooking takes over. In time to come barra may attune better to boat noise and capitalise on the effects that sound has on bait behaviour, but for us all to run around and make noise trying to improve catch rates is a lesson for disaster. Just because a barra or two get landed when it is noisy doesn't mean that is wise to employ. If anglers adopted noisy tactics on a lake, I'd pack my bags.
Fishing is hunting; hunting experienced animals and cunning fish requires special attention and tactics. A big Groper at the Swain reefs hears the sound of a distant boat generator. To him that means free food.
To a barra, hearing a noisy boat means humans are present, negative experiences abound and it's time to think twice. Fish that might bite when things are nosiy could easily be fish that have not yet got the message about fake food items and sharp hooks. A drop to the deck or 6 mins out of the water might make that fish are more cunning adversary for next time.
Food for thought!!
Johnny
Reply With Quote
) pause that is invoked when blow flies bear down upon us from the hills....banjo in hand.....(ahhhh visions of Deliverance
).
No doubt that fish get used to noise ( boat traffic)
