Me and my freind believe fish are sensitive to depth finders/Fish finders and spook or at least influence the fish to not eat as well as they would have if the electronics were turned off.Anyone else feel this way about turning depth finders and or fish finders off when anchored on top of them? In the summer months we would spend time in the water at the back of the boat and we could feel the pulses in our bones when we had our hands directly under the transducer.It hurts.

First, the sound waves are strongest and most concentrated at the source....the transducer. As they move away from the transducer they become weaker and spread out in a general "cone" shape.

Can fish feel or hear those sound waves...I believe they definitely can. How they react to that is unknown; however, I have more confidence in being able to "see" the fish under me with my sonar on versus turning it off and hoping they will show up or start feeding. I feel that in nearly all instances if you can first locate the fish and present the right bait at the right depth you will get them to bite.....regardless of whether the sonar is on, the trolling motor is running, the radio is playing, a plane is flying over, or you relieved yourself in the water.

But, if you feel it helps to turn it off then certain do so....fishing is all about confidence.

You are over analyzing. Maybe you need to put your head right up against the transducer see if that hurts.

That takes me back to the old time saying " I love fishing"

I used to fish with a guide on lake fork and he would always turn off his graph once he found fish.He stated it made a BIG differance..We were fishing deep water points say 40ft plus.

As for me and striper fishing>>> i always have my graph on..I like to see the fish when they come by.I know what depth they are at so I can count down my lure>>Fish are at 20feet..thats a 10 count with my swim bait>>

Thats just me....

I do not believe that is the case, I think in terms of stripers the trolling motor has much more negative impact that the Sonar.
I have millions of times actually seen fish move up the water column and see them do so on the graph to get the bait.
But to each his own if it makes you more confident turn it off the confidence is half the game anyway!

Maybe he's got a question he would like answered by someone who knows.
I've never tried with my unit off but honestly don't believe it scares them off. I think when they're hungry they will bite. I've been on a school too many times in mini boat shows and the schools stayed intact. I do know that I can actually hear mine when it's on. It took me a while to figure out what I was hearing but it makes a clicking sound I can hear standing in my boat.

Dont know for sure but I doubt I'll be turning it off. I use the sonar to make sure I am always on brush. When Im not seeing it Im moving the boat a little to get back on it. I also use the gps alot when sandbass/hybrid fishing instead of throwing a bouy. having my graph off I would be guessing my exact location and whether there were fish beneath the boat.

Not to get off topic.....but you can turn off the sonar functions while still keeping the GPS functions active.

On a Lowrance unit....menu once on the Sonar page and select Stop Chart. Kills the transducer but everything else functions as normal.

I didn't know that. I thought that was part of the mapping function. Thanks for sharing.

I don't know what the clicking sound is, but it is not the ping from your transducer. The human ear only hears to about 20KHz. Your fish finder is operating between 80-200KHz; that's 4 times over the human ear's ability.

This post needs to be moved to the Bass Fishing section.

The fish finder definately scares fish.
Do an experiment and bring shad and minnows to your boat this summer with lights. Set up some lights close to your transducer and some away from it. Leave the fish finder off while the come up and then turn it on. The bait will thin out at both areas.

I use the bait as an example, mainly because it is easier to see and get close enough to the boat to tell.

Ask my clients how stongly I feel about this, I will turn it off before lines are in the water unless I am drifting.

I can hear my trasducer as well

I seldom use a graph or a gps for that matter, I just pull up next to someone that is catching fish and stay until the fish quit biting or until they ask me to leave.
It helps to broaden my vocabulary and frequently you meet some interesting folks.
Just a little tip I thought I would pass on.
Thinking about making a video showing the reactions I get.

I catch a lot of fish but my depthfinder is on all the time. I also take my gloves off before I wash my hands.
Johnny