dont work. have a quality fishfinder 1st and find em that way. last time on ray hubbard sounded like a indian dance out there.

It ain't working in the Winter! All y'all did was fooling those hungry fish that suspense deep in the Winter to think that it is "ok" (see, other fish go up and kicking...so I go up and catch me some shad, too! )... so they swim up the water column to go after bait fish (or so they think....) So those fish got a little excited, but because the water is too cold, they just went back down but stay in the same area...(so this might work for you, mais pas pour moi )

It works in other seasons! Y'all should bang ur boat very loudly, especially if you're in timbers in the middle of the lake..............that way the fish git skeered and swim strait to da bank to get away from y'all, and I'd be awaiting for 'em fish in the shallow....

I have seen it not work plenty of times. We have thumped until we couldn't thump anymore and still nothing.

That being said, I have seen it work way too many times to be coincidental.

I tried it once .. hit one fish but then couldn't get my mallet back

I've seen it work in the kayak numerous times. Could be coincidence, since obviously there are times I've banged on it and nothing happens, but probably 4-5 times in the two trips I've taken the yak out, I would start banging my boat (not real hard) with my fish grips, and within 2-3 minutes my graph lit up when I hadn't seen much all day.

Again, could be coincidence, and even if it does work I'm sure it's largely situational as some have suggested. I only try it if I'm not having any luck after a few hours. Figure at that point, it can't hurt.

My $0.02

Situational. if you are on top of content/lazy fish, they will likely look up, see your shad, and hit it. If you arent near fish, you're going to be SOL. I read about this for the first time last april, went to Benbrook for my b-day in may, after 2 hours of a bunch of nothin, i took the oar, beat 5 times on the boat, to hear "stop bangin on my da$# boat!" i hit twice more with the oar, and WAM 5 of 8 lines go screaming down... it can work, but it's not a magic spell.

please don't believe in this non-sense about the "thump". It could cause problems for our lakes fish population.

I have seen it work in Buchanan and other Central Texas Lakes. Its amazing to watch your blank graph, light up after slowly tapping on bottom of boat with rubber mallet. Both the stripers/hybrids and whites come running under the boat. No joke!

I am NOT a guide, but always have a hammer on every boat I go on, or play AC/DC cranked up! It works too!

Where do you think TEAM BUSTIN-LOOSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwHi10qX8u8 came from?

Below is a sound of striper feeding. Sounds like hammer time. My $0.02


http://www.fishbase.org/physiology/FishSoundsSummary.php?autoctr=40

Now we settled that once and for all.
Johnny

Thumping noise irritating as hell on a small lake like Foss, can't get away from the noise.

Austin,

I can tell you how to use a mallet to catch them fish! My grandpa told me he did this back in the depression, so it must be true!

Go to the store and get a pouch of Levi Garrett chewing tobacco...

Put a 1 ounce weight into the pouch of tobacco and drop it overboard at a spot that looks good for fish...

When the fish comes to the surface to spit, hit him with the mallet!

I know, this is an old post, but it's the first time I've seen it, and the first time I've been able to tell that yarn in a LONG time!

Has anyone tried using the Hydro Wave?

Tapping on the bottom of the boat worked for me. Thanks to SandJohnny for showing me that little trick. I would spot a few and start tapping and WOW they would start stacking up on the fish finder. Can't wait to go out and try it again. Have a good day.

I was slab fishing on Texoma one summer and hooked a fish deep. I was mid lake and the water was real clear. I was looking in the water for the fish and spotted the whole school right on his tail. I dang near dropped my rod in the lake.