FINALLY..Proof Whether Motor Noise of Trolling Motors Spook Fish

Long video, great info thanks

Ken, this is better than the hot gal in high school you always wanted but couldn't get! GREAT INFO and this should get real interesting the longer this experiment goes! Nice work boss!

A couple of years ago we did some unscientific experimenting night fishing with fish under bright lights.
There was a mix of whites, lmb, crappie, carp, and catfish.
There was no change in the fish positioning or swim patterns with electronics on or off. There was no change either with the trolling motor. I could run right over them with the TM and almost hit them and they didn't move.
When we would peek over the side where they could see us they would move away, sometimes very quickly.
We tried this several times - same results.
Our conclusion was that the fish seeing us would cause them to move or dive away. Other factors did not seem to make a difference.

I call this unscientific due to the lack of a control group and only one sample.

On a different note I have found that if I see a fish and it goes into cover I can still catch it if I throw the bait deeper into the cover. It seems that if the fish sees you AND the bait they can make that association.

With the release of live scope I've heard interviews with several guides that say they see fish move away if they get closer than about 13 feet with the TM.

Just anecdotal and not scientific but I've heard that from a number of different guides.

That was always John Hopes contention on big bass.

I wonder if cover has an impact on this. When fishing matted hydrilla I have chewed up plenty of grass and still catch fish. But then again they have all been under 6lbs.
So I guess if you want to sneak up on the big ones use a push pole? May be the smaller fish don't have enough experience being caught to associate a TM with danger.
So that begs the question that have all big bass that flee been caught before?
How many times does a bass get caught before it associates a TM with being caught?
So many more questions.....

I think the study could be done with different trolling motors and electronics, not to mention different colors
of the bottom of the boat.

I know if I leave my Electronics on when putting the boat on the trailer. I can hear the transducer. If I can hear that
you know the fish can hear it a long way.

Good stuff - thanks.

I think the lake can make a difference as well. For instance on the overcrowded metroplex lakes I would think the bass have heard so much commotion that it would be natural for them to have constant commotion as part of their everyday routine. I have caught many fish with someone in a boat plowing right over a school of fish that I’m on and catch a fish almost the moment they drive through. My theory has always been it spooks the baitfish causing them to be erratic causing the bass to go into a feeding mode momentarily. These are just my very limited observations and I know every lake can be different. Excellent job on the videos Ken always looking forward to the next one.

Great info.

Did I miss it in the video? I thought the video the guy explained that the big motor spooked almost 1/3 not the trolling motor and they used the trolling motor to get up close enough to fish. I still don't know if I buy into the trolling motor spooks that many or just the presence of the boat. I have seen fish swim to my trolling motor to check it out then swim back.

But just because they can hear it doesn't mean it affects them.

I have had many good days punching mats with only a couple feet of water under them.....WITH THE BOAT ON TOP OF THEM. I was actually punching right off the side of the boat with the wind blowing the boat against the mat.

Good stuff. Thanks!

awesome video Ken , really informative .
If I was that guy , after 5 casts , I would have been putting something else on and seen if I could have gotten a bite with a different presentation --then see if that change could produce a pattern that worked better , especially on those that didn't move at all .
tight lines , keep em coming .
Robb

I'm hoping that as they keep this going they start to try different baits to see how they react.

Answering several guys here at once, I agree it would be great if they made several presentations with several baits, but you have to remember this is a project they only get to work on one day every other week. So they have to find the fish, see if the fish spooks from the big motor, they set up and make 5 presentations from a distance and 5 from over the top. There simply isn't enough daylight in a day for them to find all these fish and then spend 20-30-40 minutes on each one. Also I'd love to see them approach those fish one day with the big motor and the next on trolling motor, it seems to me that if roughly 1/3rd of them spook from the big motor some percent of those same fish might also from the trolling motor, but again only so many hours in a day and you have to be consistent to establish data. Last note, basically what Todd says is of the 70% of fish that the big motor doesn't spook, the trolling motor then has absolutely zero impact on.

another interesting factor would be wind . I would assume those fish are less " spooky " in higher wind situation . I fish a couple of local lakes and if they have no wind , the fish seem to be way less aggressive and easier to spook . As soon as the wind picks up , they tend to turn on and less spooked .