I was watching the Discovery channel this weekend, about dolphins, and dolphins stun their prey with sonar. Is this the same type of sonar in a fishfinder? And do fishfinders scare fish?

do a search here on walleyecentral. it's been hashed over many many times.

If they did, you would never catch them will bowmount sonar when working of the bow jigging. Although, at times I have turned it off to see if it helps, and it hasn't so far.
Good luck,

Obviously, if your bait is NOT in the cone, your fishing will NOT be effected, one way or another. However....IF you are hovering over fish, meaning your line is relatively vertical, I feel most units will scare most fish from being potential biters at that point. Is your line/bait in the cone when "vertical" fishing? Not very often! Just a ten degree line angle off the tip of your rod usually will eliminate that negative scenario. Ten degrees ain't much and most are moving that fast. But don't kid yourself....MOST fish will get zapped out of there. A few of us have studied this a fair amount through live testing. That said, envisioning them getting zapped out of the cone, one would think in anything but a perfect vertical presentation, that they would swim toward your bait and have, maybe, more potentail to bite.
Just get under a 1500-3000 watt unit/transducer and see if you wanna stick around and eat.lol (yes, this discussion, indepth, was "hashed over" last winter)

Happy New year!

Steve,

Doesn't ice fishing demonstrate that sonar doesn't necessarily scare fish? I've jigged fish from the bottom to several feet closer to the source of the sonar before getting the fish to bite. Or is the power on a vexilar low enough to not make much difference? Curious to hear your thoughts.

First, I say "most" fish. That means that some lakes/fish populations don't get scared of anything, including boats bouncing over them in six feet of water. In regard to ice-fishing, the flashers most used are not the power that consistently scares fish. That's why many use a flasher on the bow of a boat when vertical fishing.

Hard to tell. It is one of those things we may never know. Kinda like- "What is the wife thinking?"

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Hey Steve.

Do you use a flasher on the bow? I've been considering that for my next boat. I hadn't considered the issue raised here much. I've had trouble with the front graph going to the repair shop from getting beat up up there and thought a flasher might handle the pounding better. Also, I like the fact the flasher tells you exactly whats below you at any given moment and that it can show you where in the cone a fish is, at the edge, moving in or directly below the boat. What's your thought, Steve, and anyone else who would like to respond.

Thanks for all the comments. And thanks for the heads up on the archives.

Scott,
I've been using flashers on my bowmount for at least 10 years. The theory that they scare the fish is pure hokum. I have and continue to catch All species of fish when vertical jigging, it's just a matter of adjusting the size of the bait for the species. For example you would'nt use a jigging shad for bluegill. I've used flashers in lightly fished waters for years through the ice when I was the ONLY angler who used a flasher for ice fishing. The fish were/are utterly unphased, and sometimes these under the ice fish were at depths as shallow as 2-3 ft. I have caught all species,'gills, crappies, bass, redears, etc. If the fish are supposed to be spooked, well they are unaware of it.
Anymore trolling and casting are the low percentage presentations for me. Vertically jigging in the sonar cone is in my opinion more productive and much more fun as I can watch the fish approach and attack my bait. When using a flasher you don't have to watch your line as you can see what is happening instantly on your dial. You can also guage the attitude of the fish and adjust your presentation accordingly. Also, you get all the hang time you need as opposed to trolling were the bait quickly "swims" by the fish. No need for a "history" of cartoon fish or "pictures" of structure that you "were" fishing on.

I can't prove it one way or the other, but put your ear down by your transducer when it is on the trailer and listen to it click, and I have bad hearing, now imagine it underwater where sound really travels that being said, sometimes I bet it matters, but who knows for sure? the fish aren't talking.

When we were younger we would hit rocks together while under the water and it could be plainly heard.I personally don't think there is any question of whether they can hear it or not.Whether they spook or not is probably determined by how hungry they are, or if they have heard it enough to get accustomed to it, or maybe if it is a constant sound they do not mind as much.If noise always spooked fish it sure would be hard to catch them while back-trolling.I vertical jig all the time and I often have my trolling motor and my graphs going and still catch fish directly under the boat.Maybe the flip side of this is we may not know how many fish we are spooking while we are still catching some of them.

This summer I was fishing the edge of a flat and there were carp all over the surface for 30 yards in every direction.I finished the edge and when I cranked the big motor,every carp in all directions dove for cover.I was so impressed that they all took off ,I killed the big motor and waited till they surfaced and I tried it again.I did this a few times with the same results.I went ahead and started the motor and waited a little bit and those away from the boat surfaced again. I could drive fairly close to them and the noise didn't seem to bother them until I got pretty close.It was after this highly scientific study that I deduced that if you spend all your fishing time watching carp you won't catch many walleye.:P

Scott......I have an old Lowrance flasher on the bow as well as a Genetron video. Both of which are very low in power output. I wouldn't consider using a LCR graph on my bow since I have tested what walleyes in do in most cases while IN the cone of high output units.

Mr. Creosote,

I, for one, have NOT claimed "flashers" spook fish in this nor any other discussion on the subject. I totally agree with you that anyone that says they do, is talking "pure hokum". I, for one, am making a claim that depthfinders that put out 1500-3000 watts of power, such as most modern day LCR's, DO have negative effects on walleyes, in MOST cases, while they are in the cone. No matter where the unit is mounted...on the bow or the console or in the rear of the boat. The "flashers" you speak of, most likely, being of the same technology as in the old time Lowrance units, DO NOT use any where near that kind of power and therefore have less potential for spooking fish, in any application. Your right. We have distinguished, I thought, between the LCR and flasher technology in this regard.
Also, your other observations and conclusions are right on....

To any and all,
Sorry. I did'nt mean to misrepresent or misinterprete anyone's viewpoint.

Hey thanks to one and all. Food for thought. I will probably go with a flasher on the front. I can always add a graph later if I truly think I need one.

I love having the opportunity to get such great imput so readily avaiable. Thanks you and WC and Scott G.

Happy New Year!
Scott