January 21, 2025
By Ross Robertson
I think most anglers don’t realize how much noise we actually make above the ice and how it affects fishing. If you’ve ever been out on a calm lake and see a boat that seems like miles away and then hear them clearly when someone speaks—you probably can relate. Or, how about trying to sleep in one of those not-so-nice hotel rooms because you can hear the neighbor’s TV better than your own. Regardless of the analogy, the point is if you keep quieter above the ice, you will see and catch more fish.
About five years ago, I had four guide clients in the boat on Lake Erie with me. Lake Erie is a place where you could make a valid argument that the fish are as dumb as they get without being on a private lake. Two of my guests were quick to point out they have never ice fished before and needed some extra help. The other two, though, were equally as quick to tell me that they’ve been ice fishing longer than I have been alive. In the guiding world, this is usually a red flag. I’m just saying. To make a long story short, I put the two rookies together in a shack and started with them. In less than a minute we had several walleyes appear on the Humminbird flasher and one of my anglers had a rod doubled over. This process continued nearly nonstop as the first timers nearly had their limit in less than 20 minutes.
About that same time, I heard yelling from the other shack (only 20 feet away) that they wanted to move as they haven’t marked a single fish.
Being on a large mud flat and only a boat length away I knew it had to be something they were doing. I headed over to them to see what was going on. It didn’t take long to realize once I had my Mega Live setup, showing me a fifty-foot path, that every time these “experienced” anglers would drag their chairs across the ice, walleyes just outside normal flasher cone range would quickly spook. The same could be said for every time they would throw their thermos onto the ice. Even extremely aggressive jigging strokes would cause a mass evacuation. You would have thought that the picture of a limit of walleyes that their rookie buddies had caught in less than an hour or the crystal-clear screen on my Humminbird unit would have been enough to convince them, but it wasn’t and they had a rough day.
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Technology makes it easier to see some of our errors and make productive adjustments. While there are tons of factors to consider before you head out on your next hardwater adventure, here are five that need to be taken into consideration.
1. Augers What has to be well over 20 years ago, In-Fisherman did a scientific study to determine what augers made the most noise. Well before electric augers played a role, they tested a variety of gas and hand augers. The results were not what you might think. Hand augers were the loudest because most of the noise that occurred below the water was due to the vibration and or noise from the shaving of the ice. Simply put, power augers made that noise for a significantly less time because the drilling time was less.
Drilling holes is essential to catching fish through the ice, but the author believes doing so quickly is the key to catching fish sooner. 2. Creepers Much along the same lines as the augers, creepers can make a lot of noise below the ice. I realize that in certain circumstances there is no choice, and they are needed to drill holes or just function on slick ice. After all, you are better off spooking a few fish than breaking your hip. Common sense tells me that if we were to do a noise test that less aggressive creepers would make less noise than those that look like they belong on a glacier hiking expedition too. I know several guides that use carpet runners or sections of gym floor tiles to help reduce both noise and spills.
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3. Lazy A few falls ago we were using the combination of an underwater camera and Mega Live forward-facing sonar to test new baits and gauge how the fish reacted to them. A buddy in the boat slammed a compartment lid and I watched a small wolf pack of walleyes quickly disperse. After the second time this happened, I somewhat not-so-nicely asked him to stop once I realized how the noise affected the fish. Being around no boat traffic and in nearly 40 feet of water, I was surprised at how little it can take to spook walleyes. The aforementioned “tossing things onto the ice or dragging items across it” makes a big difference more often than not.
4. Machines We all know snowmobiles and ATV’s make noise, as does simply walking. You can always tell a good and or respectful ice fisherman because they won’t drive up 3 feet away from your shack to “say hi,” but instead stop a hundred feet away and walk up. A machine just running in park on the ice puts out more vibration than you could imagine and will definitely spook fish. When a bite is on for a buddy don’t roll right up or you likely will end it for everyone.
The author said leaving transportation machines running will only spook more fish. Shutting them off when not in use will reduce the number of fish that get spooked. 5. Electronics High-power flashers and forward-facing sonar puts out a lot of power that science has proven fish can feel in some way. Old school shallow-water bass fisherman knew this decades ago and would even shut off their boats basic sonar units to avoid spooking fish. In modern-day team ice fishing tournaments forward-facing sonar is even being used as a defense against other teams. One team member will fish and the other will shine his forward-facing sonar over towards another team to spook his fish. Setting the ethical sportsmanship conversation aside, the main point is that the fish are developing a wariness to these new high-powered units. When not needed or in extremely shallow water it can be best to sometimes just shut them off.
Fishing electronics certainly create some sort of noise or vibration, and there seems to be some sort of impact on nearby fish. But it's pretty early the electronics game to be sure exactly how it impacts fish and their willingness to bite. I am not going to give up my ATV and walk out onto Lake Erie or fish without electronics but instead be cognizant of the noise I do minimalize it as much as possible. I fully expect one of the first comments to be, “Ya, but one time I hooked a walleye while sitting on my running ATV while stomping my foot to my favorite rock song.”
There are always exceptions, but if you want to catch more walleyes this hardwater season one of the biggest things you can do is to simply make less noise.
Capt. Ross Robertson
Bigwater Fishing