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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Hi this subject came up during in-the-boat discussions while fishing with Papa Joe & Ranger this last weekend up in the Yooper. Papa Joe's "Pinpoint" was not living up to it's name- it was doing a "turns hard all the way left thing" whenever Papa Joe took his foot off the pedal. I think there was a MF discussion thread on this problem (have to do a search) anyway Papa Joe is getting ahold of the good folks at Thorne's.
Therefore, he needed to be on the motor more than would normally be required to hold a posistion. I recall a speaker at one of the show's (I think Dick Pearson) saying that he avoids using the trolling motor as much as possible, because it spooks muskies. Dick my apologies if it wasn't you.
While fishing Lake Y on Saturday I was exploring some shallow channels with small bays between an island and the main lake shore - I spotted a mid 30 fish in ~2-3 feet of water about 10' to the right side at same time I had just hit the On button on the trolling motor (minnkota). The fish immediately got out of Dodge, I wasn't moving around casting so I don't think it was spooked by me moving. It either had to be the movement of the boat itself or the trolling motor.
What are your experiences with muskies and trolling motors?
Al
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Posts: 7121
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Personal thought here.....a nuetral muskie that you surprise by running over it or past it will be spooked, but a muskie following a bait is so focused on the bait that he/she doesnt notice the sound of the TM. But then again, I like to keep my TM on the constant on function....for ease of use and because I do think there is a possibility that the "pulse" of the turning the TM on and off can mess with them. |
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Posts: 57
Location: Racine WI | Depends on whether you trust their data, but the Chip radio tracking study claimed that they were motor-shy (both gas and electric) for months after being caught, but rowing didn't spook 'em much at all. I don't dispute the evidence, but that has never made sense to me -- even rowing smoothly, not banging the gunwales or dropping the oarblades into the water, it seems like there's some noise from the oarlocks, and the irregular swirling of water seems like it would be more disturbing than a steady current and accompanying hum/whine of the trolling motor. Beats the metabolic residues outa me! |
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Posts: 155
Location: Watertown MN | Al
That sucks, Papajoe bought the boat from me, never had the turn left issue, was hoping the dead battery solved the issue, I will dig into a bit. I think what slammer said is correct that neutral or negative fish will spook from trolling motors. I think in a MH isssue on trout water they talked about not using trolling motors, shutting down all electronis. Then again I have been on Eagle have a upper 40" fish bumping the pinpoint trolling motor.
Who knows, ask a fish
Troyz |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | MiserMike,
The 'data' from the CFMS was horribly flawed and should not be considered as anything but anecdotal, and that's a stretch. Zig Zagging wolf packs...
Troy and I had a 50" class muskie FOLLOWING the trolling motor prop, just inches off the blades, for 25' last weekend on Cass. I wathed the fish move in on the motor. Interesting.  |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Al,
I used to do a lot of Spring night stalking will a light. I noticed that the muskies would spook as I came up to them. I would not have any rods in the boat and just crused the shore lines to see waht is swimming around the areas spawning.
I know that the muskies in Pewaukee were scared of the trolling motors because Ralphy whould come up to them with the trackind device and they would be going away as he came close to them. These fish had no reason to leave the area other than to get away from the motor comming. Do they remember a bad experaince or just spooky?
I know its a proven fact on our lake because of all the times it happens. Ralph was out all the time and could get to a area with a transmitter fish and try to lock in and the fish would be on the move as he approached.
As far a a Pinpoint goes, I just had mine go down for the last time. I sent that motor in 4 times in 5 year. I will not send it in again. This time the motor just stopped working. It will turn but the blade will not spin. I ordered a MotorGuide that has the Pinpoint features but is very quiet and I hope it will be dependable.
Let me ask you this: Is a trolling motor quieter than a kicker motor under the water?
How about this: Does the motor spook the fish or the feel of the boat pushing the water spook the fish. |
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Posts: 148
Location: DES MOINES, IOWA | That is a good question.Oviously, no noise, silently running is the best, especially in shallow waters, but I had one Musky try to nail my lure coming inbetween the boat and trolling motor shaft, while running it.I also have caught numerous Muskies in shallow weed areas in the 4-6' water level range, and we were running the trolling motor.I know some of the guys take Muskies speed trolling, running a lure right off of the prop wash of their regular motors, and it sure isn,t spooking the fish. |
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| I was watching a fishing program on the Outdoor Channel (can't remember which) and they said musky are the only fish that aren't spooked by the motor. In fact, the program claimed musky are actually attracted to the noise and they're also attracted to the sound of objects hitting the surface and banging the surface. Again this is just what the program said. |
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Posts: 80
| I had a muskie follow my bucktail to the boat once, unfortunately I did not see it right away.
I didn't see it until I looked down as I was about to make another cast - and it was sitting inches from my trolling motor watching the blades spin around. I am pretty sure it was trying to decide wether or not it should eat it or maybe it was hypnotized- unfortunatley I will never know cause' I shoved my bucktail right in front of its nose, and it hammered it on the L turn.
48" Pig, and the most memorable Muskie I will likely ever catch....
If a muskie is active and hungry, I don't think there are many things that will spook them. |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | This discussion parallels one from many years ago when the first hi-power sonars came out, especially the Lowrance X16. It was decided that the fish were spooking form the sonar noise because they seemed to move away direcly under the boat (which is, btw, one of the theories as to why planer boards work well). I argued then, and will argue now that it is the fact one is OBSERVING the fish move that causes an assumption that doesn't take into account all the possibilities. Before tracking devices and detailed sonar, we were unable to observe what was going on under the boat, and since the equipment was installed, it was blamed for the fish's reaction as a matter of error.
I call this syndrome 'waves on the water makes the wind blow' thinking. The bigger the waves, the stronger the wind. Where there are no waves, there is no wind. Therefore...
The electronics are a PART of the signature from the boat, not the ENTIRE signature. Either way, on or off, the fish will move off if stimulated and the response 'level' at the time is high enough. There are times a grenade won't make 'em move.
By the way, it's impossible to be 'quiet' in a boat. I had reels of tape recorded with pressure mikes and crystal mikes glassed into the hull of my Tuffy, and can tell you boats are noisy, even sitting still. Fact is, many times fish will move off from an approaching boat, move to the side and then move back after the boat passes. The more boat traffic, the lees flight reaction to the overall boat noise, which I assure you is VERY loud. If moving in on fish at night, the reaction is likely to be stronger than during the daylight for a series of reasons.
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Posts: 156
Location: Oconomowoc, WI | I believe in the spook factor to a certain extent although like mentioned earlier, if they are on, nothing will scare them off. I also think a neutral or negative fish definitely is affected more by the on-off of a troling motor vs. a constant on buzz. |
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Posts: 2515
Location: Waukesha & Land O Lakes, WI | Lynn brought up a good point. I've noticed over the years that some of the best spots I've fished have been within 1/4 mile of the boat launches. They get used to hearing motors and like Kevin said, when they're on, nothing is going to distract them. |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Right on Slamr!!!! |
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| A very experienced guide once told me that he statistically caught more fish while leaving the motor in the Off or On postion (whichever it was in at the time of the follow). He also added that shutting down the motor when a fish follows can spook the fish for whatever reason. |
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Posts: 4266
| They sure aren't scared by them once you hook one, are they? Seems that once you put some metal in their mouths, they tend to be drawn to the props of any motor or anything else that they can wrap your line around.
I've spooked fish by coming up on them unexpectedly. I've also had a 40" fish stay within inches of my trolling motor prop for about 45 minutes during a controlled drift. That fish was an inch or two from my prop. When I hit the power, the fish would drop back about a foot and stay there until the prop stopped moving, then it would snuggle right up to prop again as soon as it stopped turning.
Beav |
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Posts: 285
| Hi Guys,
I talked to Matt Thompson at Thorne's he thinks I am OK because it sounds like there is some normal operation, except for when it acts up. Sounds like it's a fairly typical condition.
He suggests that the connections to the foot pedal are causing the problem and I should try using some zip-ties to hold the wires in a steady position relative to the ends, so that the connections don't have the tendency to get fouled up. I'll give that a shot this weekend out on Deer Lake, if it works I will open a post describing the issue and (hopefully) the cure. We're planning to have young Phish Killer's little Lund as a backup just in case the condition reappears.
Thanks Al for popping the cherry on the Alumacraft, at least since I took over as captain. Hopefully this weekend we will add to the slime layer.
BTW did you & Ranger Rick have any luck Sunday after I headed out>?
See ya later,
Papa Joe |
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Posts: 3926
| Papa - yes, boated a very small muskie on the old Suick Al gave me. Also had a muskie strike/miss the bait on the surface, and had what I believe to be a BIG fish on few just a few seconds on a spinnerbait fluttering down a steep weedline. Al's action was nil, as I recall, but his conversations was great, as always. So was dinner. |
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Posts: 132
Location: Kawarthas, Ontario | I'm not sure it's the motor itself that spooks the muskies... many of the electrics out there now have very powerful motors, and highly efficient props designed to move a lot of water. That "prop movement" creates a wash back effect that can blow mud, silt, sand, and weeds up into the water a fair bit back, even on a relatively lower power setting. Couple this, with the shadow of a boat, and that may be what is spooking fish, especially in shallower water, where those fish may already be in a state of high awareness.
To combat this, I try to go into shallow water areas at a slightly higher speed, and coast using the higher speed to get me where I want to go. I'll try using the electric as little as possible.
Regards,
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Posts: 376
Location: Cudahy, Wisconsin | Do you think that boat color spooks fish? |
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Posts: 57
Location: Racine WI | Lynn - 6/9/2004 12:59 PM I was watching a fishing program on the Outdoor Channel (can't remember which) and they said musky are the only fish that aren't spooked by the motor. In fact, the program claimed musky are actually attracted to the noise...
Back in the early/mid 50's my family would "go Up North" for a week's vacation, which involved a lot of panfishing. A borrowed 5hp Johnson Sea Horse was the height of luxury technology -- mostly we rowed. My Dad and older brothers always hated the muskie fishermen with their "big" motors, especially since they ruined the panfishing by driving around and over a spot to "wake up the fish" or "get them mad." This was a relatively common belief at the time. It's ironic that muskie fishermen were viewed then the way we view jet-skiers today. |
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