My buddy and I were playing some Metallica and Slipknot while ice fishing, the fish didn’t care one bit. Nobody else was on the lake so we blasted it and the bass was shaking the ice. 3 14 inch perch were landed during Slipknot’s “Duality”. We had a funny looking perch with some scars that looked a little bit like a confederate flag during some Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. Yes, that happened.
Play music while deer hunting, see if you fill your tag. Just saying
Public or private land? Because on my family’s land I actually bring the Bose in the blind and have shot deer.
I honestly think sound as a whole is way overrated in a lot of instances. It’s like anything else I suppose, if you’re exposed to enough of it, it becomes common and normal.
Fish are dealing with noise constantly this day and age. It’s not like it’s catching them off guard. Boats, swimmers, vehicles on bridges, dams, the sound of ice forming and other natural sounds, etc. they’re being bombarded by vibration all the time.
Additionally, fish, especially predatory fish, are inherently curious and drawn in by various types of commotion and vibration. A struggling baitfish puts out vibrations that trigger fish to feed.
One of the best fisherman I know swears by starting his gas auger and running it for a few minutes to try and pull some curious fish into the area.
This year on multiple occasions I’ve been on top of a school of active perch that move on or become inactive/tired of what I’m showing them. I’ll drill a hole a few yards away and all of the sudden I’ll be marking and catching active fish again (chase lures up the water column, etc). I’ve seen flashers light up like the Vegas strip shortly after firing up the generator. Me and s buddy even have a ritual of playing Metallica when the fishing is really slow with jokes like, “no wonder we haven’t been marking fish, etc.
Can it be bad or you start jumping up and down in your house with a school directly below you? Sure. I’m sure in many cases noise can detrimental, but it varies, and those fish are probably negative/skiddish to begin with (or live in a remote body of water that isn’t pressured at all). But, if you’re not catching fish, it’s not because your buddy got a beer out of the cooler and closed it harder than you’d like. Sounds like a convenient excuse and something o point the finger at. I’m guessing fish wouldn’t be caught even if you were quiet at church mice.
Again, not a general rule that fish like or dislike noise. But, it’s not cut and dried that being silent is the key to catching fish. Time and place.
Play music while deer hunting, see if you fill your tag. Just saying
You wouldn’t fill your tag by tossing a ripping rap on ice braid at a deer, either.
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic, but deer and fish are slightly different. You know, one is a land mammal that eats grass and relies on its ears to locate predators….the other a water-based cold-blooded meat-eating animal that uses various receptors to sense vibration to locate prey.
Another thought that came to me (great thread topic) is light. My dad used to get upset with me if the flashlight/headlamp beam approached the hole. Now, you can buy what are basically waterproof worklights to drop under the ice as an attractant (and I would guess they’re illegal in MN for a reason).
I’ve heard many great fisherman speculate the the light on various underwater cameras can improve the fishing at times.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>bigcrappie wrote:</div>
Play music while deer hunting, see if you fill your tag. Just saying
You wouldn’t fill your tag by tossing a ripping rap on ice braid at a deer, either.
I just spit my drink out reading this, thank you sw eyes 
I know one true thing,walking up on a spinning artic tip up at first ice and having it stop.. the fish hear you. No doubt it n my mind !
I know one true thing,walking up on a spinning artic tip up at first ice and having it stop.. the fish hear you. No doubt it n my mind !
I do agree. I fish a lake near my house and it’s very shallow. You have to set tip ups up in 4 to 5ft of water and watch from shore. It’s the only way to catch walleyes in that water. But that’s a special case
Fish are dealing with noise constantly this day and age. It’s not like it’s catching them off guard. Boats, swimmers, vehicles on bridges, dams, the sound of ice forming and other natural sounds, etc. they’re being bombarded by vibration all the time.
To that point, I would imagine that the sudden cessation of noise could/would also spook the fish. If you’re making some noise and chatting with your buddies then all of a sudden you start marking fish and everyone gets super quiet – that may be unsettling as well.
This is such an awesome topic. Had this discussion a few weeks ago on the ice shanty site. Lots of guys there are anti music on the ice. Maybe its a montana thing to. I don’t know seems to that every time some bad a** song comes on I’m catching fish. I will turn around if I’m 60 miles from home just to have my radio. I think its a background noise thing. I like piece and quite if there is a little mudvayne or all that remains playing in the background. And then there is those days the fishing is slow so you crank it up. Maybe even get a fellow fisherman a little riled up.
I agree with previous posters that this has been a fantastic thread.
As far as the topic at hand, there are just SO many variables.
I only play music at medium to high volume if I’m more in “party mode,” rather than my usual serious fishing mode or just needing a little break from the noise/stimulation of everyday life. To each their own—just be courteous and conscientious of those fishing around you!
Great thread 
I know if I’m gilling burgers a flag will go up. Can they smell my cooking? I gotta be more carefull.
Mike
On a more serious note I have seen smallmouth bass swim up on me from nowhere while cutting up clams with a knife while under water scuba diving. I believe noise can attract and reverse active feeding fish. I am very quiet on the water year around. Having said that yesterday the fishing had slowed down and a kid jumped on dad’s older louder Yamaha and started her up and quietly putted away and then gave the throttle. I was a little twerked by it until I got a bite and some action. It died down until he came back from his ride and I got dome more action an a slowbite day this happened three times yesterday.
So after considerable thought my answer is it depends.
Mike
I think it only matters if it is constant. Whichever, constant quiet, or constant noise.
Hitting a new spot, popping holes open creates a new noise. As long as their is noise, might as well crank up the tunes.
Entering a quiet rental with holes that have been open for a day, keep it at a whisper until the bite ends. After a couple fish they seem to catch on, move on, whatever. After the bite slows, crank up the tunes and start having fun. They will come back either way, quiet or loud.
I’ve also caught a bunch of fish in the middle of a 9 person card game running after midnight, with music blaring and plenty of hooting and hollering. It’s great when the game goes on hold for a flurry of fish.
Similar with a boat. A quiet or shallow spot? I’ll kill the motor and enter the area using the trolling motor. Busy spot, feel free to motor right in and crank the tunes.
As kids we were always told to be extra quite, so we don’t scare the fish. Now that I take the old man out fishing , he won’t shut up! I don’t like a radio on or really even talking much when I’m trying to catch fish.
I can’t speak about ice fishing, but I can speak with experience in open water fishing in water 6′ deep or less.
I found that the folks what were wearing heavy boots would catch less or most of the time no walleyes when those heavy boots hit the floor. Not so much walking but just by moving their feet around. In fact, I would tell folks to take off their boots if there was a chance of catching a practice fish if they couldn’t keep them quiet.
On another note, I was above a stream watching some brown trout one day. I started yelling to a friend to come over my way to cast to them. Fish just kept on holding their place. For some reason I stamped my foot on the ground and they were gone.
I don’t believe noise bothers fish in deeper water, but I do believe it does in shallow water when they are nervous already.
As a Life of fishing and spearing. I always have music on it, does not affect fish at all but scrape your foot on the ice shack floor and a pike will blow out of there. I think they feel vibration aka foot step pounding on a boat floor music in the air does not penetrate. When fully submerged diving you can hear fish locators boat motors but do not hear kids yelling with boom box on on the dock. You only hear if they jump etc. Also Smallmouth come to clicking sounds as do muskies. I have sat on a sand bottom in scuba gear with no fish of any kind around then starting clicking 2 rocks and grinding them and in a minute smallies are circling you then a muskie. So I listen to whatever I want fishing and don’t worry about it. I just am careful not to stomp my feet or clang tackle boxes around.
Rock on
Mwal
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