STEALTH
How many times have you heard or personally said the remark when looking out across the still morning or evening waters of a wilderness lake these words....."It's so peaceful".........

Actually, all is not as it appears. Just under that still facade there is a brutal violent world taking place where creatures are biting and ripping and killing and eating each other. This happens 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. It is the world they live in. As a result, most creatures including fish, have developed a heightened sense of awareness. Make no mistake, fish are attuned to their surroundings in a way most people can't quite comprehend IMO. I also believe that the larger the fish the more refined this awareness has developed.

When I fish stealth is my watchword. I try and target large fish. Consequently I try and be as quiet as possible. Lets examine our mode of travel first and then apply the same principle to our tackle. Talking is not our problem.......vibrations transmitted through our boat is. These must be minimized or preferably eliminated completely. Fortunately all it takes is a little planning and creativity.

Say your paddling along the shore in the evening and you set your paddle down to cast. Are you setting on something that will absorb vibration like some closed cell foam (pipe insulation works nicely) or just trying your best by laying it on the gunnels or bottom of your boat? What about your tackle trays. Do you slide those along the bottom of your boat as well or do you have something to set them on? The worse offenders are dropped pliers or dropped fish grippers......"BOOM" >:(
What I love about canoe country fishing is the absolute stealth I am able to achieve. No electric motors and no hull slap from waves........just me and Mr. Big ;).

But not only do fish pick up vibrations via their lateral line......they also have eyes. I try and blend in with my surroundings as much as possible as per my clothing choices. When I take someone new here in Florida backcountry fishing the first thing I tell them is no "here I am" clothing. No white hat.....no bright orange shirt. The same goes for canoe country. If I'm fishing shallow waters you can bet I will be unobtrusive.  

You can also apply stealth to your fishing tackle. That usually means downsizing. It could be your line, your lure, perhaps making a longer cast. Last summer I had to drop down to 4lb line to get the bigger smallys to eat on a clear, still, middle of the day lake. They refused all my other offerings. (*please do not under tackle when Lake trout fishing as they will not survive an extended fight).

There are mitigating factors that apply to "stealth" fishing. For example, if it is windy and wavy the sounds of the waves will do a lot for you in disguising your presence. The same with rain. As for tackle there are also ways to compensate. Topwater lures may not be subject to the same amount of scrutiny as subsurface presentations and thus can be fished with heavier line. Large fish can often be fooled via surface lures. You can also go the opposite direction and chuck a big gaudy lure where the savagery of the kill overwhelms initial cautiousness. As in "what the heck is that....I think I want to kill it" ;D. One last thought, I also avoid "here I am fishing line" in canoe country. I am not a fan of any braids or worse any type of flourescent mono line. But again, my mindset is always in pursuit of the larger fish.......you will still catch plenty of smaller ones along the way in any event.

Still not convinced? You might be thinking "I catch plenty of fish without going through any additional precautions". My response is....."How do you know what would of happened had you been quiet"? You don't. Instead of catching several 2 lb walleyes you might have ended up with that 30". And how cool would that be 8-).    

SHHHHHHHHH, you'll see more stuff ;)

I received a lot of flack from some canoe snobs when I carpeted the inside of my cedar strip canoe several years ago.  It only took a few instances of a paddle or tackle box being dropped in the aluminum canoe across the lake for them to understand why I did this.  Yes, it added some weight but it kept the canoe that much more quiet.

Do this next time you are in open water:  Swim under your canoe and have someone else drop a jig on the canoe floor.  You can hear that "click" from a long distance.  And, no, I didn't use a wool woven burbur here.  Just the cheap outdoor "turf" like carpeting that added about 6lbs.

PJ, that's a really good idea. I wonder if glueing down a few strategically placed pieces of blue foam (cheap sleeping pads) might get the same effect with even less weight? After all, paddle, rods, and tackle always go in about the same spot anyway so it's probably not necessarry to do the whole thing. I might have to think about trying it.

PJ's idea is a good one a Freestyle kneeling pad maybe an alternative

marlin55388 wrote on Jan 28^th, 2011 at 7:01pm:

PJ's idea is a good one a Freestyle kneeling pad maybe an alternative

Perhaps but the carpet makes for a comfy afternoon snooze........only to be awakened when the bell on the tip of his rod goes a tinkling......."I think I have a wee little nibble" ;)

KNowin' PJ it would be slam by a lunker Laker :o

I always thought that the vibrations attracted all of the REALLLY BIG FISH ;D

I mean all of the lure companies promote it as making the fish "Attack" their products.  I am waiting for the big old snaggle tooth to attack the canoe 8-)

Hey salted leech,
Like your handle.......those are one of my favorite snacks. It's exactly why I like wading in swamps with shorts.........

Your not so far off base with what you said. I have a couple of friends who are tour bass pros (Now that's a tough racket) and it's not uncommon for them when they fish docks to smack the lure off the posts to "wake them up". Crappie fisherman will often stick there rod in the water and swish it vigorously back and forth to "call them in". And down here in Fl. I often fish with a bobber (popping cork) that is cupped and makes rather loud "blurping" noises. I'm just ringing the dinner bell.

What makes being quiet in canoe country so important IMO is that human noises are so typically absent they stick out like a sore thumb. I can fish a pass or a marina where the fish hear motor boat racket all day and are used to it and it doesn't really make any difference how much noise you make as it is the norm.

wrote on Jan 28^th, 2011 at 10:19pm:

I always thought that the vibrations attracted all of the REALLLY BIG FISH ;D

Define big.

And REALLLY.   :-?  ;D

Big is over 45" and Really is over 55"

I have only seen one freshwater fish over 55" in person. Lake St Clair  Musky...

  (You need to Login or Register   (You need to Login or Register

Big Lake MI King Salmon (Chinook)

Salted Leech- Here's another biggie.

A 16 lb largemouth caught in a Texas Tournament (I will resendif jpg. picture didn't send). I think it was 27 in long with a 23 inch girth. Whoa.

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Hey we fresh water fishermen don't have a clue what big and really big mean. Right MT?

We never have to fear for our life no matter what we haul aboard.

6 of us were on Capt. Yuris boat 3 years ago 100 miles offshore on a flat calm day. The young army kid yelled he had one and it commenced to kick his you know what. He was peering down into the depths when suddenly he yelled out that he had hooked a huge shark. Grunting and groaning he kept reeling and reeled up the head of what was once about a 60lb Amberjack (one of the oceans bad boys...If you think your tough you don't know Jack).

The shark, about a 16 ft hammerhead followed the scent trail of the jacks head having already eaten the rest of it. It was absolutely huge and incredibly awesome. I had seen lots of film on sharks and most show them gliding about but this was as impressive of a display of any creature that I have ever witnessed. It proceeded to swim in swift "S" curves on the surface looking for that Jacks head. It was clear to me that if you were in the water it was over. There could be no escape. The amount of water it moved, speed and the flexibility it showed were quite the eye opener.

We have a saying offshore....."every things bait"  ;)

The Ocean is in a different class with out questions. ANy fishing where you can  become the bait is on a differnet. level.

It is funny how somfish like the noise and thrashing sounds. On Lake Saint Claire you always run a big body bait in the prop wash while trolling. The Muskies Hit it there frequently.

THen there is top water and all you do is make noise. I have found that fishing from shore is when stealth is the most effective.

wrote on Jan 31^st, 2011 at 1:43pm:

Big is over 45" and Really is over 55" I have only seen one freshwater fish over 55" in person. Lake St Clair  Musky...   (You need to Login or Register   (You need to Login or Register Big Lake MI King Salmon (Chinook)

If this was last year do tell the put in/harbor...just out of curiosity what was the weight on that there King...nice fish ;)

A general suggestion for the "Tip of the Month".  Since the QJforums are set up in such a manner as to be a sort of reference library, in the future you might wish to differentiate the subject line somehow.  Maybe something like

"Mt's Tip of the Month for Jan. 2011"

or maybe better yet,

"Mt's Tip of the Month:  Stealth Fishing".

And since we are now on the subject of unusual encounters with whopper fish, somewhere amongst my disorganized collection of vacation videos I have some footage of a whale shark being ridden by the first mate of our Hawaiian fishing charter.  

We happened upon the beast while returning from our charter.  We stopped for some video and the first mate said he'd be willing to give us some video we'd never forget.  I begged the captain to let me jump in for a ride, too, but he was having none of that.  I still regret not just doing it anyway.  We were already on the way back.  What was he going to do?  Take me home immediately?  That was already in progress!

PhantomJug wrote on Jan 28^th, 2011 at 5:22pm:

I received a lot of flack from some canoe snobs when I carpeted the inside of my cedar strip canoe several years ago.

I'm little late to the conversation but its worth asking do you pack in a vacuum on your trips? ;) :D

Sweet!! ;D

//windsailor

RedOwl wrote on Feb 3^rd, 2011 at 12:53am:

I'm little late to the conversation but its worth asking do you pack in a vacuum on your trips? ;) :D

No, but my canoe partner sometimes really sucks.

OOOOOHH!! I'd hate to be your canoe partner ;)LOL!

//Windsailor