How to avoid spooking a trout

[MNJoe]

I am a scientist by profession and would immediately accept a data driven algorithm to address this question. Field experience says otherwise. Some experience on the Driftless has been humbling. Well downstream, very slow approach on my knees well downstream and yet you see the shadows scatter. Shallow water should shorten the window for the fish. Too many moments to realize I got to be way better. Fish can sense your sound out of the water as well as in water and have fish scatter regardless of position out of a cone

[GerardH]

Today I had fish rising within a 7'6" rod's length of me upstream, downstream, and directly to my side. I only had to dap my fly in those instances....the leader was into the guides when I was setting the hook. These are wild Wisconsin Driftless trout....but it was a dark, overcast afternoon, which is a variable that worked in my favor.

Back to my original response -- stealth, keeping a low profile, watching your shadow, etc. John beat me to the punch of moving like a heron...just so long as you don't look like a heron. I scare more fish when I'm careless on the bank overlooking the stream than when I'm in the water.

[nativebrownie]

Agreed, MNJoe... Much of my winter reading was vintage authors and Chalkstreams. Great to dream on as the snow drifts about outside. One thread that ran throughout was that pressured trout do sense what is going on behind, as well as other directions. No doubt...

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

Fish saltwater.

hello, absolutely! but if you put down the fish, if you wait a suitable time without causing a commotion, most trout and other fish will come back to the dinner table and resume feeding. then, slow and deliberate like a wading bird.

regards, jim w

[Oxbow]

Why chance spooking a nice fish by getting too close. Stay low, stay back and fish from behind - and USE a longer leader. If you can cast you don't need to get that close.

[rsagebrush]

I've approached fish to within a rods length if I wade or walk slowly and carefully, it's called stalking. Of course I also spook many fish too, so the stalking wasn't that good that time. At 20 or 30 feet as long as you're careful not much of a problem unless you're on flatwater. If I'm on pocket water I can almost get on top of them.
I've stood within 5 feet of brookies directly across from me with a tenkara rod and have caught them, I'm sure they saw me as well as I saw them.
Long casts probably spook a lot of fish too so it pays to get as close as you can.
If I put down risers with a sloppy cast I just wait a few minutes until they start feeding again, if they do, sometimes they don't and I may just sit on a rock and wait or sometimes I move on.
I caught my largest fish last season just sitting on a rock waiting for the risers to resume and tossing a blowtorch beadhead through the slot in front of me about a rod length away and in hip high water.

[GrsdLnr]

I caught my largest fish last season just sitting on a rock waiting for the risers to resume...

That's also one of my not-so-secret secrets.

[rsagebrush]

Obviously you have broken the code then.

[Hellmtflies]

To me the best way to not spook trout is to get out there and fish often and make your mistakes and learn from that. Experience is the key. IMHO.

[GrsdLnr]

Obviously you have broken the code then.

And it only took 40 years to figure it out.

[Sandan]

I recognize that the question is about trout detecting you because of visibility, but another factor is the pressure wave when you move toward the fish. You can see evidence of the pressure wave as you move - in the form of a wave or ripples on the surface. The same pressure wave is something the fish can feel under the surface, so if you're pushing a wave or ripples in front of you, you're probably alerting the fish. It's not as bad when you have a fast current pushing against you if you're wading upstream beause that seems to lessen the pressure your wading causes, but in slow quiet water it can be the feel, not the sight of you, that alarms the fish.

And then there's sound.

Agreed with the pressure wave. Stalk into position. Then just stand still for a few minutes to let everything get calmed down and return to normal. In fact one of the best dry fly runs I fish can be like a lake the water can be so calm. Hardly anyone fishes it because of that, which I like. Go slow, wait, be patient. The fish will rise again. Don't false cast near the fish.

[NEKexpat]

Smoke a cigarette.

That’s what a lot of the classic fly fishing writers seemed to do while resting a pool or scoping out the scene.

[TSPEYFLY]

Don't let them see your electro-shocker!!!!

[NewUtahCaneAngler]

Fish can sense your sound out of the water as well as in water and have fish scatter regardless of position out of a cone

Sense your sound? Was it in the ring of the rise, or somewhere else where I read that trout can NOT hear sounds out of the water?

[billems]

Heavily fished water can be a different story. The trout have seen fisherman all day, every day. Many have been caught multiple times. They know you're there, yet still keep feeding. Most learn to ignore your offerings, no matter the pattern.

[Brooks]

Why does this thread remind me of Caddy Shack?

"Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.“

“Oh yeh, and walk slow and wear earth tones”

[kevinhaney1]

Why does this thread remind me of Caddy Shack?

Yes, the secret is to be the fish. Ne ne ne ne ne ne….

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

Why does this thread remind me of Caddy Shack?

"Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.“

“Oh yeh, and walk slow and wear earth tones”

hello;

i think we have a winnah!!!!!

congratulations, jim w

[GerardH]

Why does this thread remind me of Caddy Shack?

"Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.“

“Oh yeh, and walk slow and wear earth tones”

hello;

i think we have a winnah!!!!!

congratulations, jim w

A Carl Spackler quote is always a winner, regardless of the context.

[Flykuni3]

Sometimes it is close to impossible. This past season my favourite stream suffered low and clear conditions for months on end. I remember one time I saw a trout on station. I approached it from downstream, under a large tree and in the shadows. Before I even put a foot in the water it sensed my presence and was off like a shot. I just couldn't believe it. The lesson I guess, at times such as these, is to stick with the riffles and the broken water.

Agree, as an eternal low-water fisher. I spook trout just by walking towards a pool from 40' away...or more. I see them scoot, there's nothing one can do.