Comments on: Q&A: Can Trout Hear Your Boot Studs? (with VIDEO)

By: Charlie G.

Charlie G. — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 12:34:54 +0000

I agree with you 100 percent that the sound of boot studs makes no difference in moderate to fast flowing water. If it matters at all in still or slow moving water it pales in comparison to the effect of wave generation or casting shadows. Bottom line: to avoid spooking trout keep a low profile and approach as slow as possible, preferably out of the water if possible. Even fallfish will spook if approached carelessly.

By: Domenick Swentosky

Domenick Swentosky — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 17:25:03 +0000

In reply to Tom Carroll.

Very cool.

By: Tom Carroll

Tom Carroll — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 16:09:30 +0000

Dom and all,
I love your “approach” to this (sorry) . Logic and especially physics are difficult to argue against.
I came to comments to weigh in on the lateral line issue, but the crowd has done well before me. Incidentally the lateral line is more than a pressure sensitive organ, it also senses chemicals in some species and helps the fish stay oriented in a vortex of water movement and fish movement. Handy sense organ to have.
I wanted to add in a bit also about the Doppler effect. The travel speed and frequency of the sound will be affected by the direction of the water movement. Sound waves traveling upstream will be competing with the water flow and will be slowed and eventually stopped. Sound traveling downstream will travel faster than normal and will change frequency over distance. Your voice on the video was not affected by the movement of the water so it traveled with less constraint than some of your foot sounds, reaching the microphone in better condition and was therefore more recognizable.
So the underwater acoustics of a flowing stream is a noisy place with many competing sources of sound and most sounds being modified, amplified or cancelled by competing sound waves and environmental conditions. Fish and people don’t “hear” the same way and interpret sound in different ways. The sound of rock colliding and gravel moving is a normal background sound in many streams especially at higher flows.
The “spook” reflex in trout is undoubtedly complex and influenced by sight, sound “smell” and tactile input including from the lateral line. The combinations of sensory stimuli that triggers the “spook” is a secret we’d all like to know.
We know the obvious ones…….

By: Domenick Swentosky

Domenick Swentosky — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 16:12:33 +0000

In reply to Joel Morsch.

HI Joel. I use rubber soles all the time, almost always with studs. I fish, walk and wade so much that felt doesn’t last long for me — just a few months. Felt is also really bad in the winter, where I am. And I don’t like hiking much in felt.

Cheers.
Dom

By: Joel Morsch

Joel Morsch — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 02:08:35 +0000

I have a question about studs and soles that you use. I live close to Great Smoky Mountain National Park and for years have most of my fishing there I have always used felt soles these. I fish several weeks every year in the Driftless region of Wisconsin fishing spring creeks. There I use vibram soles. I am curious, do you use vibram soles and studs for all of your fishing or do occasionally use felt soles with studs?

By: Domenick Swentosky

Domenick Swentosky — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 23:32:59 +0000

In reply to Tom Welsch.

Competition angler or otherwise means nothing to me, because the best anglers I know are not competition anglers. They all wear studs.

Cheers.
Dom

By: Tom Welsch

Tom Welsch — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 17:35:46 +0000

The results of your analysis make sense; I agree with them. I suspect the pros, like Devin Olson, Lance Egan, et al, would agree as well. As I understand it, in competition they’re fishing tight lines much of the time, so when casting they’re often close to the fish, and they’re moving throughout a beat under time pressure, so having to move pretty much constantly they would want to be as stealthy as possible while also avoiding falls. I am not aware that they advise against using studs.

By: John Q.

John Q. — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:10:03 +0000

This is another reason why I love your work. You frequently back up your points and tactics with logical thought, testing and data. Oh, and you help me catch more fish!

By: Domenick Swentosky

Domenick Swentosky — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 00:03:48 +0000

In reply to Matthew Wilson.

I’m all in on that comment. Ha.

By: Matthew Wilson

Matthew Wilson — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 23:31:01 +0000

In reply to Pete Pynenburg.

I always have studs or bars on my boots. I can not count the number of times I have taken a step in moving water and seen a fish dart off from no more than a foot or two from my foot. I frequently spot water at night after fishing it. At least 100 times I have waded half way up a run, stopped and spotted the water. There is usually at least 1 trout with in a few feet of me. Sometimes alarmingly close.

They might be able to hear with their otolith, or detect the vibrations in their lateral line but not until you are almost directly on top of them. at which point it doesn’t matter because you have already drifted your fly past that fish. It’s much more likely that they spot your movement or shadow before you are anywhere near close enough to them for the grips studs to created enough disturbance in the water to signal danger to the fish.

If they had the ability to discern signals created by foot steps that acutely, no one would ever catch a fish with or with out grip studs.