chas wrote:



Interesting. I know what you mean, but these disturbances all follow patterns
that the fish are used to, when the pattern changes I think (but don't actually
know) they are alerted. It could be much like the way we can pick a familiar
voice out of a throng, or recognize a friend at a distance by some subtle
nuance of motion. I'm going to think about testing this, off hand it seems
like it would be hard to get a good test that wasn't muddled by too many
variables.


I agree with this "pattern change" and the acclimation you're talking
about. Through in frequent interacts with humans and a variety of
"different" behaviors occurs. Here's a few of my personal observations.

My home river, as it goes through town, has a bike path along the side
on one bank. The path is heavily used by bikers, horseback riders,
joggers, walkers, kids etc. In several areas, the fish will move into
shallow water to feed during a hatch and are undisturbed by the people
passing by. However, if you stop on the path to watch them feed, unless
you are behind a tree or bush, they will spook off into the depths.

The fish will continue to surface feed while ducks, muskrats, beavers,
etc swim in their midst, even during low, slow water conditions. I even
had a beaver do a tail slap one evening while fishing the hatch and the
fish continued to feed. A dog going for a swim, even at a distance, will
put down the fish. For the fisherman, these fish are VERY difficult.
When these fish are feeding in shallow water, even a small "wave", a
push of water or a couple rocks clunked together when wading will spook
the fish back into deep water. A "less than good" cast will do the same.

Fish learn and acclimate themselves to their surroundings including
interactions with humans. Heavily fished C&R rivers give some of the
best examples. The "San Juan Shuffle" where fish are attracted to wading
anglers is the most "famous" example. On some of these heavily
rivers, the fish have learned to avoid strike indicators. The indicators
don't spook the fish, but as they pass over the fish, the fish will move
a foot or so into a different feeding lane and continue feeding often
returning to their original feeding lane after a few seconds.

Although this is an oversimplification, naive trout spook easily but
are tolerant of "mistakes" in presentation and fly selection. Heavily
fished over fish can be easily approached but are demanding in terms of
both presentation and fly selection.


Willi