Do fish get "spooked"?

[ShortsideK]

Everything I have read proclaims that fish get spooked and thereby difficult to catch.
I don't know that I have experienced this.
I have had pods of trout come in right to my feet, following my fly. Subsequent casts right on top of a fish may startle it and cause it to veer briefly to the side for a second, but it never scurries away.
It may lose interest and slowly swim away, but it never looks frightened.

Similarly, when trout are feeding on the surface, they don't stop feeding because I may have "lined" them or made a bad sloppy cast.

Need enlightenment.

[Mr Flyguy]

Dinky little stockies in trout ponds don't know any better. Actually, even the bigger fish in lakes don't seem to get spooked unless the're in the shallower water. But if you're working a clear trout steam and the bigger fish see you and get spooked, or you flub a cast, don't expect any response from them for a while.

[58thecat]

Can't say I've seen a spooked fish...expression wise....but they sure bolt when they see my ugly mug

[Pikebreath]

Don't know where you been fishing, as trout in heavily fished environments will learn to ignore anglers,,, but just try the same tactics for wild brown trout in lightly fished clear spring creeks or bonefish on the flats and you will most certainly see a much different response.

[CNP]

Originally Posted by ShortsideK

Everything I have read proclaims that fish get spooked and thereby difficult to catch.
I don't know that I have experienced this.
I have had pods of trout come in right to my feet, following my fly. Subsequent casts right on top of a fish may startle it and cause it to veer briefly to the side for a second, but it never scurries away.
It may lose interest and slowly swim away, but it never looks frightened.

Similarly, when trout are feeding on the surface, they don't stop feeding because I may have "lined" them or made a bad sloppy cast.

Need enlightenment.

Believe what you have read. They can see you, sense you walking a bank and clumsily wading downstream. Mature, wild trout are easily spooked. Not necessarily spooked into swimming for cover...…...but they will ignore your offering entirely. I'm sure we educate them through C&R.

[Smoky buck]

Clear shallow water fish can spook reactions from jetting off, moving out further, and lock jaw as a result

Some fish also just don’t care though

[cranky]

I often wonder the same thing OP. Fly fishermen i know say that all the time but i see the hardware guys chucking lures that are big enough to hear plopping in the water half a block away and they are still catching lotsa fish.
Kinda contradicts the spooking thing some, dont it? Maybe we can say there are spots where it could be that they spook like maybe small streams etc. But in general i dont believe it much. I fish with lures about 70% of the time now. The worse my medical condition gets the more i go back to lure fishing. Guys gotta do what hes gotta do.

[bessiedog]

If you fish the Crow, particularly the lower big holes by late aug, you’ll find big fish nosing bugs.... and if your fly has what I call a ‘microdrag’, they’ll pass it up.... submarine down and cautiously wait 10-15 minutes before cautiously rising back up and start slumping again.

There’s also times when even 6x tippet seems to be detectable by them. They’ll pass on your offer and take a big right next to it.

[thumper]

Depends on the species as well - even the sub-species. In BC, 'Fraser River Rainbows' are a domestic (engineered) rainbow trout that seems to have lost their fear of predators - even avian predators like osprey, eagles & kingfishers. They spend much of their time near the surface, and don't 'spook' easily - and so are heavily stocked in put & take, urban trout ponds.

[lds]

I don’t know if a bad cast spooks a trout often. They get aware of it but if I wade through not being quiet they take off. I have had casting spooks with trevally though. Such a big aggressive predator I would think wouldn’t be scared easy but from 10 yards away I would lift my rod to cast and they would take off like a rocket and be gone. But I would say fish definitely spook

[SNAPFisher]

Try fishing lake whites in the shallows and you will know first hand what spooking means.

[wildbill]

Originally Posted by ShortsideK

Everything I have read proclaims that fish get spooked and thereby difficult to catch.
I don't know that I have experienced this.
I have had pods of trout come in right to my feet, following my fly. Subsequent casts right on top of a fish may startle it and cause it to veer briefly to the side for a second, but it never scurries away.
It may lose interest and slowly swim away, but it never looks frightened.

Similarly, when trout are feeding on the surface, they don't stop feeding because I may have "lined" them or made a bad sloppy cast.

Need enlightenment.

They see/feel you comin before you see them, wild ones that is, and if you spook them you will know, some of my better holes Ive crawled on my hands and knees to, they do get spooked, hand fed hatchery fish not so much.......

[professori]

Originally Posted by thumper

Depends on the species as well - even the sub-species. In BC, 'Fraser Valley Rainbows' are a domestic (engineered) rainbow trout that seems to have lost their fear of predators - even avian predators like osprey, eagles & kingfishers. They spend much of their time near the surface, and don't 'spook' easily - and so are heavily stocked in put & take, urban trout ponds.

Fixed it.

[MyAlberta]

Originally Posted by ShortsideK

Everything I have read proclaims that fish get spooked and thereby difficult to catch.
I don't know that I have experienced this.
I have had pods of trout come in right to my feet, following my fly. Subsequent casts right on top of a fish may startle it and cause it to veer briefly to the side for a second, but it never scurries away.
It may lose interest and slowly swim away, but it never looks frightened.

Similarly, when trout are feeding on the surface, they don't stop feeding because I may have "lined" them or made a bad sloppy cast.

Need enlightenment.

I've caught lots of fish with sloppy casts, but I can't ever remember catching the big ones at the head of a pool, without a well executed approach. Then again, with a sloppy approach, you won't know they are even there.

[scel]

In the last Fly Fusion magazine, Tom Rosenbauer wrote an article saying 'they know you are there'. It is an excellent read if you can track down a copy.