Western Outdoor Times - Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!

It seems the predominant philosophy in most angling circles is that boat, jet ski and water ski traffic only spooks fish.

Well, not according to local fishing professional and Bass Pro at Bass Pro Shops, Gary Senft. His belief on the matter might make your head spin like a rooster tail.

In a way, all that traffic can be a good thing, Senft says. The traffic stirs up the water, which churns up plankton. Shad eat plankton, and bass move in and start gobbling shad.

Besides, fish, particularly in Arizona, are conditioned to noise. For a bit of recent proof, Senft fished Memorial Day weekend at Bartlett Lake. He noticed that as the number of boaters and water skiers who milled around the main lake increased, the better the bite got.

"In the old days, if the fish weren't biting in an area, I'd start my boat and do a couple doughnuts in the area," Senft said. "If the fish are there, it can get them feeding."