# Do divers really "kill the bite"?



## AndyS (Nov 22, 2011)

Recent thread about divers & fishermen on public spots in the General Discussion area made me want to pose this question to the diving community as to whether divers really "_cause the bite to go off_" as a lot of non-diving fishermen seem to think? I've read some comments on on the fishing threads here in the past as well.

I dive and fish .... but have only lived, dove, and fished in the NW Florida area about a year. I've made about a dozen dives on local public spots here & fished about the same.

As a fisherman I've been catching fish & suddenly have the bite to "go off" for no discernible reason at all. (I usually like to blame it on my buddy peeing in the water)

In my diving experience (here; Texas lakes; Mexico, Keys; Hawaii) I've not noticed all the fish flee & scatter from the wreck or reef when divers go down. Seems to me they just continue with their normal fish business, except maybe those in my immediate vicinity. I have experienced in Texas lakes if you take a few treats down in your BC pocket you can be swarmed with bluegill/perch ... and these are fish not really accustomed to being around divers. They were certainly never _afraid_ of me and when presented with tasty food my presence certainly didn't kill their appetite.

So .... what do the divers on here think? Is this a myth .... or do we really actually "_cause the bite to go off_."


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## Billybob+ (Jul 12, 2011)

I dive and fish both....

On days I'm diving....of course not!! Divers don't affect the bite at all, in fact, they probably increase the bite by stirring action on the bottom. I believe that putting a diver in the water is one of the best things you can do if the fish are biting finicky.

On days I'm fishing.....HECK YEAH....freakin' divers jump in, we're pullin fish like crazy...within 30 seconds! BITE OVER...might as well move...for that matter might as well erase that number from my GPS, it'll never be worth coming back to...it is DEAD. DANGED DIVERS!


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## KingCrab (Apr 29, 2012)

Hunnhh, Its weird how when i've fished over the years on a spot & divers showed up on a spot we were on it changed the bite dramatically. Must just be our bite they affected. If u go down blowing bubbles it has to do something. Just my past experiences I've had. I'm sure they dont affect fishing that much but something happens. I've never noticed divers going down & the bite pics up. Maybe on a large structure. Definatley not a small structure.


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## markw4321 (Oct 4, 2007)

In my experience as a diver and bottom fisherman. divers who are spearfishing can negatively affect the bite. In my opinion a lot of it has to do with the amount of exposure the fish on the reef have had to spearfisherman. If you dive a spot with snapper / grouper for example that have not ever seen a spearfisherman they may come toward you when you hit the bottom. But on a public spot what I have seen is that often the larger fish will move off into the sand or deep into the reef with a diver present.


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## speckledcroaker (Mar 23, 2012)

Wirelessly posted

I've had divers anchor ten feet from me and jump in the water. I do not like divers!


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## AndyS (Nov 22, 2011)

speckledcroaker said:


> Wirelessly posted
> 
> I've had divers anchor ten feet from me and jump in the water. I do not like divers!


I posted it in this section of the forum to get the perspective of _divers_ (sans all the hate talk from certain non-divers.) 

No offense, but I'm a bit surprised you are even perusing the Scuba section considering you apparently don't dive.


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## naclh2oDave (Apr 8, 2008)

I have been on boats where the fishermen on the boat that I just jumped off of limit out on snapper while I was down limiting out on mine. I suppose there are always variables though.


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## WhackUmStackUm (Jan 31, 2010)

Just my observations:


Fisherman are superstitious and will attribute the increase or decrease in "the bite" to all kinds of things.
Many fish move away from a structure when open circuit divers are present. The more divers in the water, the farther off they move. They usually comeback within a few minutes after the divers are out of the water.
Whackum


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## chad403 (Apr 20, 2008)

no they are not


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

While I am not a diver, I do snorkel some. And am not "anti-diver".

I have noticed that the bite shuts off when divers enter the water. The more divers, the more it shuts off. I also notice that it shuts off when dolphins come around. When something large and strange approaches a reef, stuff stops eating.

I bet if a Great White burst into your living room while you were eating dinner, you might stop eating. haha


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## coolbluestreak (Jun 27, 2011)

chad403 said:


> no they are not


What?



NoMoSurf said:


> I have noticed that the bite shuts off when divers enter the water.
> 
> I bet if a Great White burst into your living room while you were eating dinner, you might stop eating. haha


More divers=more dead fish=less fish to bite a hook:whistling:
I've notice that after I shoot a fish, the other little fish come in close to try and pick up the crumbs, maybe that's why the bite "shuts off"?


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

I've watched several bubble watchers catch fish from my boat while I am underwater. Does a divers presence effect the attitude of reef fish? Absolutely. Does that same presence shut off "the bite?" Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.


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## bigspoon17 (May 31, 2011)

NoMoSurf said:


> When something large and strange approaches a reef, stuff stops eating.


I witnessed this first hand a few weeks ago. We were wearing out the chicken dolphins on fly rods around a clump of floating junk when a decent-sized shark showed up. The dolphins followed every pattern we threw at them, but they absolutely refused to eat from that point on.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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