How well can carp hear?
Fed up of listening with bleeding ears to the lake bore who knows absolutely everything and everything?
The myth
‘Carp can hear everything under-water from the Impact Spod slapping the surface and discharging dinner, to the noise you make when you shut the gate at the car park… but how quiet do we really have to be?’
The reality
“Carp do indeed have excellent hearing. Even though we can’t see their ears they have them in the same way that we do, they’re just hidden behind the gill covers. They also have a lateral line that will pick up vibrations in the water which are usually caused by movement rather than simply sound, but either way, they have adapted well to be able to hear.
“Whilst we can never be sure exactly how sensitive a carp’s hearing is, I have conducted plenty of tests about how sound travels underwater and basically any sound made in water is very audible, whereas only bangs and louder chard noises made outside the water travel in. Talking quietly on the bank: no problem. Stamping feet, slamming doors, banging gates: more of an issue. However. it’s the noise made in the water that’s more important. If you wade, do it slowly, if you wash your pots in the edge (not advisable by the way) then do it slowly, and when you cast in, for heaven’s sake hit the clip and keep the noise down.”