Forward Facing Sonar Debate

gimruis wrote:

Take a quick look at the next two upcoming Elite events on Lake Champlain later this week and then the St Lawrence River and you will 100% see FFS in action. Nearly all the pro bass anglers will be sitting there on offshore structure with a vertical plastic presentation like a drop shot, aka “scoping.”

There will be some big bags brought in, no doubt about it. But it will be a complete snoozefest if you tune in.

Seth Fider plans to flip grass and docks for largies on Champlain, he’ll be worth watching if he sticks to that plan.

Good! I hope he does and he does well with that plan.

Best day with my Livescope was when I sold it. I would rather fish than play video games. Especially while outdoors. It’s amazing the amount of money people will dish out to spend all day watching some blurry lines on a screen.

If you ain’t scoping you’re hoping . for the record – I’m not scoping .

Mike W wrote:

Best day with my Livescope was when I sold it. I would rather fish than play video games. Especially while outdoors. It’s amazing the amount of money people will dish out to spend all day watching some blurry lines on a screen.

I’m with you there Mike.

Hahaha just watching @Aaron Wiebes newest video now, and he is the GOAT! There are no sacred lambs, anyone BS’ing is going to get slaughtered. Protect him at all costs!!!!

Mike W wrote:

Best day with my Livescope was when I sold it. I would rather fish than play video games. Especially while outdoors. It’s amazing the amount of money people will dish out to spend all day watching some blurry lines on a screen.

Amen

Just another tool in the tool box. I use it yes. All the time gawd no… has it changed the way I fish? Sometimes.

The mysterious search is part of the fun, not for ice fishing though, I would take any legal advantage on a frozen lake. Not yet ready to shell out that much.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Just another tool in the tool box. I use it yes. All the time gawd no… has it changed the way I fish? Sometimes.

This pretty much sums up my use as well, alot of times I find myself not wanting to deal with the hassle of getting it all setup everytime I move to a different spot (I use a mobile shuttle) If you own a lake home/cabin and fish off your dock alot, its alot of fun to scan where to cast to next…

The past 3-5 years I’ve fished with friends that have FFS and it is convinced me that this is a tool I will have. I remember ice fishing without a Vexilar and the change that occurred when I got one, imagine this will be the same. I get a limited amount of fishing time (open and ice) each year, always hope for more, but want to have the best chance when I do. I’ve used a buddies Livescope fishing and it was a game changer. Hoping that there are some “sales” on the LS34 ice/boat packages this fall like the LS32 had the last couple years.

I never owned one, but the buddy I fish with often did. I’m totally fine not fishing with one again. Especially when I go to these lakes and watch everyone staring downward all day long. I’m good ill keep catching fish the way I always have. But I get why people want them.

acarroline wrote:

Hoping that there are some “sales” on the LS34 ice/boat packages this fall like the LS32 had the last couple years

The LVS32 is old tech being closed out and that’s why its on sale so often, the LVS34 will stay at msrp…keep an eye on Scheels, they seem to have the best deals around…

gimruis wrote:

Good! I hope he does and he does well with that plan.

So far so good!!

Excellent!

I watched bits and pieces of live today and he was definitely in the thick stuff. Even pulled one out on a frog.

A pair of 5+ pounders in the north are big largies. Wonder if he has enough spots for largemouth to keep that up for 4 days though.

gimruis wrote:

Excellent!

I watched bits and pieces of live today and he was definitely in the thick stuff. Even pulled one out on a frog.

A pair of 5+ pounders in the north are big largies. Wonder if he has enough spots for largemouth to keep that up for 4 days though.

I think he even doubts it’ll last.
It’s worth some time to try if he can get one or two in that 5-6lb range again though.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

FFS in its current form is a tool. There’s times it’s the best thing to catch quality fish, and there’s times it is just going to slow you down chasing fish that are negative. It definitely doesn’t make anything bite.

My concern with FFS isn’t what we’re seeing, rather where we are heading. It’s not absurd to think that we will have FFS that’s linked to your rod for distance and directional casting, and will be able to identify species + relative size without the angler themselves having to interpret anything. The “skill” of scoping will likely become just choosing what you want the equipment to do for you.

Everyone will have a choice to make. Do you want to play the “new game” that transforms fishing, stick with “old” tactics and technology, or get out of the hobby altogether. For me there’s a 0% chance I’ll be at the cusp of technology with where it’s headed. That’s not the type of fishing I’ve grown up enjoying, but to each their own.

Livescope excels in certain situations. Practically worthless in others. I can say that I’ve struggled to make good use of it on the river. It’s definitely not a golden ticket. Just a tool – a really good one in certain situations – but just a tool.

It’s rumoured that Garmin has a new version in their back pocket that will have the ability to lock on and track a specific target fish…pretty wild if it’s true.

The Boys and I fished over the weekend, caught a bunch of fish without any electronics whatsoever.

As I was jigging blind over the side of the kayak with a cold beer in my other hand, the Boys were pulling micro cranks and pounding 9″ crappies behind little planer boards.

I laughed to myself thinking how it woulda drove some guys crazy not having a screen to stare at

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B-man wrote:

It’s rumoured that Garmin has a new version in their back pocket that will have the ability to lock on and track a specific target fish

That’s based on a patent they submitted a few years ago, no doubt they are sitting on a 2.0 version of Livescope, but when 1.0 is still the best, why not continue to stretch that profit margin as far as possible…

The new tech will likely require a separate motorized transducer holder and the newer head units, the BassPro sale models will most likely not support it…so expect to pay big $$

I have livescope and the only time I ever use it is on the ice. I find myself using my electronics less and less when I fish. I despise staring at a screen while on the water anymore.

I watched a guy trying to snipe crappies on a local lake this weekend with very little luck. I was able to find an area to drift across and caught about a dozen as he spent more time repositioning the boat than fishing. That’s no fun at all.

Reading a map and the water and finding fish that way is so much more rewarding.

B-man wrote:

It’s rumoured that Garmin has a new version in their back pocket that will have the ability to lock on and track a specific target fish…pretty wild if it’s true.

The Boys and I fished over the weekend, caught a bunch of fish without any electronics whatsoever.

As I was jigging blind over the side of the kayak with a cold beer in my other hand, the Boys were pulling micro cranks and pounding 9″ crappies behind little planer boards.

I laughed to myself thinking how it woulda drove some guys crazy not having a screen to stare at

Hasn’t Humminbird already introduced something like that? “Target Lock” maybe??