the modern era

buckybadger wrote:

It’s a tool. It’s also not refined enough to fit all applications yet.

Sure if you’ve prefished an area for days, scanned it, found fish in nice pods, and so on it is the cat’s meow to pick off isolated fish.

On the flip side if you are trying to find schools of bottom hugging saugers and walleyes in moderate current on a washboard bottom with boat waves, wind generated waves, and so on…I’d argue it’s still just as effective to maneuver through the areas that are “fishy” focusing on boat control versus trying to find, isolate, and target that “one” fish with FFS. You’ll find yourself screwing around with the FFS more than you will the rods that put fish in the boat.

If I exclusively fished lakes I think it’d be more effective. River fishing it has its place, but it’s not the same. If you are a serious ice angler chasing crappies or any fish that often suspend a bit, that’s where FFS really shines.

This is basically exactly what I was trying to say . Agreed .

I know you meant that as a joke Ben. But might be spot on.

I think the technology is already there. Set up 360 degree imaging and a split screen in the goggles. No value in viewing the opaque water surface when you can just turn your head and see an image of the fish at the exact depth and distance.

gim wrote:

Seth Feider has a 22 inch NBT Battleship screen

In 2-3 years they’ll be selling us swim goggles so we can truly see what the fish see, live where the fish live. The future is now my friend, grab a pair and dunk your head in today. Unlimited field of view. Ultra HD realism. We’ll have crystal clear hulls made of high tech polymer so we can just watch them live.

KPE wrote:

grab a pair and dunk your head in today.

I have zero interest in spending 4 grand on just a screen and staring at it for hours on end. I’ll let the pros and their sponsors do that.

That’s not how I fish and it never will be.

I’m not in any organized tournaments. My opinion would probably be different if I was.

My buddy who fishes tournaments when the bass are on the beds uses a pylon to look into the water and target them. Its a very odd technique.

CaptainMusky wrote:

My buddy who fishes tournaments when the bass are on the beds uses a pylon to look into the water and target them. Its a very odd technique.

I have watched the pros do that in certain tourneys

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>KPE wrote:</div>
grab a pair and dunk your head in today.

I have zero interest in spending 4 grand on just a screen and staring at it for hours on end. I’ll let the pros and their sponsors do that.

That’s not how I fish and it never will be.

I’m not in any organized tournaments. My opinion would probably be different if I was.

I agree 100%. I fish tournaments and do pretty good. I tend to power fish up shallow. Lots of times I never even turn the graphs on.

There’s a newer generation of pro anglers that have mastered FFS/live sonar as their primary tactic. One particular angler, Kyoyo Fujita, on the Bassmaster Elites, is a real “scoper.” In events where it shines, he mops up. In events where it doesn’t help as much, he does poorly. The outcome of his placing is solely dependent on how effective live sonar is in any single event.
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how bout them apples down in toledo bend as we speak

jack klusa wrote:

One particular angler, Kyoyo Fujita, on the Bassmaster Elites, is a real “scoper.” In events where it shines, he mops up. In events where it doesn’t help as much, he does poorly. The outcome of his placing is solely dependent on how effective live sonar is in any single event.

how bout them apples down in toleod bend as we speak

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Haha, exactly.

Tomorrow there will be a camera in his boat and everyone will see his professional scoping skills.

Would love to have one for ice, but not open.

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This is getting out of hand. The most recent Elite event at Toledo Bend was nothing but a scope fest. Guys were complaining about their necks being sore because they had to stare at a screen for days on end. Is this what pro fishing is coming to? Check out Chris Zaldain’s setup at the console. They need to put some sort of limitation on this. It looks more like the pilot’s area of a commercial jet than a professional fishing rig.

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That’s not Zaldain’s boat. He runs a Nitro, not a Ranger.
I think it’s Bryan Schmitt’s boat.

First it was the green box then it was paper graphs next came lcd graphs
Remember loran then gps next 1 foot contour accurate mapping side imaging down imaging 360 imaging now ffs.
Where does it end?
Don’t get me wrong I have loved every advancement and have caught more fish easier. I haven’t made the jump to ffs yet because of the money.
But I also loved my trips up to Flin Flon where we fished with just a sonar and sometimes without because we would run out of battery.
The question is would we have more fish and better fishing if there was absolutely no technology?

I have no problem with advancing technologies or give a crap how many graphs people have on their boats.

“Most” of the guys in tournaments are in it for the competition and the fun. They want to catch fish and many are utilizing technology to the fullest.

One could also argue that most of these same guys are practicing catch and release with the large majority of their fish.

I myself on the other hand….have four Garmins on my boat and kill a lot of my fish

90% of my fishing is on the Great Lakes. I release almost all of my lake trout, but any salmon I catch get the knife. They literally fight to the death and many aren’t releasable.

The last time I was out two of us caught 17 lake trout. We kept 6 only because the guy who is buying the boy’s sap wanted some, otherwise all of them would have went back.

I just want to know what on Earth is he using all those displays for? I have 2 at the console, 1 is gps 1 is sonar.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I just want to know what on Earth is he using all those displays for? I have 2 at the console, 1 is gps 1 is sonar.

I’m assuming he’s running multiple Live-scope transducers simultaneously. One to the left, one to the right, and possibly a third to look fore and aft.

I have a pair of 9″ GPSmaps flush mounted at the helm, a 10″ GPSmap overhead, and another 10″ GPSmap at the stern.

One 9″ is dedicated for charting, the other I use for sonar (Panoptix, 2D, or Side-Vu). The 10″ overhead is primarily for radar, but when radar isn’t needed I use it to display more sonar. The 10″ at the stern is primarily displaying Panoptix and 2d. It’s great for passengers to watch and awesome for setting/running downriggers.

I have my PS-30 “flipped”. This allows me to use it as a forward and rearward facing sonar simultaneously while trolling.

It sees 120° fore and aft, and 90° port to starboard (which is a HUGE swath of water).

I can see my downrigger balls 100+’ down behind the boat, as well as see what coming up in front of me, whether it’s fish or a rise or drop in water depth.

I can have my riggers down 100′ in 105′, see a fish 80′ ahead of the boat 75′ down, and have time to raise a rigger and potentially catch that fish. 60% of the time it works every time

When I installed it, I set it deeper than normal with a spray shield. It’s also tilted to match the deadrise of my hull.

Everyone says they can’t work on plane and can’t be tipped…

The right side of the screen is looking 60′ ahead of the boat, the left side 60′ behind. I can manually zoom out and see even farther, and getting deeper automatically sees farther when in auto-depth.

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CaptainMusky wrote:

I just want to know what on Earth is he using all those displays for? I have 2 at the console, 1 is gps 1 is sonar.

I assume multiple ffs transducers so he has a wider view and doesn’t have to turn a pole… think a 360 livescope view around the boat.

B-man wrote:

I have no problem with advancing technologies or give a crap how many graphs people have on their boats.

For real if people don’t like ffs just don’t use it, no one is forcing it on anyone. I’m not a huge fan of fishing with it myself, but if that’s what you’re into then get after it. I spend more and more time in a canoe or waders every year.

tswoboda wrote:

For real if people don’t like ffs just don’t use it, no one is forcing it on anyone. I’m not a huge fan of fishing with it myself, but if that’s what you’re into then get after it. I spend more and more time in a canoe or waders every year.

Right. Its cost prohibitive for many anyways and it seems those are the ones that whine about it in the first place because they are jealous they cannot afford it.

I assure you 100%, this is going to be the future and you WILL see guys out there fishing with Apple Pro Vision goggles displaying FFS.

Of course it’s klunky right now, but 20 years from now I bet it’s the norm. Check out the story, one guy figured it out already…

https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/augmented-realty-glasses-livescoping/?fbclid=IwAR3zPAq6DT9R0ckmLf8ya2z3LmEhD3Kd1z04oI6fxzHC3QBsHubEqcD6LwU

Give me a 12″ screen of side imaging, a cold Miller lite, and a clear sky in October and Ill catch enough fish to be happy.

If someone wants to stare at three 12″ units on a nice night, more power to them, who I am to tell someone who is right or wrong. In fact, I bet that person is the better angler too.

Im all for companies like Garmin and Pure Fishing deciding to invest many millions in R&D into the sport, it all comes full circle and is a net positive.

The last thing any of us need is more screen time. Fishing and hunting is supposed to get you away from the screens. Kind of like when you tell your kids to put down the iPad and go play outside. Now they’re essentially just going and playing on that iPad in the boat.

I don’t care what the guys fishing tourneys are doing – they’re in their own world that not many of us can relate to. However, I do care about the future of our sport and the fisheries and we will have to wait and see exactly how FFS impacts those.

BASS tourneys are popular because they are a spectator sport, and have a huge following. I think FFS will negatively impact that, so I see some sort of change coming soon. Recreational angling is awesome, imo, because it is relaxing, nothing about watching FFS looks relaxing. I don’t think it should be illegal, but there are limiting factors outside of legality. I’ll likely get it on my next boat, but doubt I’ll be staring at it all day.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

The last thing any of us need is more screen time. Fishing and hunting is supposed to get you away from the screens. Kind of like when you tell your kids to put down the iPad and go play outside. Now they’re essentially just going and playing on that iPad in the boat.

I don’t care what the guys fishing tourneys are doing – they’re in their own world that not many of us can relate to. However, I do care about the future of our sport and the fisheries and we will have to wait and see exactly how FFS impacts those.

I have to ask the question.

When you’re ice fishing is it boring without a graph? Or is it acceptable to use one through the ice but not in a boat?

B-man wrote:

I have to ask the question.

When you’re ice fishing is it boring without a graph? Or is it acceptable to use one through the ice but not in a boat?

I do fish with a graph on the ice and will acknowledge that hypocrisy. However, comparing a regular old vexilar to FFS is apples to oranges and if you don’t acknowledge that difference, you’re not seeing the forest for the trees. Kind of like how firearms and archery deer hunting have different regulations to protect the resource.

Where do you draw the line? How about if in a few years there are drones that can fly up and scan the entire lake and text you the gps coordinates of where the fish are… you good with that too?

CaptainMusky wrote:

I just want to know what on Earth is he using all those displays for? I have 2 at the console, 1 is gps 1 is sonar.

I have 5 on my pontoon lol.

Mapping
Side imaging left
Side imaging right
down imaging
LiveVu/Livescope.

I personally don’t use my garmin on the boat, just ice fishing. And honestly don’t use it to the full potential. Not even close. It’s just fun and you can learn about fish behavior and how they react to baits and jigging cadence etc.

I’ll occasionally use it to find structure but 99% of the time it’s a fancy vexilar. It is cool to see how far away a fish will react to a presentation. When I use my graphs, you can’t see the fish til it’s right under you.

I don’t see my self ever using it to snipe fish in the boat or on the ice. I’m too lazy for that and enjoy relaxing vs drilling out a massive grid and chasing fish around. Just not my style I guess.

I don’t stare at a screen any more or less now that I have it. It’s the exact same screen time for me but I’m probably in the minority.

BigWerm wrote:

BASS tourneys are popular because they are a spectator sport, and have a huge following. I think FFS will negatively impact that, so I see some sort of change coming soon.

Watching someone watch screens in a tournament is not entertaining. They are going to lose viewers. When ratings go down because they lose viewers, something will change.

I know that the pro muskie tour banned live sonar the year before last during their events. They had enough of people just scanning water and looking for muskies.

I’m not against technology or advancements in it, but there needs to be limitations. I’m not sure if that would be the number of screens or total screen amount, etc. There’s limitations on everything else, why not this. There’s limits on boat size, outboards, time limits, etc.

Right now its just an arms race in pro fishing.

If you ain’t scoping you just hoping…..