the modern era

What are anglers supposed to be looking at, if not the screen? Pre-FFS, they were all looking at MEGA 360 or 2D sonar correct?

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>
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.

I agree with this completely. I’ve watched more than my fair share of bass tournaments. When a guy is video-gaming it makes for boring viewing. It’s like the great lakes tournaments, where a guy is just drop shotting all day, not exactly riveting. The actual fishing is fun, but watching it is not.

gim wrote:

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.

The PMTT banned it because one team was way ahead of the game and mopped up at Eagle River. They had a good old boys member vote to ban FFS the next day (mid-season) lol you can’t compare the PMTT to actual professional fishing circuits

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ganderpike wrote:

What are anglers supposed to be looking at, if not the screen? Pre-FFS, they were all looking at MEGA 360 or 2D sonar correct?

Nature maybe lol ? I don’t know. I’m not a screen watcher. That would drive me nuts. Sitting in a boat watching a screen isn’t my cup of tea. But I get it I guess. I also am not a tourney guy so I enjoy my time in the boat.

Just go drive your boat down from the dam and Y in pool 4 and see how many people are excelling using live scope and you’ll feel better about it

Almost like there’s two ends of the spectrum and virtually all of us fall somewhere in the middle. But anyone who doesn’t have exactly as many screens as me is for sure crazy and doing it wrong

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Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>ganderpike wrote:</div>
What are anglers supposed to be looking at, if not the screen? Pre-FFS, they were all looking at MEGA 360 or 2D sonar correct?

Nature maybe lol ? I don’t know. I’m not a screen watcher. That would drive me nuts. Sitting in a boat watching a screen isn’t my cup of tea. But I get it I guess. I also am not a tourney guy so I enjoy my time in the boat.

Of course, but they are implying they are bored of watching pro bass fishermen stare at their screen…. which seems to be expected…

Not a big fan of them but enjoyed them over the weekend. Had a few different boats somewhat near us that the guys never looked up from their screens to see how many fish we were catching so they never came by us. Never seen them catch a fish. We caught lots of fish while just feeling the jig on the bottom watching eagles try to make a porno no livescope required.

Of course, but they are implying they are bored of watching pro bass fishermen stare at their screen…. which seems to be expected…

All while they stare at their screen watching others fish or stare at a screen. The irony.

I have concerns about how FFS is impacting fisheries, but at the same time am strongly considering adding it to my boat this summer. I bet many here feel similarly conflicted about FFS.

I often hear “if you don’t like it don’t use it, aka watch your own bobber”. I would counter that by saying when the technology starts impacting the success rates of an “normal” angler I start to question things.

Muskie fishing in particular is an interesting example: of course you have a chance at catching one without FFS (its not even useful in some situations), but it seems to be getting harder due to them seeing so many more baits and being easier to find/pressure with FFS. I would bet the differential in success rates between someone pursuing open water muskies in June with FFS vs. someone without would be massive to the point where I just have less motivation to even try without FFS.

I found this muskie podcast with Pete Maina interesting, it probably goes harder against FFS than I would, but they make some good points: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B4JOt3QWfk&t=1s .

tswoboda wrote:

The PMTT banned it because one team was way ahead of the game and mopped up at Eagle River. They had a good old boys member vote to ban FFS the next day (mid-season) lol you can’t compare the PMTT to actual professional fishing circuits

I mean it is the highest level of muskie fishing out there. I understand what your saying though, it doesn’t have the bandwith that other pro circuits do. I just looked at their website under rules and it says they can’t use it during the 2023 season. It hasn’t been updated for 2024 and the first event is at Cave Run in April. Wonder if they are going to allow it this season or ban it again.

One of the guys who got first in that event caught the state record muskie out of Mille Lacs in November 2021 (Nolan Sprengler) using live sonar.

The one thing about all of our tech for fishing and how good it is, is just what kind of tech does the US Navy have?

Hopefully better than 100ft of FFS

Yeah Nolan knows he is the reason PMTT banned FFS, 4 livescopes 7 screens to see any direction off the boat. He may have had the same setup for the state record. It’s working for him though as a full time guide! I think muskie nut Doug Wegner has a similar setup? Way too much tech for me, I just want one FFS someday haha.

“Sprengeler has a total of seven Garmin 8610 and 8612 graphs on his Ranger 622. Three utilize LVS34 LiveScope Plus transducers and he sometimes plays around with Garmins legacy Panoptix PS31 transducers because you can see out a little farther with those for that June and July small basin bite. Two of the LVS34 LiveScope Plus transducers are mounted on his 36-volt Minn Kota Ultrex 112, the other on a custom pole he fabricated in his garage.

One benefit, he says, of using LiveScope is trolling with live bait. LiveScope allows you to see how deep your baits are running, if anything is checking out the baits, or if youve got weeds on them.

While Sprengeler is willing to troll for big fish bites, he says his favorite way to catch muskies is spotting them on shallow sand and throwing a double 8 bucktail.

I like catching them shallow with LiveScope in Perspective Mode and then suspended in Forward Mode on rubber baits. Its like get ready, the fish sees it, and its going to eat it!

Sprengeler realizes the muskie community is split between lovers and haters of forward-facing sonar. As a young, progressive angler and guide, he says he was quick to adopt the technology in the same manner that anglers before him adopted Side Imaging, 360 Sonar and High Definition lake maps.

Sure, my partner Tim Willems and I were the ones who made the PMTT musky tournament ruling happen. We caught 10 or 11 fish, which we located with LiveScope, all suspended during a bug hatch. So, we used our knowledge of electronics to get them to bite over those two days on the Eagle River/3 Lakes Chain in Wisconsin and won the event. Since, the (PMTT) Professional Musky Tournament Trail has banned the use of forward-facing sonar.”

https://www.outdoorlife.com/fishing/augmented-reality-glasses-livescoping/

BC –
1000% agree with you.
I have all the new gizmos and gadgets but I’m happiest just watchin a cork (even when it doesn’t move) drinking a beer looking at the woods and water enjoying life.
Could really truly care less if a fish bites. Seriously, could care less.

It doesn’t bother me if I’m not catching fish BUT it sure bothers the hell out of me if the boat next to me is!

It doesn’t bother me if I’m not catching fish BUT it sure bothers the hell out of me if the boat next to me is!

Really? Not me.

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