The Future of Fishing: Technology That’s Changing the Game

My mind was blown this weekend watching a local guide utilize the latest technology to its fullest.

Using Panoptics on his bow, he would cruise around at a high rate of speed looking for his targeted species, then stop the boat having found what he was looking for and let his clients cast at the fish, moving along after a minute or two searching for the next target. Wig…

Forget using technology to find structure or objects that might hold fish. This use of technology only had you casting at fish! And also seeing their reaction to your presentation. This was essentially sight fishing using electronics. No washing lures hoping a fish was there. There were only precise casts made to where a fish was spotted – and only when a fish was spotted.

Like it or not, this seems to be the direction that fishing is headed…and I don’t see the technological advancements stopping. In fact, I can envision a day in the not too distant future in which Panoptics Live type sonars are available on the bow in 360 degrees, having Mega-imaging quality or better, and armed with fish alarms sounding when your targeted species are spotted and the distance and depth they are holding in relation to the boat. Hard to imagine what might come after that.

Someone said to me that fishing like the aforementioned guide took away the thrill of the hunt, but watching him as I did for an hour left me with a very different impression – it sure looked like hunting to me. And I was certain I was looking at the future of freshwater sport angling; at least for those interested in maximizing their productivity on the water.

Embrace it? Or not?

Not.

I’m not sure I could get into it even if it was financially possible for me, which its not. I enjoy the challenge of finding fish and then figuring out what they want to eat. Will fishing become catching eventually? No challenge? Just go and catch a limit as fast possible?
Instant gratification is very popular these days.
I don’t mind having a rough day on the water, it makes the good days so much more enjoyable.

Pass. For multiple reasons

Hmmm…
Increasing population, more development, more precise technology with greater efficiency. Sounds like just more pressure on the resource. Will the technology create new lakes?

I think it is a great next step.

So many people have si on their boats and zero clue how to interpret images.

You can have the money, but if you don’t spend the time in “depthfinder school” all you’ve got is an expensive screen.

grubson wrote:

Will fishing become catching eventually? No challenge? Just go and catch a limit as fast possible?

If the goal is to go catch a limit… I’m bored already.

Already today you can sit on the ice and have a fish on your sonar right below your hole. You interact with that fish with different lures etc… That isn’t enough to turn it into catching I don’t know what is.

My goals typically revolve around catching the upper 95 percentile of fish size… Unless someone else is in the boat then I go with whatever their goal is for that day.

grubson wrote:

I don’t mind having a rough day on the water, it makes the good days so much more enjoyable.

That is quite true.

Some people don’t realize when they hop into my boat how much work went into their success that peticular day.

There is simply no substitute for time on the water, but technology will make you better than you would be without.

This is yet another step in the progression from fishing as relaxation while enjoying nature to fishing as a numbers game. The skill element is diminished, replaced by how much boat and electronics you can afford. There has to be somewhat of a hollow feeling when fishing morphs into a video game.
Deer hunting has gone the same way. Muzzle loading rifles were initially meant to evoke earlier times, they soon evolved into high powered single shot rifles with scopes, as the primitive rifles required too much skill and attention to detail. Deer baiting and food plotting is epidemic. I am sure that if it was available deer tagging systems would be sold so deer could be tracked by gps and the hunter could ride a four wheeler out to where it was located. Bow hunters now want crossbows. I am not a Luddite but I do see the negatives of fishing and hunting devolving into social media bragging rights. Oh well, enough of the screed.

I think you’ll get a lot of negative feedback on the use of this type of technology. To me it’s all part of the evolution and people can choose to use what is available. I would never fault anyone for that, especially if you are a guide and your livelihood is making sure people catch fish.

I’m a middle of the road technology guy – decent sonar on the boat but no SI or anything like that. I tend to like to fish by feel where I look for fishy spots and hope the sonar backs up my intuition. This is especially true on the river.

I agree with a couple of posters – to me it’s as much about being on the water and enjoying the entire experience. I feel like too much technology could distract from that but that’s my opinion.

I have been dreading that kind of technology for years. It will destroy fishing as we know it and the rich will be leading the charge.

If I want to look at screens and push buttons I can stay home and do that. There is a definite limit to the amount of technology I’ll have in my boat, whether I can afford it or not. I’m out there to relax, not win anything.

Now if I was a guide, maybe I’d look at it differently.

S.R.

El Paso

Been fishing a lot with my 6 year old son. We’ve been using the old 14′ 1967 lund and no depth finder. we’ve caught fish and have spent more time fishing then in the bigger boat with all the gadgets. other boats been used mainly for skiing and tubing with how much less work is involved with the little boat.

would agree with steve that it could be useful when guiding people that are paying money to catch fish.

They better come out with an alert system that comes with these units. Before you know it it will be like the phone zombies that don’t look up from their screens and run in to people. Hopefully with other people having this technology it doesn’t hurt the guiding business. I can imagine what this will do on the tournament trail and pre-fishing.

I vertical jig off the back of the boat right under my graph all the time. Is that ok with you guys? I can see fish, and my jig. Should probably make another law.

The problem is that bag limits have not kept up with technology and pressure. If its easier to catch (and harvest) fish, technically there will be less available. Not to mention the explosion of ice castles that sit on a spot for a month or more drinking beer and waiting for a limit of fish too. The DNR needs to drastically reduce bag limits, and soon, otherwise the resource is going to be depleted.

gimruis wrote:

The problem is that bag limits have not kept up with technology and pressure. If its easier to catch (and harvest) fish, technically there will be less available. Not to mention the explosion of ice castles that sit on a spot for a month or more drinking beer and waiting for a limit of fish too. The DNR needs to drastically reduce bag limits, and soon, otherwise the resource is going to be depleted.

I couldn’t agree more.. 88% of the guys out fishing are only there to get “their limit” so just reduce the number of fish they can take home and everyone is happy!! They get “their limit”, the resource is saved a few more fish for another day, and the dnr can spend less CASH on stocking! Walleyes in MN is baffling for me. WHO needs 6 walleyes??!!! Dump it to 4 like SD and that will be a good start. My god.

All the Garmin sponsored Bass pros are tearing up Bassmaster Elite and FLW…

…or not. Calm down guys.

Just because you know where fish are, doesn’t mean they will bite. It is a great tool to locate fish.

Care to share who the guide is?

Wasn’t the under water camera going to make everything to easy?

The GPS and mapping cards are just as deadly a tool as there is imo and have changed the game more than cameras and depth finder advancements.

If you took someone out who was totally effective and efficient at running all the electronics, yet wasn’t a good fisherman, it would help them. But a good, experienced fisherman could do more damage with a first gen gps/sonar combo.

Comfortable trucks, easy to load and unload trailers, comfortable big boats, with big hp could all be lumped into the conversation. Along with warm, dry comfortable clothing. Tied in with rods, reels, super lines and endless choices of tackle.

Yet fish still elude even the best anglers, with all the equipment available.

Technology won’t ruin fishing, fishermen will.

Respect the resource and we will know when a tool tips the odds to much in the anglers favor that isn’t fair chase.

The morality of fishing can be somewhat regulated as to what’s legal, but everyone’s own personal morals are a different ball of knotted up yarn. Sport fishing is a pandora’s box. Substance fishing is a different box. Both could be endlessly debated to wrongs and rights, but in the end fishing is a passion, hobby, recreation, or whatever you want to call it or try and define it as. It’s different for each individual. What’s good for the goose ain’t always good for the gander. What’s good for you or me, might seem horrendous for someone else. There’s bucket fillers and CPR fanatics. If each are following their passion lawfully, it’s not mine to judge. Only learn and have some empathy and understanding for each individual’s ideals of why they fish. To each their own and my leanings are towards a libertarian vs a preservationist or a game hog. If something encroaches on something to a level of not fair chase, whatever defines that, regulations and being informed are about the only ways to measure intangibles. I personally like innovators who push the envelopes of boats, tackle, rods, reels, line and even electronics. How anglers utilize the tools available will have to be digested and monitored to avoid the inevitable leaps and bounds that will bring about the better mouse traps.

The lack of youth involvement is more concerning long term, than technological advances.

I do about 20 trips a year to just teach people how to use their electronics. You can only imagine the amount of emails and phone calls I get a year… all the same theme. ” I have no idea what I’m actually seeing on this thing”.

No doubt that someone with the desire and skill set can find fish. But the vast majority of people don’t utilize the technology or learn how to use it.

Surprised no one addressed the increased frustration that comes with finding fish, knowing that they are there, and can’t get them to eat anything

Its not going to hurt the sport you still have to find out to catch them and sometimes there not in the mood.

$1500 transducers…

I think most here are missing the point. It has nothing to do with the handful of days the fish just don’t bite or the fact that you still have to make them bite. It’s whether or not an advancement has an impact on a a resource as a whole. This is difficult to measure. Whenever any change occurs that affects any resource, changes in management must be considered. Whether it’s limits, seasons, stocking or laws against he technology, something needs to be done in order for that resource to meet our expectations. We play god in the vast majority of our lakes in this region so we need to assess and assume the responsibility of the affects something like this will have.

When sonar was first introduced, there was a bill being considered in mn whether or not to make them illegal. That was in the 50s I believe.

I don’t think panoptics is going to have anywhere near the impact sonar and gps has had, but the question needs to be asked constantly if we want to enjoy our resources.

Eventually there will be the tech to show you visually where all the life is in the lake. You cant convince me the resources wont be negatively impacted if everybody knows where they are. Of course this is an extreme example but its heading in that direction.

I’d buy it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll sit in a boat for 16 hrs any day and not catch anything and be happy…but I’m out there to catch fish. If I can cruise around a lake and have a great day fishing with the newest technology, I will…most everyone is out there to catch fish right? That’s why you went fishing?

Just cause you can see a thousand geese flying over head, doesn’t mean you’ll shot your limit…you still need to know what you’re doing.

biggill wrote:

I don’t think panoptics is going to have anywhere near the impact sonar and gps has had, but the question needs to be asked constantly if we want to enjoy our resources.

I think that’s certainly true for open water, but with ice fishing I think Panoptix could have the same amount or more of impact as GPS.

Gas prices, boats, outboards, gear, lures, internet, loose lips, and so on all have an impact. Comes down to an anglers greed and disrepect. Just because I catch a lot of fish doesn’t mean I keep very many

blank wrote:

I think that’s certainly true for open water, but with ice fishing I think Panoptix could have the same amount or more of impact as GPS.

Lol.

Have you compared price tags for the various technologies.

That weeds out 95%+ of (fishing) consumers. Especially on ice.

Wasn’t long ago you wouldn’t see many people with side imaging on their boats… Then the el’cheapo Helix 5 hits the market…

You be sure to let me know when panoptix is under $500

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>blank wrote:</div>
I think that’s certainly true for open water, but with <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing I think Panoptix could have the same amount or more of impact as GPS.

Lol.

Have you compared price tags for the various technologies.

That weeds out 95%+ of (fishing) consumers. Especially on ice.

Wasn’t long ago you wouldn’t see many people with side imaging on their boats… Then the el’cheapo Helix 5 hits the market…

You be sure to let me know when panoptix is under $500

I was thinking more in terms of impact on an individual level, not on a lake or resources as a whole. But yes, the current price of Panoptix is certainly going to limit the amount of fishermen owning one.

Just like many things in life these days. We are getting too smart for our own good.

Randy Wieland wrote:

Gas prices, boats, outboards, gear, lures, internet, loose lips, and so on all have an impact. Comes down to an anglers greed and disrepect. Just because I catch a lot of fish doesn’t mean I keep very many

This is the most important statement I’ve seen on this thread. Catch and release and not keeping limits everytime you can is going to become the most important thing to save population numbers.