First Peek at New Electronics

[Bud Kennedy]

In two more weeks, I will have my first experience at seeing the operation of the newest sophisticated electronics available in the marketplace.  Up until this time my only practical experience has been with some pretty basic common sonar. 

FD seems to have all the latest and greatest and will be a great opportunity to have a first hand look at what information these new systems provide in a practical sense.  Looking at screen shots is a far cry of actually seeing this stuff in action.   

The big question will they help you catch more and bigger fish or will they just reveal what is down there and where they are and provide the angler with location information and then it will be up to you and your skills to figure out how to make them bite.  Should be quite a learning experience especially for someone like me with so so skills or will it just be frustrating to find fish and not be able to catch em.

[FD]

In a word, Yes.

But there is a sort of..disclaimer.

Finally had both working properly today and they were useful in 5 feet of water.  We were fishing submerged, isolated hydrilla, and I could hold the boat the correct distance off to make casts without getting tangled every time.  4 fish in 2 hours.  Nothing to write home about, but today was my first practice with both.

[D.W. Verts]

Just tuned in to live Classic stuff at Bassmaster.com. First off is a Garmin commercial that led off with-

"Don't waste time FINDING fish..."

What a changing world we live in.

Dale

[big g]

Being an old fart, I have never played a video game in my entire life, but those growing up with a controller in their hand this technology should be a real hoot!  Can you imagine 20 years from now.

[topdsm0138]

I bought my Hummingbird just to "map" the deeper parts of my local lakes.

Sent from undisclosed location -Tiller Mafia

[Fun4me]

Wasn't the point of the flasher, 2d sonar, side scan, down scan, etc. all designed to waste less time finding fish? I get that forward facing sonar has bunched some underwear, but people have been wasting less time finding fish for decades.

[Oldfart9999]

Boats have changed, motors have changed, trolling motors have changed, rods and reels have changed, and yes, sonar is now much much more. The only trouble is the fish haven't changed, all the upgrades in electronics means that much less you need to know to catch fish, sit in the bow and don't wet a line until you see fish on the screen, boring.
Rodney

[Smallie_Stalker]

Electronics is a sticky subject. And you've got different groups of anglers using them for different purposes.

Overall, for any angler they are one more tool in the angler's toolbox and can even be very educational tools to learn about fish movement, how different conditions effect what cover or structure they set up on and how they set up on it etc.

For today's tournament angler they are an absolute necessity if they want to have any chance of competing equally. And they can help eliminate a lot of unproductive water which is vital when you are fishing against a clock.

They can also be important safety tools. If a lake drops say 10 feet and you can adjust your map to the new contours you can avoid what could be a catastrophic situation by not hitting that boulder or stump that used to be 11 feet down but now is only 1 foot under the surface.

Used alongside the age old approach of time of year/type of fishery it is a win win for the angler regardless of whether they are fishing for money or just for fun.

Some of us remember watching Glen Lau's videos and seeing how bass relate to cover and approach and strike a bait. We liked it. And we learned from that.

IMO I don't see much of a difference between that and what some of today's electronics are showing us.

Personally, I'm excited to see what the future holds.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro  using Tapatalk

[topdsm0138]

Electronics is a sticky subject. And you've got different groups of anglers using them for different purposes.

Overall, for any angler they are one more tool in the angler's toolbox and can even be very educational tools to learn about fish movement, how different conditions effect what cover or structure they set up on and how they set up on it etc.

For today's tournament angler they are an absolute necessity if they want to have any chance of competing equally. And they can help eliminate a lot of unproductive water which is vital when you are fishing against a clock.

They can also be important safety tools. If a lake drops say 10 feet and you can adjust your map to the new contours you can avoid what could be a catastrophic situation by not hitting that boulder or stump that used to be 11 feet down but now is only 1 foot under the surface.

Used alongside the age old approach of time of year/type of fishery it is a win win for the angler regardless of whether they are fishing for money or just for fun.

Some of us remember watching Glen Lau's videos and seeing how bass relate to cover and approach and strike a bait. We liked it. And we learned from that.

IMO I don't see much of a difference between that and what some of today's electronics are showing us.

Personally, I'm excited to see what the future holds.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro  using Tapatalk

There's soo much of this statement I wanted to highlight as it's nail on the head, but it's easier just to quote. But agreed on the fact that IF it's absolutely necessary for your buisness (Guides) or Career (Tournaments), then by all means have at it and buy it. I have no issues with that at all.

Sent from undisclosed location -Tiller Mafia

[Oldfart9999]

If I were fishing big league tournaments or guiding I would have them. That being said I have down and side scan and GPS, more for telling me what is going on with the bottom, rocky, grass, drop offs. The need to know the basics of how fish move seasonally is still there. I don't care to move around staring at a screen to find fish but I do like knowing about the structure and why fish are holding on spots and will make trips where I don't fish much at all but will note what the structure is. can be hard to explain I know but it's how I roll.
Rodney

[coldfront]

Wasn't the point of the flasher, 2d sonar, side scan, down scan, etc. all designed to waste less time finding fish? I get that forward facing sonar has bunched some underwear, but people have been wasting less time finding fish for decades.

don't recall the specific angler being quoted during the classic telecasts... but remember Zona talking about how those guys using the livescope type technology are starting to see the fish 'moving out of the area' once they've been painted.

these fish may not be a bunch of finned einsteins, but they do have eons of genetic selection for survival all based on situational awareness ... doesn't take long for them to associate certain sensory inputs with desired or UN-desired outcomes.

and those bigger fish?  they're possibly even more wary ... having ridden those instincts to allow them time to grow to giant size.  big wary bucks get to be big wary bucks because they're wary...  same with trophy bass.  they didn't get there by being naive/gullible...  and now, with catch and release, those that might be a bit naive are helped/educated...

all this being said, it was really fascinating/interesting to listen to the discussion with anglers about how they used their electronics...  specifically, how Christie quickly recognized his 'key ditch' just had the fish move out on the final day.  in his case, it wasn't 'see fish' it was 'no fish' time to go... 12 hours of live commentary by Z and Davey... have to say this is one of my favorite aspects to the Classic.. and any tournament.  But the Classic is just a different derby.  To me?  my absolute favorite sporting event by a long ways.  even more than the Super Bowl (unless my favorite team is playing, then it's very close...).  one of those 'main differences' is that I pretty much enjoy, root for every angler in the Classic.  Always great stories, always great catches, decisions... and heart-break.

[FD]

The "no fish, time to go" is exactly how I am learning to use the new toys.

During my tourney days, practice was a much about eliminating water as it was finding fish.

Now I can do it same day, in real time.