Technologies Impact

["hamma"]

Seeing as I haven't fished a tournament in any years , Im forced to wonder how  todays technologies have impacted the tourney scene,..Please allow me to explain.

When i was a kid my dad took us fishing whenever he could, not as much as he would of liked, but none the less. Back then there were no fishfinders, gps, or any other electronics available to anglers. Dad had his "spots" and they usually panned out. I"d ask him why they worked and other spots didnt. He replied "Im not sure" but was confident in those spots.

seqway into  the early 1980's,...

Being a ***atic, I bought a small basshunter boat, 8" long and powered by trolling motors,one in the front for while fishing and a bigger one on the back to cruise with. and i added a portable fishfinder,,... after a few years i realized why dads "spots" worked i could see the reason on the finders screen. and was kinda amazed and taken aback just the same. Amazed at dads tenacity to have found these spots, and taken back at the fact that bass fishing was about to change. the unknown will soon be common knowledge . I knew that this would impact the bass scene and it did. the 80's exploded with bass tournaments and  the game did "change" 

 Mid 90's i fished a few years of tournaments as a non-boater and did quite well, caught many lunkers, brought home some money a few times, and even made a state team. after i got that out of my system i bought a tracker super guide v-16 , carpeted, with a pull start tiller motor, I wanted the tiller because it opened that size boat right up the console took up alot of space, I added a 12 volt powerdrive trolling motor, a fishfinder for up front and another for when im traveling in the rear of the boat and an extra battery up front for when my primary one dies, i also added the best battery charger i could get it charges 3 batteries at 15 amps per bank i could take off for several days of fishing without having to plug in and re-charge. ,....sweet huh? this worked quite well for me up til last year.

 when i was 20 i herniated two discs in my back, last years first few fishing outings ended in pain, the discs have progressed to being degenerated,.. pulling that motor to start it,  and deploying and stowing that powerdrive  trolling motor was brutal. I had to do something.. i am forced to, im not gunna stop fishing!! , but the pain was unbearable... im getting medical attention and things look good for the future. But up to a couple months ago i was  kinda grounded,..... to combat this horrendous and completely unacceptable situation,  the boat is getting a newer 40 hp electric start /electric trim motor and the new minn kota ulterra trolling motor. with the i pilot link,  this motor will deploy and stow itself with the push of a button and has the i pilot link capabilities,.. im adding the new hummingbird helix's that work with the i pilot link. If you havnt heard of them, i recommend you check them out. The capabilities are  huge for me for medical reasons but also will allow me more time to fish, and as i keep reading this  minn kota manual im realizing that now the game may change again

 The ability to utilize a troliing motor without having to touch it seems huge to me, before i had to be on that footpedal and pay attention to what i was doing with it.  stow and deploy it manually which doing a dozen  or so times a day takes some time and effort. the new system im installing will eliminate alot of my lost time and offer me more time to fish, and fish better due to the finders abilities.  the finder will actually "talk" to the motor, utilizing waypoints, tracks,  and spotlocks with gps,..  directing the motor with finder. .and theres more

 Now i dont know about you,.. but i see this as a awesome tool that tourney anglers need to take a look at. it may not be the cable steering your used to,.. but I think its gunna eventually have the impact on tourneys as it should.,... think about it, another hour or so to " fish" in a tourney due to the ability to allow your boat to handle itself. time you used to handle your boat with will be almost gone, completely, while putting you on the spots you choose and tracking itself at the speed you choose with minimal interaction

do you think this will eventually impact tournaments?,....i do,...Am i wrong ,...i dunno

Id imagine some wary pro's will  use this, or have they already?

 Please reply with your thoughts.,. i really am interested  in what they may be,.

[Nitrofreak]

As with any technological advance, they take time, time to develop and time to accept, some get accepted right away, others, not so much.

While this particular advance has certainly helped people, such as in your case, with a positive impact, technology is doing what it's supposed to do, which is move forward and create better user friendly products and improvements that allow enhancements to ones quality of life, who can truly say that they will be using this in the future because the future is wide open in the technological sense of things, what's new today is old tomorrow, that's about the gist of just how fast technology is changing.

I can see the possibilities of something like this aiding some of our anglers ( tournament or otherwise) who do suffer from various issues or those who are handicapped in some ways, regardless, the choice is out there for those who wish to take advantage of it right now, if it had an advantage over another angler I believe it would already be in use by quite a few IMO.

["hamma"]

Thanks for the reply Nitro,

 i can see how it would take some time as you need to get out on the water with this technology and use it to get the tracks, waypoints etc. I cant wait til i get my boat back so i can.. I'm pretty sure the deploy/stow feature will add to the ease of me being able to fish again,.. and with autochart,the go to feature, and spotlock i definately see the oppurtunities that this will open up for me on the larger lakes up here. Maybe when i get comfy with the new gear i will try my luck again in the tourney scene and put my theory to the test,.,,, the stow and deploy alone is a godsend, a tap of my foot or a button on the remote is all it will take and the motors deployed and a couple prompts on the chartplotter and "go to" track 231 will take me all the way around the hump, weedbed etc. ,...Maybe im just overwhelmed by reading this manual, but from a bass anglers standpoint,  i think this is awesome. Even fishing other species this will aid anglers greatly trolling for trout, salmon, or walleye. spotlock will keep you on a spot like an anchor but without a rode from a anchor, good for crappie fishing id bet.

your last sentence about an advantage over others it would be in use already I totally agree with, hence my  question,..are some using i pilot link already, adding the waypoints and tracks now for future t's on those waters. I could see minn kota reps pushing this but maybe the tourney anglers found something they didnt want, or like,... which is another reason i posted this question. i hope time will tell. Maybe when i finally get on the water i will face the answer myself 

 I do know the more i read the more im amazed at the capabilities,... hopefully some others will reply that have this technology already

 

[Nitrofreak]

Your welcome, we look forward to seeing the results and input you have, mostly we look forward to seeing how much fun you will have being back on the water.

Good luck, be safe and God bless !!

[Further North]

The Ulterra will change how you fish.  I've had a Terrova since they first came out and just upgraded to an Ulterra.

It'll take a bit, abut as you get used to using the Ulterra, you'll find that you spend only a fraction of your time screwing around with boat control.

I have a couple of sunken islands on one lake near here that I simply select a contour a ways out from the depth I want to fish, set the motor to speed I want to fish at...and I fish.  On one of them, I don't touch anything other than a fishing pole (or a net) for better than 25 minutes.  You can do the same in a bay, or along a productive piece of shore line...or you can plot your own course in cover you know to be productive.

Spot lock is great as well.

Enjoy your new "toys", I suspect you'll find your time on the water a lot more relaxing once you've mastered the new gear.

["hamma"]

thats what i fighured north, thanks for the input. I hope this will not only allow me to fish, but fish more productivly. I do have some nice shorelines here that im sure this will help out on. Even better i got some spots out on lake winnepesaukee that this will lend itself nicely. usually these "spots" are hard to stay on as they are out in the middle of the broads and wind blows you off of them, but they usually hold awesome smallmouths depending on the winds direction

I should be getting my boat back next week and when i finally install the ulterra and hummingbirds i will let you 2 know how i like it,..lol im gunna "have" to test it out !!!