I wonder,,,,

[Rahlow]

how some of the latest generation of fishermen, ones that can drive and tow their own boat, would do in days gone by when all the electronics that were available were "flashers", or even before that?

I mean I know these guys would learn to catch fish, the serious fishermen any way. What I 'm getting at is,  would there be as many boats on the water, guys fishing if they did not have the electronics that are available today to aid in finding fish or good fish habitat......

I firmly believe that electronics have opened up the world of bass fishing to people who may not have spent the time to figure it out otherwise, and I also believe there are some guys who stuck it out because of the gadgets..

ah well things that make at least me go,, Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[CroakHunter]

I only know one person with electronics in their boat and I've never bass fished from their boat. And I believe I don't do too bad 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

I had a depth finder, broke it, so I said heck with it. 

 

No electronics for this guy either

[Bankbeater]

My fish finder has been in the basement all year.  I can usually get a pretty good idea of what the bottom is like dragging a heavy t-rig, or a jig.

[LadiMopar]

I've gone all of my angling years (abt 50) without any electronics, until last year when I bought my kayak. Nothing super fancy, just the basic Deeper Sonar, which is used almost exclusively for mapping the smaller waters that have no topo/bathymetry available.

 

Currently have a newbie that I've taken under my wing and he really thinks he wants a similar device for a whole host of reasons. Counseling him against it for the simple reason that it's better to learn the basic W's (what,when,where and WHY) the old fashioned way; skills that will serve you any time, any place for a lifetime.

 

Obviously I'm not saying electronics don't have their advantages, but in my humble opinion they're not terribly useful without a good solid foundation...for example; if you don't know why bass stack up in downed trees, or that they use trees/stumps/rocks etc. to begin with, what good is seeing it on your screen? 

[Rahlow]

Please understand that I did not  intend to say younger, (younger than me can be 50 lol), fishermen without electronics do not exist, my thought is the explosion of Fishing, Bass fishing especially, is in part due to the availability of electronics to take some of the work out of finding fish,,,

11 minutes ago, LadiMopar said:

I've gone all of my angling years (abt 50) without any electronics, until last year when I bought my kayak. Nothing super fancy, just the basic Deeper Sonar, which is used almost exclusively for mapping the smaller waters that have no topo/bathymetry available.

 

Currently have a newbie that I've taken under my wing and he really thinks he wants a similar device for a whole host of reasons. Counseling him against it for the simple reason that it's better to learn the basic W's (what,when,where and WHY) the old fashioned way; skills that will serve you any time, any place for a lifetime.

 

Obviously I'm not saying electronics don't have their advantages, but in my humble opinion they're not terribly useful without a good solid foundation...for example; if you don't know why bass stack up in downed trees, or that they use trees/stumps/rocks etc. to begin with, what good is seeing it on your screen? 

The last paragraph has a lot to do with my question, do they (whoever “they” are) know the why? Do they have the patience to fish an area to find out if it holds fish? 

1 hour ago, CroakHunter said:

I only know one person with electronics in their boat and I've never bass fished from their boat. And I believe I don't do too bad 

Nice fish!

[jbmaine]

When I was a kid we had a camp on a lake. Fished off the end of the dock or in a rowboat. Caught fish. Would I have caught more with electronics? Maybe, Who knows.

 I have decent electronics on my boat for a couple of reasons. For the price of repairs on my motor I want to know when I'm getting into skinny water. The second reason is probably valid for most of us. TIME. Up until recently I had limited time to fish. I wanted the advantage electronics gave me to make the most use of the limited time I had. If you have all that $$$ in fishing stuff you kinda want to catch fish, electronics help.

 I will say, fishing the places I spend a lot of time on I don't need or use electronics as much to find fish.

Would there be as many people out fishing today as there is now, if we didn't have electronics. I don't know.

[Sam]

Rahlow, there are some other factors that have to be thrown into the mix:

 

Cheaper aluminum boats so we all can enjoy having our own boat.

The introduction of the kayak into bass fishing and opening that industry to us all.

BASS working the public like NASCAR and getting a lot of followers and new bass fishermen into the sport.

FLW doing the same, magnifying the BASS results.

The professional tournaments with pros who have followings.

Less expensive rods and reels.

Electronics for us to enjoy and break.

Plastics that will not break the bank and produce some great results.

Other baits that don't cost an arm and a leg and produce good fish.

The challenge of the sport: man against a little green pea-brain animal that wins more than it loses.

The enjoyment of the outdoors without your girlfriend, fiancé or wife, unless she really wants to join you.

Time with the guys and making new friends and acquaintances.

New places to visit with your loved ones throughout the country.

 

Of course, everyone has their own reasons to enjoy the sport. Electronics is one reason that helps us find the bass so we can be successful.

 

So would the bass fishermen back in the 60's and 70's do better with a GPS/Fishfinder/side imaging unit do better? Of course. But they did extremely well without the electronics of today using tackle, baits and techniques that we would not ever think of using.

 

Good post. Looking forward to reading what the guys say.

 

[Rahlow]

Good post Sam, exactly what I hoped to see,,, 

Another mind warp for me is the price of the high end boats, never in my life did I think I would live to see a $100k Bass boat, but I believe I will soon!

[WRB]

The first fresh water fish finders were Lowrance flasher units in the early 60's. Before that time period bass anglers were 3 groups; shore anglers who bait fished and cast lures, boat anglers that cast plugs to near shore targets and bait fished, boat anglers who trolled lures. Flashers opened up bass to a new group of anglers, structure.

The end of the 60's the first electric trolling motors along with flashers became popular kicking off the bass fishing derbies now called tournaments. 

Was the flasher or electric trolling motor responsible for starting today's modern bass fishing tournaments? This was the end of an era for the bass anglers who trolled like Buck Perry. Modern sonar helps bass anglers in many ways and the majority of bass anglers under utilize this tool. I learned to bass before sonar was available to fresh water fisherman during the 50's. Always wanting to know what was under my boat I bought my 1st Lawrance flasher in '61, paper graph followed, then color LCD. If you bass from a boat sonar helps you determine where the bass are located, unless the lake is a shallow visual cover lake where sonar is less useful. 

Tom

 

 

[Rahlow]

Tom, if I may call you Tom, do you think the generation after yours and I believe mine, as a general rule, have the patience to fish the way we did in the 60’s or even the 70’s?

I remember the Lowrance flashers, I knew the depth indication was good, and even some sort of structure or cover that blipped above that, but it still was a study to try and determine just what that blip was, for me anyway,,

I was a bank fisher until the late 60’s and my poor Baptist preacher uncle did not have any thing other than an anchor and rope to measure depth lol We mostly crappie fished, tied up under bridges or anchored near docks or boathouses,,,

I started serious Bass fishing in the late 80’s and early 90’s in farm ponds and small lakes limited to trolling motor power, electronics were not considered necessary in those locations, we wore em out thrashing the banks and off the points and known creek runs, old road beds etc.

I didn’t want electronics then,,, had no need for em.

[davecon]

I think in part it depends on where you fish. I’m in Florida and while the electronics help they are not a necessity. For the most part 8 feet is deep for me. We fish primarily vegetation that you can see/feel. Are there some areas where a depth finder would be valuable ? You bet but for most Florida fisherman if the depth finder craps out on you it won’t keep you from going fishing and catching a bunch of fish. I know, I know, there are exceptions but as a general rule you’ll be fine without the electronics.

 

Now if you’re fishing a deep mountain reservoir that’s a different ball game.

 

p.s. - my first “depth finder” was a window sash weight with knots tied every foot on a small rope/cord.

[Rahlow]

davecon, I had one of those, but no knots, used it as a plumb bob

[WRB]

Before sonar units with GPS maps finding off shore structure required topo map study and know how to triangulate positioning to locate spots to fish. Buck Perry was a expert at following topo map break ledges trolling his Spoon plugs while developing his concepts of bass migration and structure fishing during the 40's to late 50's. Perry didn't use sonar units and didn't believe in them.

I do believe in using sonar with GPS maps. Have you ever tried to navigate a fogged in lake? Easy with GPS and a accurate map. Sometimes a 1 foot break or ditch can be the key to success or a shell bed or old house foundation located off shore in a big shallow lake. Try finding the depth of a thermocline without sonar. I used a 50' weighted underwater thermometer to find thermocline before sonar units clearly show them. 

Sonar is a tool to help you.

Tom

[Tennessee Boy]

I've been fishing for 45 years and I've owned a Bassboat for almost 30.  My first boat had a flasher and I've been an avid user of fishing electronics ever since.  I remember sometimes spending an hour driving around guided by a compass and a flasher trying to find an offshore structure shown on a map.  25 years ago lakes around here were full of jugs and floats of various kinds that people used to mark offshore structure.  Modern GPS units with detailed maps make it almost as easy to find these places as it is to find the bank.  All of the offshore markers are gone and you don't have to worry about getting the strings wrapped around your prop.  More people are fishing offshore which has freed up near shore water for bank fishermen and for those who choose to fish the old fashion way.  One thing that has never changed,  you still have to catch the fish once you get to the place you want to fish.  

[BuzzHudson19c]

I have never in my 32 years used so much as a depth finder. I like learning and challenging myself. The electronics seem boring to me.

[Team9nine]

I don't think it has brought more fishermen to the sport, or even boat buyers, but it sure has brought more fishermen out off the bank. Actually saddens me in a way to see what technology has allowed. It started with GPS and the ability for anyone to just drive by you and push a button, forever marking your spot even though most people had no clue what you were fishing out there. Then came side imaging and hi-def mapping, and suddenly all the people who could never mentally create a 3D picture in their mind to know exactly what the bottom looked like from a 2D screen could now literally see the bottom and everything down there, along with how it all lays out. Stuff that took years and years to find and locate can now be found in a matter of hours. No more triangulation and lineups. No more guess work. Even boat handling has been taken out of the picture thanks to things like spot lock and contour linking between your trolling motor and your depthfinder. It is what it is, and I use it because it's out there, but it's still sad for me to see. And BTW, "get off my lawn!" -  

[davecon]

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I've been fishing for 45 years and I've owned a Bassboat for almost 30.  My first boat had a flasher and I've been an avid user of fishing electronics ever since.  I remember sometimes spending an hour driving around guided by a compass and a flasher trying to find an offshore structure shown on a map.  25 years ago lakes around here were full of jugs and floats of various kinds that people used to mark offshore structure.  Modern GPS units with detailed maps make it almost as easy to find these places as it is to find the bank.  All of the offshore markers are gone and you don't have to worry about getting the strings wrapped around your prop.  More people are fishing offshore which has freed up near shore water for bank fishermen and for those who choose to fish the old fashion way.  One thing that has never changed,  you still have to catch the fish once you get to the place you want to fish.  

I used to use things like aspirin bottles or prescription bottles tied to heavy mono weighted down with heavy sinkers to mark off shore spots. Less obvious. If you used a jug it drew a crowd.

[Catt]

Lowrance's Fish-Lo-K-Tor, also known as the Little Green Box & Humminbird Super Sixty did everything I wanted.

 

That was until 1984 when Humminbird unveiled the LCR series, the industry’s first Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) fish-finder. It was the first fish-finder that used a microprocessor to process signals.

 

Now we were in Hawg Heaven!

 

Equally important for me was bigger bass boats & outboards. With a bigger boat I could run anywhere on Toledo Bend safely!

 

 

[Tennessee Boy]

I agree the younger generation doesn't realize how much easier modern electronics make fishing offshore.  I'm sure the previous generation was saying our generation never realized how much easier a trolling motor made fishing.  One thing I will say about the new generation of fishermen, they are catching fish and most of them are doing it while carrying on a texting conversation with 5 of their friends.  That's impressive.

[sully420]

I think its kinda misleading many of us still had to learn how to fish without electronics. As we got older we were able to purchase a boat and electronics. As far as electronics bringing more people into fishing i would say no for me it was memories of fishing with my grandfather. I think the internet is bringing more people to bass fishing and sites like BR allows people with little to no background with bass fishing to gain information.

[Troy85]

I think affordable GPS made more of an impact.  Anyone can get anywhere now without needing paper map or chart reading knowledge.  Not that its a bad thing, I just think it lessened the learning curve, especially for fishing the vast marshes of SE Louisiana as well as offshore fishing.

[BassNJake]

There is also a crowd of bass fishing guys that have the money to own a new boat with the latest in electronics and gadgets.

They fly up and down the lake doing more driving than fishing.

They just lack the skill and the passion to do well.

Tourneys need donors like these guys.

 

 

 

 

[TOXIC]

To me, electronics make you more efficient but not a better fisherman.  I had a PVC Bass Hunter that I fished every mud puddle in Virginia.  I had a flasher just to show me depth and possibly structure.  On my Ranger I have a HDS 9 and 8 both with side imaging and downscan.  Can you actually locate fish?  Kinda....that is why the last big Lowrance release after all of the advancements was the "Fish Reveal".  It's still hard for the average fisherman to tell the difference between a suspended leaf and a fish on graphs.  At one time I swore I could put a transducer in my bathtub and it would show fish!!  Now side imaging really helps because you get an expanded view and if dialed in you can find grass beds, spawning beds, structure, etc.  Electronics are just another tool and an expensive one at that!!  

[sully420]

I notice a lot of guys show up to a lake fish some deep structure spots don't get bit and leave in 2 hours.  Its really weird they get so locked in to looking for that bite they totally overlook shallower patterns.