The big debate on live scope

[Bankc]

It's 100% cheating, without any doubt.  The only thing that can change my mind is them become cheap enough for me to afford one.  

[flyfisher]

1 minute ago, Bankc said:

It's 100% cheating, without any doubt.  The only thing that can change my mind is them become cheap enough for me to afford one.  

This is probably at the root of most of the naysayers......even if they don't admit it 

 

[gulfcaptain]

1 hour ago, Bankc said:

It's 100% cheating, without any doubt.  The only thing that can change my mind is them become cheap enough for me to afford one.  

2k....... bet a lot of us spend more then that on stupid things and complain because it's "too expensive " let's see, bass boat 21-100k+ oh spot locking trolling motor 2700-5k. Sorry mute point.  I know guys that complain about prices but buy $250 swimbaits.  This issue of ffs is stupid. I've let my fishing buddy's try and use my boat and run it with me and they gave up. Too much focus. Trying to be accurate,  run the trolling motor, look and understand what they are looking at, then try and make a presentation.  Nope they gave up. But not because it's too expensive.  It's not 6k or more. You don't need 16" screens that cost 5k. 

[MN Fisher]

I'm with @Bankc - when I spent only $3k outfitting this from start to finish, spending 2/3 of that just for a piece of electronics is way out of my budget...no matter what kind of 'advantage' it'd give me.

[Vilas15]

We all know finding fish is 80% of catching, making them bite is the easy part even if its not always possible for every fish every day.

 

Generally Im not worried about it for bass fishing, but the panfish and walleye meat hunters can clean up. Fortunately most of them are too old to figure out how to use it. A recent minnesota musky record was caught by a guy driving around not making a cast until he found a specific fish. Then just tries different baits until it bites. Not fishing to me.

 

The technology is starting to push the limits of fair chase to me. It's like hunting deer with a drone. If its going to remain allowed then the regulations need to keep up which means lower bag limits for the rest of us to balance the total take with guides getting limits more easily and consistently.

 

For context, I could afford it and am relatively young, but i guess you can still call me a hater.

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, Koz said:

 

61*

 

(Old guys like me will understand this)

Roger Maris? 

2 hours ago, flyfisher said:

This is probably at the root of most of the naysayers......even if they don't admit it 

 

Man I don’t know, I see hundreds of boats with dual power poles that never stop moving. They can buy it 

[flyfisher]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Roger Maris? 

Man I don’t know, I see hundreds of boats with dual power poles that never stop moving. They can buy it 

yeah but i wonder how many of those came on the boats so it was an extra $5 on their payment over the next 120 months lol

 

[gim]

2 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

Fortunately most of them are too old to figure out how to use it. A recent minnesota musky record was caught by a guy driving around not making a cast until he found a specific fish.

Spot on, well played.

 

I know of that guy you speak of on the muskie, and what you say is accurate. It’s turning some muskie anglers into zombies. I’m still doing it the old fashioned way. Chuck and wind, over and over.

[DaubsNU1]

Heck, I'm still struggling to learn all the intracacies of my HBird units, and the Ulterra. 

 

If someone wants to drop cash on FFS, then so be it. Does not matter to me...not my circus, not my monkeys.

 

And for what it's worth: I am very happy dropping Mule deer @ 280 yards with my 7mm MAG. I would probably feel comfortable out to ~350 yards...not much more. 

[Susky River Rat]

@gimruis it ruined musky fishing here. The off shore bite on bait has pretty much been eliminated. That was my go to because the fish up shallow got pounded. I watch dudes run their big motor pit it in neutral when they see one cast at it than chase it again when they don’t see it. 
 

there have been articles bass guys do the same chase one big bass around. I do not like FFS. Yes, I can afford it. Will it go away? Probably not. I think the effects for me are worse here do to small bodies of water. Regardless I'm going to keep casting till its

not fun anymore.

[Woody B]

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Man I don’t know, I see hundreds of boats with dual power poles that never stop moving. They can buy it 

 

It's my belief that for the vast majority of fishermen (with boats of any kind) it's simply a choice.   Quite a while back someone here said live sonar was separating the haves and the have nots.  This person doesn't have live sonar, but has an outboard that cost more than my entire boat, motor, trolling motor and all of my sonar equipment combined.   

 

 

[gim]

10 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

@gimruis it ruined musky fishing here. The off shore bite on bait has pretty much been eliminated. That was my go to because the fish up shallow got pounded. I watch dudes run their big motor pit it in neutral when they see one cast at it than chase it again when they don’t see it. 

 

Ya, that's definitely "zombie" fishing for muskies just how I stated.  I never really target muskies offshore in open water.  I target them on structure in mid depth and shallow areas.  There is a lot of pressure on muskies here too but luckily we have a lot of lakes with them, both pure strain and tigers.  At one point I went 16.5 seasons without catching one, so I can feel the frustration there lol.  I seriously thought about quitting and selling all my gear multiple times.  I'm glad I didn't though.  Since that drought ended in August 2017, I have caught 29 of them.  I went 7 times this past season and I only caught two.  But, two is better than none.  I don't want to start another drought.  Some guys also troll for them or use a big sucker.  I rarely do either one.  I'd rather "bass" fish for them, casting with artificial lures.  I like to see the follows, even if they don't take.

 

Muskie season is very restrictive here too compared to other states.  We cannot target them until mid June after they are done spawning, and the season closes on Dec 1.

 

I guess the one positive about live sonar use with muskies is that they are all released.  There is a very high conservation aspect to muskie anglers and the will to safely catch and release them is strong.  Similar to bass, but more so.  At least they are not being targeted for harvest like crappie or walleye.

[Vilas15]

14 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

If someone wants to drop cash on FFS, then so be it. Does not matter to me...not my circus, not my monkeys.

That makes sense if you fish only private ponds or lakes.

 

I fish public water where the fish are a public resource so their management and harvest by other anglers directly afffects my experience.

[Koz]

I hate FFS so much I'm considering adding it to my kayak next spring 😀

 

I have a love / hate relationship with FFS. I think it can be a great tool if you're the one driving the boat. But when I fished MLF as a co-angler on spotted bass lakes this year I HATED it.

 

The boater would pull up bow first to a brush pile, take two or three casts, then we'd be on the go to another brush pile. All. Day. Long. Meanwhile, I'm getting one or two casts into the unknown and don't have time to work any slower presentations like Carolina rigs.

 

So next year if and when I fish thee events it will be in LMB lakes only and I'll probably do a tournament or two in Florida instead of the spot lakes in GA and SC.

[TnRiver46]

I went with my buddy that has FFS again the other day, I have no clue how anyone could ever catch a fish that way, it’s quite difficult. 

[Woody B]

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I went with my buddy that has FFS again the other day, I have no clue how anyone could ever catch a fish that way, it’s quite difficult. 

 

It's frustrating when you stop at a normally productive spot and either see no activity, or see Bass laughing at or ignoring your lures.