Zaldain and Electronic costs for elites

[JediAmoeba]

I thought this was a very interesting video...

 

https://youtu.be/i0DSy-qQCzE?si=qlglGHzkwTfzb2px

[TnRiver46]

I also enjoyed it, I commented that I don’t want to hear them complain about payouts anymore 😂. Their graphs cost more than I make in a year

 

Wish he would have talked to John cox about when he sticks a rod in the water to see how deep it is 

[Susky River Rat]

I have been hearing more and more pros say they have to fish this way and do not really like it. Morals go out the window when it’s time to cash a check. It’s here to stay unless the competition bodies or the DNR stop it. 
 

@TnRiver46 I agree with your comment. 

[Catt]

39 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

I have been hearing more and more pros say they have to fish this way and do not really like it.

 

Some are saying it ain't fishing!

 

 

[Mike L]

Every one of them said they have to have setup’s like that just to be able to compete. 

I get it, but it’s also a little sad that this is what it’s come too. 
 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[Kyle S]

18 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Some are saying it ain't fishing!

 

 

Purely my opinion, but that looks more like a cockpit of a commercial plane than a bass boat. Ridiculous if you ask me. I'd love to see some sort of regulation happen.

[scaleface]

10 minutes ago, Kyle S said:

I'd love to see some sort of regulation happen.

I imagine a majority of the contestants feel the same way.

[Functional]

That many screens gives me a business idea but I need a software tech because I have only 20% of the skills needed to pull it off. 

 

I can see 4 screens MAX (2 at helm, 2 at bow), anything beyond that and I'd be way too concentrated on screens and not enough brain power left to work a bait properly. 

[Catt]

It was said Fujita's electronics cost $50,000, add to that what $80,000 for the boat, & probably the same for a tow vehicle.

 

We're looking at 200k!

[GRiver]

Thanks for the link. @JediAmoeba

I never knew it was that crazy….. I mean WOW!…. Their electronics cost more than my boat, trailer, trolling motor and my $99.00, 10 year old hummingbird.
Plus it was used when I got it, I remember getting a pan of ice water and putting the transducer in it so my buddies and I could watch the temperature drop on the screen.

(easily amused I guess)
I wonder how much of nature and the beauty of fishing they miss focused on those screens. 

[The Baron]

Those guys are just making business decisions they're forced to make.  It's an arms race and unfortunately more electronics = higher chance of cashing cheques.  Also, I'm sure their electronic sponsors want to see the boat full of screens, in hopes you and I might be dumb enough to think we need that.  No doubt all the top pros are darn good fisherman, but then they hit a point where it's not about sport or fun, and for that I am not at all jealous.  The guys I really feel for are the up and comers, who aren't fully sponsored.

 

That said, is it not true that for a lot of them, their boats, electronics and rods/reels/tackle are bought either at a reduced cost or even free as long as they put a sticker on their boat?  I mean, they've got $30k of electronics on their boat and they don't even know what they cost.  You ask any other guy at the local boat ramp what his setup costs and I'll bet they know to the dollar because every purchase was a big decision.  And although I know nothing about running a business in the US, I'd expect all those trips and entry fees are a tax write off for a legit business (they would be in Canada) that would make the net cost a lot less than the sticker price.

[Tackleholic]

I feel badly for the great older pros who are now losing to "kids" because they do not and never will have the ability to be as proficient with the electronics.  I would like to see some tournaments with no electronics allowed;  bet the old guys would rule.

[A-Jay]

As an OG and getting more OG, 

I am completely indifferent as to what or how much FFS gear pros have or what it costs.

The whole concept tweaks my inner basshead soul, right to the core.

So I've been completely tuning out of this deal for a while

and will continue that for the foreseeable future. 

Mean time and like always, I'll set my focus on my own recreational fishing,

which unlike much of this, makes me happy.

YMMV.

A-Jay

 

[greentrout]

I've been watching the Elite Series on FS1 and it's obvious to me FFS has changed the sport to a great degree and, if I were competing, I'd learn those electronics pronto. 

 

Good Fishing

[gim]

12 minutes ago, Tackleholic said:

I would like to see some tournaments with no electronics allowed

I don't think it should be outright banned.  Perhaps they can come to some sort of limitation though, like total screen size or number of screens.

 

Almost everything else is limited in the pro realm.  Boat length, outboard size, time limits, geographical lake limits, etc.  Seems like this could just as well fall in line.

[Shadow1]

I may or may not be in the minority here, but I thought fishing was supposed to be a skill using knowledge and techniques honed over time to figure out the fish and conditions.  Not some carnival game where you throw a lure to a target you see on a screen.  Let's run a real tournament with the only electronics being a depth finder.  We'll see who the real fisherman are.  

[Tennessee Boy]

I’ve never liked the gaudiness of tournament bass fishing.  With rednecks you see it in excessive horsepower.  With geeks you see it in the number of fish finders and transducers.  It would be better for the sport if tournament organization put reasonable limits on both.  It will probably never happen.

[Mike L]

52 minutes ago, GRiver said:

I wonder how much of nature and the beauty of fishing they miss focused on those screens. 

With the amount of money invested and the amounts that are at stake, nature and beauty of anything is the last thing they’re interested in to look at. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[Craig P]

Graphs are now what rods are, no one wants to switch a bait so they have 30 rods on their boat.  They don't want to have to press a button either so they just look at another screen.  I would wager that a majority of these professionals do not know how to use their graphs.  They may know how to read a screen but they do not know how to navigate to the other relevant screens or settings to do exactly what the next screen over is showing.

 

Marketing however is HUGE! and these electronic companies are loving this.

 

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

It was said Fujita's electronics cost $50,000, add to that what $80,000 for the boat, & probably the same for a tow vehicle.

 

We're looking at 200k!

 

The big screen in front alone is $13k (for a 22".  He might be as big as a 27").  Hard to tell the size of the rest with that big one there, but let's assume one 16" up front and 3 12" on the helm.  That's 4k+10k and you're at $27k just for the screens.  I've heard (but not seen a picture of) that he's running multiple LVS transducers including the discontinued saltwater one (LVS 90 I think).  That's a solid $10k worth of transducers there.  Add a black box and the batteries/chargers to support all of that and yeah, I can see why airplanes are so expensive.  

3 minutes ago, Craig P said:

  I would wager that a majority of these professionals do not know how to use their graphs.  They may know how to read a screen but they do not know how to navigate to the other relevant screens or settings to do exactly what the next screen over is showing.

 

I would take that bet, certainly for a lot of the younger generation of anglers that have youtube channels (and probably the older guys too).  A lot have full tutorials of how they set up their electronics, how they adjust through the day or by body of water, etc.  Wheeler used to run all three brands and was/is fluent in all of them (I think he's consolidated to two now).  

[Mike L]

@casts_by_fly

 

I agree. 
If they feel they can’t compete without them in todays world regardless of how old they are, I’d bet they could make those things get up and dance if they wanted 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[ike8120]

Those electronics cost more then my first home.

[Craig P]

The younger guys may know how to use the electronics but in general, people are not tech savvy. I say this as I sit in a dealer service center waiting room and listening to a service advisor tell someone they were able to hook up their Bluetooth to their phone.

[Team9nine]

It will all be fine in the end. Bassmaster has an advisory board studying this subject all year, and they’ll report their findings and recommendations at the end of the season

 

 😉 wink, wink, nod, nod

[casts_by_fly]

50 minutes ago, Craig P said:

The younger guys may know how to use the electronics but in general, people are not tech savvy. I say this as I sit in a dealer service center waiting room and listening to a service advisor tell someone they were able to hook up their Bluetooth to their phone.

 

Yes and no.  It all about what you use and have used often.  My parents aren't tech savy, but they grew up in an analog age (they are late 60's now) so I wouldn't expect them to be.  They use devices/tech less than most and don't have a need for it since they didn't grow up with it and haven't embedded it in their lives.  They would be the people in that service center getting an explanation (in fact they brought a new truck home yesterday, so fitting timing).  More than a few times I've set up their electronics settings (truck, fish finder, computer stuffs, etc).  They also don't care to spend the time to learn it.  They just want it to work.

 

I grew up straddling analog and digital (currently 43).  The internet was happening when I was in middle school (I had a 14.4 dialup modem).  I learned cassettes and VHS but also .mp4 and streaming.  I was learning digital things as they were developing so I've seen version 0.1 of things.  I understand electronics and am a good user of current tech, but I also want to know how it works at its core.  I have an idea how things should work, whether I can make it to it or not is sometimes a question.  I'm definitely not up to date with the latest things though, so I can see my own interest and need in tech/digital waning into a 'i just want to use it' mentality at times.

 

Our nieces and nephews who are 11 YO and younger could fire up a brand new fishfinder and have it showing fish in 5 minutes.  They've been using the latest and greatest of digital/tech/internet since they were 2 years old.  Its innate to them.  They may have no clue on lots of things, but tech comes naturally to them.

 

I liken that to the guys on the tournament trail.  Someone who is 24 right now would have been 5 years old in 2005.  Their first phone was probably an iphone or similar.  Tablets were common for kids of that age.  In school they would have had digital projectors and maybe tablets instead of overheads, transparencies, and (gasp!) paper.  When you have that foundation in touchpads and digital instruments, moving from one to another is a lot easier.  Its just the way you do things rather than another thing you have to learn.