What does my generation know about sonar?

[WRB]

For old timers that started bass fishing as flashers, paper graphs,  LCD’s, side scans, HD, 360 scans and todays FFS- live scope know?

We know bass behavior far better then today scopers and can catch bass anywhere any time!

Tom

[Catt]

Agreed 👍 

 

 

[crypt]

AMEN..........

[Bird]

I love the 'ole time approach but.......Josh Jones ?

[gim]

I don’t think I would be able to read a flasher anymore. Vexilars are still very popular here for ice fishing.

[J Francho]

I learned from my great uncle, tracking salmon in very deep water with a paper graph. The technique translated to using a flasher in deepish water for smallmouth. I use SI and DI, but I prefer to be over deep fish using a split chirp and DI or a bottom zoom. I don't need anything to catch fish shallow, but on lakes I don't know 100% I like to use all the tools to locate what will be a better shallow spot. 

[Tennessee Boy]

I don’t know how much my ever increasing age has helped me understand bass behavior.  I do know that watching them behave has helped me tremendously in separating myth from reality.  I’m looking forward to aging with the technology.

[Choporoz]

Ok boomer!

 

 

Jk

Sorry.... I am a boomer

 

Scopers know bass behavior.  At least those at the top of the game.  (And so do those at regional and local levels). No question.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they know a lot more about bass behavior than anyone who hasn't scoped.  At least about bass behavior in the short-term, sort of tactical sense.  They are watching bass relate to environment and lures and bait in real time.  And with the amount of information available to them, they can learn about seasonal and long-term behavior in a tiny fraction of the time that we could.

 

   I'd like for someone to breakdown Bassmaster AOY for me by age...I see an awful lot of very seasoned gents near the bottom.  Wouldn't surprise me if top half average age is ten or more years younger than bottom half.  Clearly, that isn't all FFS-related, but it would, I think, show that anglers today don't need 20-30 or more years on-the-water experience to be the best 

 

I have reasons to not particularly like FFS, but thinking that scopers don't know bass like us old-timers isn't one of them

 

Clunn said something recently to the effect that he learned more about bass from FFS, than he'd learned in previous 60 years

[gim]

57 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I'd like for someone to breakdown Bassmaster AOY for me by age...I see an awful lot of very seasoned gents near the bottom.  Wouldn't surprise me if top half average age is ten or more years younger than bottom half.  Clearly, that isn't all FFS-related, but it would, I think, show that anglers today don't need 20-30 or more years on-the-water experience to be the best 

 

Part of this is the human mind.  Age inhibits one's ability to learn and learn quickly.  When was the last time a 60 year old picked up brand new technology in just about any form and mastered it as quick as a 22 year old?  Maybe there are some exceptions, but the general rule is that a younger mind learns quicker and remembers more than an older one.  No offense to the older individuals here or anywhere.

 

My parents are avid tournament walleye anglers and they have the most recent upgraded version of Active Target.  But being 67 and 73, their minds aren't sharp anymore.  Its like trying to teach an old dog new tricks.  I keep telling them that they should simply fish how they have for the past 15 years instead of trying to play video game fishing.  But its their time, their entry fee, and their boat, so they make their own decision.  Let's just say its not going well for them and its very unlikely to get any better.

[Catt]

@gimruis Totally disagree 

 

I'm 73 & have used everything from paper graphs to FFS. It was an natural transition from one to the other. Guys my age with a background in fishing deep structure its just another tool.

 

One way my on the water expenses helps is I know where to look. With FFS I can quickly find exactly where they're at on the structure.

 

I think one reason why some older guys struggle with FFS is because they weren't that good with electronics is strat with.

Edited July 1, 2024 by Catt
Fingers faster than the brain

[fishhugger]

witw (what in the world, for us old timers, lol) is a flasher? i thought it was just those big flashy things trolling guys used?  but it sounds here like it's a thing to help map something out....

 

 

[gim]

@Catt I think you're the exception.

 

You can't sit there and tell me that most 73 year old minds learn, remember, and operate as well as a 22 year old mind.  No one can defy Father Time.

 

Both my parents are proficient with modern electronics (my Mother more so).  Live/FFS has left them in the dust.  They used to be competitive, and they aren't the only ones.  Half the circuit they fish on is considering leaving.

 

[Mobasser]

I think older guys can and will learn things regarding all the modern stuff. Some of them are probably happy with what they've got now. I have to speak up for the older guys. I'm one of them myself.                                              I wondered if FFS would separate some of us. I think in some ways it has already.

[Catt]

@gimruis Yes sir, there are a lot of us out here. The key is staying up with the technology. I started with MS-DOS & have stayed with it. Same applies here!

 

If you look at younger anglers FFS isn’t their first rodeo. It ain't like they got zero experience. 

 

I think more than age it's the desire to succeed.

[A-Jay]

14 hours ago, Bird said:

I love the 'ole time approach but.......Josh Jones ?

No doubt Mr Jones can use FFS. 

However, he is often fishing the hottest big fish lakes at the Prime time and just like rest of us, enjoys showing the world His Best Catches. 

I may not be as sharp as I was 10 or 20 years ago, but whatever I may lack in that department, I make up for in appreciation and gratitude for any and all plus size fish I manage to catch. Even with my antiquated technology. 

A-Jay

[WRB]

FFS-Live scope watching a bass from a distance react to your lure isn’t any different then sight or bed fishing watching a bass react to your lure.

Behavior is knowing bass are on beds spawning or up shallow cruising.

Sites like BR have shared years of bass fishing knowledge educating a new generation of bass anglers. With knowledge available coupled with FFS the learning curve has been greatly reduced.

My generation have learned bass behavior by decades on the observing bass under every conceivable condition.

Tom

 

[Fishingmickey]

1 hour ago, fishhugger said:

witw (what in the world, for us old timers, lol) is a flasher? i thought it was just those big flashy things trolling guys used?  but it sounds here like it's a thing to help map something out....

 

 

 

That's a flasher, original type old school example of fishing electronics. You hung the transducer over the side of the boat and it would register the bottom and anything in between the bottom and surface.

FM

 

[Bazoo]

This is interesting to me because I don't use any of the technology listed here. First, I don't have a boat suited to it, but second, I don't think I'd really like. I enjoy learning about bass habits and habitat though, and I am always thinking of structure and how fish react to it.

 

While I know not embracing the technology will limit my catch, I think I'm happier this way.

21 minutes ago, Fishingmickey said:

 

That's a flasher, original type old school example of fishing electronics. You hung the transducer over the side of the boat and it would register the bottom and anything in between the bottom and surface.

FM

 

That's awesome, thanks for sharing. I've never seen or heard of one.

[Team9nine]

41 minutes ago, Fishingmickey said:

 

That's a flasher, original type old school example of fishing electronics. You hung the transducer over the side of the boat and it would register the bottom and anything in between the bottom and surface.

FM

 

 

20 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

 

That's awesome, thanks for sharing. I've never seen or heard of one.

I’ve got two “like new” and working Lo-K-Tors…one is a collectors item still in the original box, and the other I pull out and fish with from time to time using the old suction mount transducer. Even have an old original Lindy clamp bracket in the collection that was designed to be used with those cylinder-type transducers.

[gim]

This is the more modern version that a lot of ice anglers here use in the winter.

 

[Catt]

[fishhugger]

4 hours ago, Fishingmickey said:

 

That's a flasher, original type old school example of fishing electronics. You hung the transducer over the side of the boat and it would register the bottom and anything in between the bottom and surface.

FM

 

Thanks so much for the info!  I had no idea that sort of things existed.  That is impressive....

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Lol - the reason I refused to give up my paper graphs and flashers for so long. Those early LCG/LCR models were a piece of crap, regardless of manufacturer 

[Woody B]

Regarding age, and learning new things.  Unless there's some underlying condition a healthy 73 year old can learn things as fast, or faster than the average 22 year old.   

 

The problem with adults learning new stuff is distractions.   Many of these distractions are simply "life".   A Grandfather/Grandmother, who's kids have moved on will learn things quicker than a Father/Mother with a young family depending on them.   Also, the Grandfather/Grandmother probably has previous knowledge to help whatever they're trying to learn.

 

The real "sponges" for learning new stuff is teenagers before they have a job/ family/ house/ bills to pay.  The average 22 year old already has many "life" distractions.     

 

 

Learning new stuff, is....learning new stuff.  I taught guitar lessons for a couple decades.  My best students were kids in their early teens that wanted to learn how to play.  (no the ones who's parents wanted them to play)   My next best students, believe it or not were mostly retired, but all older empty nesters.   My worst students (with the exception of the kids that's parents made them come) were young to middle aged adults.   They simply had too many "life" distractions to concentrate on learning something new.   

[Tennessee Boy]

I went fishing with a buddy in his boat a couple of weeks ago.  It was a very low tech fishing experience.   He had 2D sonar,  no GPS,  no mapping.   To make matters worse the cell coverage was bad and I forgot to download the LakeMaster data for the area we were fishing to my phone.  It was like I was fishing out of my boat in 1992.   I still remembered how to fish that way but I did not feel a sense of nostalgia.  I felt mostly frustration.   I replaced “hey there’s a stump with a fish on it.  I wonder if I can catch it”  with  “I’ll cast over there,  maybe there’s something there.”  It’s what Randy calls the mystery of fishing.   I call it uninformed fishing.   Having the technology to know what’s down there gives you the information you need to learn and make informed decisions.  I respect those who fish “old school”.  I have no desire to go back to the old days.