Retirement...who is next?

[TnRiver46]

You’ve also got some talented FFS anglers down the AOY list, people were all bent out of shape cifuentes won with it at Seminole last year and he’s in 96th place AOY

 

Soukup owns a company that sells and installs FFS and he’s in 82nd.

Cherry won a classic with FFS and he’s in 69th, same with Christie in 61st

 

Kyle welcher was AOY last year with many saying it was only because he was young and good at FFS , now in 46th

 

Fujita was going to win every tournament ever held because of all his transducers, he’s 36th this year

 

at the end of the day, it’s fishing and wildly unpredictable. The one thing that is predictable, old heads are usually pushed out by young up and comers 

[12poundbass]

20 hours ago, A-Jay said:

 

A man can dream.

I might even send him a nice card.

A-Jay

Slowly scrolling down this page on my phone and his noggin is coming up from the bottom of my screen like Freddy Kruger in a bad dream. Quite hilarious, you gave me a good laugh! 

[TnRiver46]

Oh my god he does kind of look like Freddy 

[Choporoz]

19 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Didn’t cifuentes win rookie of the year and/or AOY last year ? 

Yeah...he's different than the others I listed.  I only listed him because in a recent interview he sounded not just wiped, but like he didn't really much care to put in the work it will take to stay competitive.... not sure what he said exactly,  but I heard, "If I get lucky again, great. I still like fishing"

[F14A-B]

20 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

You’ve also got some talented FFS anglers down the AOY list, people were all bent out of shape cifuentes won with it at Seminole last year and he’s in 96th place AOY

 

Soukup owns a company that sells and installs FFS and he’s in 82nd.

Cherry won a classic with FFS and he’s in 69th, same with Christie in 61st

 

Kyle welcher was AOY last year with many saying it was only because he was young and good at FFS , now in 46th

 

Fujita was going to win every tournament ever held because of all his transducers, he’s 36th this year

 

at the end of the day, it’s fishing and wildly unpredictable. The one thing that is predictable, old heads are usually pushed out by young up and comers 

 
Yep and I know this is true but I’m still torn from a OG view of the sport. 
 

Nontheless, Johnston more than won that tournament, the dude fished in 8 foot seas, puked and was seasick. So it wasn’t just FFS that won that but grit, toughness plus ability and those are definitely OG characteristics..

[TnRiver46]

Yeah those guys are a force on the st Lawrence, they’ve been near the top about every time they’ve fished a tourney there 

[Bankbeater]

Who knows, some of these greats may start up their own senior tour.

[GReb]

1 hour ago, Bankbeater said:

Who knows, some of these greats may start up their own senior tour.

NPFL has an opportunity

[fishballer06]

Regardless of anyones opinion on FFS or the influx of really good young guys, it still takes finding these fish and getting 5 of the right ones to bite each day. 

 

While I personally am not a fan of FFS and how boring it is to watch as a consumer of live tournament fishing coverage, I will say that everyone should keep one thing in mind. 30+ years ago if you wanted to learn how to get better at fishing, you either had to get out on the water with someone much more experienced than you, or you could buy a magazine and read some articles that may or may not be relevant to your home waters. Today, if you want to get good at fishing, you can hop on the internet and read articles for hours, or get on YouTube and watch videos on any topic of fishing you want. 

 

We're all on here using this website as an example of my point. We're in a new generation of consuming knowledge and having it all readily available for us any time we want. This isn't just happening in fishing, but all competitive sports. 

 

Young kids have more opportunities now to fish at a high level at a young age than ever before. High school and college tournament formats are everywhere and that certainly aids in grooming talent from a young age. These guys who were the best in the game 20 years ago are no longer the best in the sport. That's just a fact of life at this point. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

If you can look back at the recent SLR derby and say everything is healthy in pro Bassing fishing, I got a bridge in Arizona to sell you.   

Between the disgraceful Johnston brothers, and then the alleged cheating by JT Thompkins' DQ, the sport is in a really bad place.   If I was an older vet, this would be as good as any time to step off the ride. 

 

Honestly the way the Johnston brothers were not only allowed but celebrated for their behavior last weekend, I think I need a time out from the sport.    Listen to Robert Gee on The Juice podcast from yesterday, absolutely disgusting behavior by the Johnston brothers.  

 

 

[Tennessee Boy]

Can someone fill me in on what the Johnson brothers are doing? 

[12poundbass]

23 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I got a bridge in Arizona to sell you

Plenty of bridges in Arizona. This however….

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Robert Gee was on the juice rock ledge in the river mouth that he found on the first day of practice, and was there on day 1, hour 1.   

 

On day 2 Chris Johnston rolled into this spot where both Robert Gee and Trey McKinney were fishing.     Both Robert and Trey proceeded to absolutely soul crush Chris Johnston when they both caught 25lbs+ feet away from Johnston while Johnston caught nothing and got spun out.      After day 2 Robert Gee was tied for the lead with Cory Johnston who was fishing in the lake.  

 

Between day 2 and day 3 Cory Johnston basically bullied his brother about giving up on the juice and letting those two rookies dominate him amid his battle for AOY.  

 

On Day 3 Robert Gee launches well before Chris Johnston and goes to the same juice rock ledge.     Some time later Chris launches and goes straight there even though he couldn't catch a thing the day before.   However this time he was armed with the exact same bait Robert Gee was using........low and behold he goes on to catch 28lbs and spot locks literally right on top of the rock ledge and forces Gee to fish the perimeter where he still is able to get a 25lb bag.   Gee is leading the derby after day 3.  

 

Now after day 3 Chris Johnston has won AOY, and realistically doesn't have a shot at winning being 5lbs back, but his brother does.    Chris decides to go back to the rock ledge again on day 4 in what I believe was 100% defense for his brother.   

 

To throw salt in the wound of Robert Gee, Cory went on Mercer in morning and talked smack about Robert Gee to which he eventually apologized for.  

 

Again The Juice podcast with Robert Gee from yesterday has the whole story, and Robert Gee doesn't even try to throw the Johnston brothers under the bus.   Just the facts, and the audience can draw their own conclusions.  Besides that, everybody got to witness this on Live. 

 

ETA:  Apparently this spot was a community hole, and Chris Johnston knew about it from years ago.   This is why he thinks he had every right to fish the juice.   I'm sure the Johnston brothers could make that claim about most of the juice spots on that water system.  

[TOXIC]

As controversial as FFS is, what it is not is Rocket Science, I seriously doubt that anyone can’t learn it.  May take some longer than others and some may be better at it than others but it’s got traction in the mass market and to be blunt, there’s a lot of everyday Googans who use it.  Why the retirements?  Simple.  When you run out of gas in the tank, you’re done.  Some have bigger tanks than others but when it’s gone, it’s gone, either physically or mentally or even more common, financially.  

[F14A-B]

38 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

If you can look back at the recent SLR derby and say everything is healthy in pro Bassing fishing, I got a bridge in Arizona to sell you.   

Between the disgraceful Johnston brothers, and then the alleged cheating by JT Thompkins' DQ, the sport is in a really bad place.   If I was an older vet, this would be as good as any time to step off the ride. 

 

Honestly the way the Johnston brothers were not only allowed but celebrated for their behavior last weekend, I think I need a time out from the sport.    Listen to Robert Gee on The Juice podcast from yesterday, absolutely disgusting behavior by the Johnston brothers.  

 

 

I hear ya. I’ve made up my mind about FFS. As far as the brothers are concerned, not at all a fan. Won’t get into it here on this post but I’ve watched it all year and I think the technology is amazing.. but not on the elite series tournament's. 

 

As far as FFS in the sport, I’ve decided against it. As the old saying goes, pick a side , any side. 
 

But this year has got to be the most problematic I’ve ever seen in the history of the sport, and honestly it starts at the top down (BASS) Trip Weldon wouldn’t tolerate a lot of these angler’s behavior in this past season.. no way would he allow CZ and his behavior towards a weekend angler stand, no way. At anyrate it will be telling what other fisherman retire, or what ruling BASS will make. I don’t believe it’s going away though. 
 

Another old saying: You create your own monster. BASS there ya go, my opinion 😉

[Logan S]

The pearl-clutching about the Johnston's is funny to me...Gee beat Chris in the tournament.  Dude went toe to toe with one of the kings of the SLR, on the king's own spot no less, and beat him....Why the crying?  Corey never even went there, he was out in the deep blue sea and won by a pound and a half....

 

Both Chris and Gee had a TON on the line, one a tournament win and the other an AOY title.  They had their words and it should have been the end of it, let the fish on the scales do the talking.  Leaving to try to convince another angler to interfere with Chris was worse than anything Chris did....Thankfully the other angler was smart enough to not get involved.  

[F14A-B]

39 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

As controversial as FFS is, what it is not is Rocket Science, I seriously doubt that anyone can’t learn it.  May take some longer than others and some may be better at it than others but it’s got traction in the mass market and to be blunt, there’s a lot of everyday Googans who use it.  Why the retirements?  Simple.  When you run out of gas in the tank, you’re done.  Some have bigger tanks than others but when it’s gone, it’s gone, either physically or mentally or even more common, financially.  

It's not exactly whether or not someone can learn FFS, but whether or not it actually determines an elite series angler. Let’s flip the coin here, let’s see any of these guys develop a pattern without FFS, how about a multiple pattern plan concerning perhaps every day of every tournament. I would love to see that happen..
 

Just because an 18 yo masters the technology doesn’t make him an elite angler/athlete it makes him a one dimensional fisherman. A FFS fisherman. 

[fishballer06]

54 minutes ago, alonerankin2 said:

It's not exactly whether or not someone can learn FFS, but whether or not it actually determines an elite series angler. Let’s flip the coin here, let’s see any of these guys develop a pattern without FFS, how about a multiple pattern plan concerning perhaps every day of every tournament. I would love to see that happen..
 

Just because an 18 yo masters the technology doesn’t make him an elite angler/athlete it makes him a one dimensional fisherman. A FFS fisherman. 

 

I think you're asking for something that doesn't exist here. Unless you were to create a tournament format where no sort of sonar at all is allowed to exist (down scan, side scan, forward facing scan), then what you are wanting simply doesn't exist. 

 

If someone goes by the rules and finishes in the top 5 in points over a 10 event season, that doesn't make them an elite angler? By your argument, you can only be an elite angler if you go out and catch your fish using a different pattern/lure every single day, without the use of electronics to find those fish. I hate to break it to you, but anyone with that mentality in 2024 is finishing in the the bottom 25% of the standings. 

 

Last I checked, you can still win the Super Bowl even if your team has a bad defense and a horrible running game. But if your QB can sling the ball down the field every possession and score points, you're an elite team. Doesn't matter how you do it, at the end of the day what's on the scoreboard matters. 

 

To stick with the football analogy and your elite skillset mentality - I would love to see how any NFL team does if they were to not use in ear communication for play calling during a game and zero use of film to study the other teams plays/strategy before and during a game. They could just send 11 guys out on the field and hope for the best. 

 

It sounds rather silly doesn't it? Top level athletes/teams are going to use any sort of equipment available to them within the rules to generate the best results.  Until FFS is banned, calling someone not an Elite angler simply because they caught their fish in a way you don't approve of is pretty farcical. 

[F14A-B]

2 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

 

I think you're asking for something that doesn't exist here. Unless you were to create a tournament format where no sort of sonar at all is allowed to exist (down scan, side scan, forward facing scan), then what you are wanting simply doesn't exist. 

 

If someone goes by the rules and finishes in the top 5 in points over a 10 event season, that doesn't make them an elite angler? By your argument, you can only be an elite angler if you go out and catch your fish using a different pattern/lure every single day, without the use of electronics to find those fish. I hate to break it to you, but anyone with that mentality in 2024 is finishing in the the bottom 25% of the standings. 

 

Last I checked, you can still win the Super Bowl even if your team has a bad defense and a horrible running game. But if your QB can sling the ball down the field every possession and score points, you're an elite team. Doesn't matter how you do it, at the end of the day what's on the scoreboard matters. 

 

To stick with the football analogy and your elite skillset mentality - I would love to see how any NFL team does if they were to not use in ear communication for play calling during a game and zero use of film to study the other teams plays/strategy before and during a game. They could just send 11 guys out on the field and hope for the best. 

 

It sounds rather silly doesn't it? Top level athletes/teams are going to use any sort of equipment available to them within the rules to generate the best results.  Until FFS is banned, calling someone not an Elite angler simply because they caught their fish in a way you don't approve of is pretty farcical. 

Hey now.. I get an opinion too lol 
Nothing farcical about it honestly, but this isn’t Major League Baseball or the NFL. So my only point really is simple the ideal about seeing fish live and or chasing them around on a lake isn’t at all indicative of an Elite angler. The only thing it proves is the technology. It doesn’t prove they are a great/elite fisherman. Anybody that thinks FFS is hard hasn’t tried it. It’s so easy even young teenagers can learn it. See a fish, chase it down and keep casting you’ll catch them… but imo it’s ruining the sport as it once was even just a few short years ago. If you want to disagree, you’re entitled to do that. Do I think it’s going away? Nope. But I’ll be thrilled if it does. 
 

The most athletic thing I’ve seen all year in fishing was watching Johnston fish in 8 foot seas. That dude was bad ass in this tournament and deserved to win, FFS aside. 

Let them ditch the cheater box (lol)and see them figure out a pattern, or maybe a multi faceted pattern over 4 days like they did many years ago. 
 

You'll find out who’s Elite then. 
 

No worries though, I’m just going to keep fishing the way I always have and will catch them without FFS. 😂
 

I love the sport in its simplest form, but that’s just me. 

[TOXIC]

Am I reading it right that the next improvement to FFS is that you can “target” a fish and your networked trolling motor will follow it?  Begs the question….Where does it end? 

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, alonerankin2 said:

. Anybody that thinks FFS is hard hasn’t tried it. 

 

I’ve tried it and it’s exponentially harder than regular fishing 

[12poundbass]

6 hours ago, Logan S said:

The pearl-clutching about the Johnston's is funny to me...Gee beat Chris in the tournament.  Dude went toe to toe with one of the kings of the SLR, on the king's own spot no less, and beat him....Why the crying?  Corey never even went there, he was out in the deep blue sea and won by a pound and a half....

 

Both Chris and Gee had a TON on the line, one a tournament win and the other an AOY title.  They had their words and it should have been the end of it, let the fish on the scales do the talking.  Leaving to try to convince another angler to interfere with Chris was worse than anything Chris did....Thankfully the other angler was smart enough to not get involved.  

[gim]

4 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Am I reading it right that the next improvement to FFS is that you can “target” a fish and your networked trolling motor will follow it?  Begs the question….Where does it end? 

Yes, I think it’s called Target Lock.

 

@AlabamaSpothunter probably knows more about it than me. Lowrance has also introduced a new unit called the Eagle Eye which will be available later this fall. It’s a complete FFS/sonar/GPS kit unit that does not require a module (black box). It plugs right into the 9 inch graph that comes with it. The whole kit is only $1000. You will see that on a lot of boats by next season simply because of the price point.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

 

Right now it might only be able to lock down on non-moving objects like structure, but it's a very small step until it can lock onto a particular fish, where the TM locks onto the fish via being networked into the FFS.   

 

Again the thing that scares me immensely about the tech is that we are only seeing a small fraction of its future capabilities, yet nobody is looking to cap tech.  Where does this stop, when is it enough for you to say it's not "fair chase" or sporting anymore?

 

" Take aim with absolute confidence—and complete boat control. Unlike anything else on the water, MEGA Live Imaging^® TargetLock^® locks on to structure at the push of a button, even while your boat is moving or anchored using Minn Kota^® Spot-Lock^®. That means you’ll never again have to choose between MEGA Live Imaging and Spot-Lock, two of fishing’s most powerful technologies. And it’s only from Humminbird."

[gim]

50 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I’ve tried it and it’s exponentially harder than regular fishing 

Given your struggles with something as simple as a spinnerbait…