A Season Without Livescope (Thoughts)

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

First of all let me start by saying I’m very aware a lot of people have very strong feelings about forward facing sonar. I really don’t care. Use it if you want to, don’t if you don’t and if you want to discuss it that’s fine but this post is not about that.

 

I wanted to share some thoughts on my experience of not having it the last few months. In fact I didn’t have any bow electronics during that time. The reason is I got a new boat and opted to run a single battery solely for my electronics - two 126 ultras, a 106 ultra and LVS 34 transducer and black box. Unfortunately I learned the battery was backordered for a while so I only had my console mounted 126 running off the cranking battery for the time being. My thoughts:
 

First of all and most important - I still caught fish. Is it easier to catch fish using FFS? Of course, sometimes. I should elaborate a little and mention that I don’t target specific fish using FFS and throw to them until I get them to bite then move on to another one and do it all over again, although I did do that a little this weekend and failed miserably. Sure I will identify fish on structure and cast to it on occasion but most of the time I’m scanning in real time for features like grass lines or brush piles where fish aren’t readily visible and I’m casting to the features where I know fish are likely to be. Or I’m returning to a previously marked location and when I’m close to it I scan for exactly where it is then casting to it. The same can be done with side scan and traditional or down imaging. It just usually takes a little longer and I still spend plenty of time idling scanning with side and down imagine before I ever drop the trolling motor and use FFS. 
 

From early June until the end of September I was without the use of it. Did it noticeably negatively impact my fishing? No not at all. It changed it a little and was just slightly less convenient. What became an actual drag was not having any bow electronics at all. Having to constantly walk back to the console to check my depth or keep an eye on the side imaging while trolling along or having to stand on the back deck while drifting over drop-offs to get an idea where to cast became a little bit of an issue and getting them up and running for the first time this weekend was a huge boost. And yes I employed FFS all weekend but I didn’t NEED it. In fact yesterday was the first time I saw a fish hit my bait on FFS, which is actually kind of cool. Too bad it was a rock bass.
 

So anyway like I said, just some thoughts. I personally think all the huffing and puffing and arguing over FFS is a giant waste of time but that’s just me. I still had a ton of fun fishing without it and still had someone new to fishing land eight bass and a pike without it (I only caught seven). I’m also still going to use it. I really enjoy it and have learned a lot about fish from observing their behavior while using it. FFS doesn’t replace knowledge of fishing or the experience of being outdoors. And it’s definitely neither the ultimate tool for catching fish nor the boogeyman destroying fishing. 
 

 

[Tennessee Boy]

I’m not sure sharing real world experiences on this topic is allowed on this forum.  😆

Your experiences line up with mine on the few occasions when I’ve had to fish without FFS for various reasons.

 

 

 

[A-Jay]

@Bucks Bass and Bourbon

I've gone an entire lifetime without FFS 

and I still get a few.

If you'd said that you went a season without Bourbon,

now then I'd be impressed. 

A-Jay

 

[TnRiver46]

I fished a whole season without a trolling motor and I think I caught more . I just kneeled down on the front of the boat and paddled. For those that say you can’t paddle a bass boat, I wouldn’t want them helping me hauling stuff to the dump if you know what I mean 😂 

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

Hahaha now I feel like I need to paddle my boat while fishing just to say I could do it! I was actually thinking back to when in was a kid in my dad’s Sylvan on Little Bay de Noc walleye fishing. Remember using actual anchors?? Using certain trees and shorelines for reference points to drop it on the spot? The original waypoints!

 

 

[Koz]

I think that you and I essentially use FFS the same way, but I will add that I also use it to find baitfish.

 

I also use it to target inactive bass that are holding to structure. I have never, ever used it to chase a bass around the lake. I have also never used it to make 20 or 30 casts trying to get a single fish to bite.

 

But maybe that’s where I’ve got things wrong and how I’m missing out. That seems to be what a lot of the pros do. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be used as opposed to how you and I use it.

[MassBass]

How did anybody ever run a boat before sonar? 

[Susky River Rat]

I think certain bodies of water are a lot more prone to the scoping of fish in open water. Where it sounds like the areas you fish are less dependent on it because you are fishing structure. 

[gim]

13 minutes ago, MassBass said:

How did anybody ever run a boat before sonar? 

I’m not old enough for it. I’ve been fishing for about 25 years and we always had color sonar and modern GPS in the boat growing up.

[TnRiver46]

6 hours ago, Bucks Bass and Bourbon said:

Hahaha now I feel like I need to paddle my boat while fishing just to say I could do it! I was actually thinking back to when in was a kid in my dad’s Sylvan on Little Bay de Noc walleye fishing. Remember using actual anchors?? Using certain trees and shorelines for reference points to drop it on the spot? The original waypoints!

 

 

I use an anchor often but I got tired of losing 30$ + anchors so I use cinder blocks 

 

@MassBass

 

I run a boat without sonar all the time , it’s not that hard…… nobody even learnt us how to count good 

[Craig P]

I sold my FFS this past spring after seeing fish on bed literally scatter when I pointed the transducer at them. Mind you, I was close to the beds but I wanted to learn what they would do.  Coincidentally, I had not caught a bass that morning yet either.  After seeing that, I turned it off and I started picking up fish, it turned out to be a good day, without FFS.  I believe fish have become keen to the sound as it’s more popular now.

 

I was on the fence about keeping FFS anyways this year, if I were a crappie angler, I’d still have it but I am not.  I much prefer being stealth and just fishing.

 

This season without FFS has been really fun.  My catch rate has increased as I am not looking for that perfect target, it’s just that I make more casts now.  I don’t tourney fish, I’m just a regular guy that goes fishing when I get the chance.  I won’t lie though, FFS taught me a TON! over the years and seriously reduced my learning curve.

[Team9nine]

This is year 4 for me with FFS. I would estimate 75% of all the bass I’ve caught this year are ones I’ve seen first and threw at - and not open water stuff. Only about 10% of them have been open water roamers. My lakes don’t set up well for that. This is mostly shallower water fishing, say 15’ and less, and a lot of it in just 5’-10’ of water. It’s been a lot like the iPhone for me. I was the absolute last person among friends and family to get one, because I knew once I did, there would be no going back. I was initially very opposed to its use (FFS), but finally resolved the arguments in my head over it and jumped in ‘small scale.’ The learnings of fish behavior have been nothing short of amazing. 

[bowhunter63]

Year 51 without it. Still having a blast. I didn’t realize I was this old till now 

[TnRiver46]

I don’t even have it and it has taught me plenty, a lot of those articles we read back in the day were slightly bogus 😂 

[padon]

my friend has it, i dont. we fish out of each others boat alot. i do have 360 and use it to line up on structure and cover as you described using live. he only time we felt it really made much difference for us was just recently when fish really started to follow shad and not be as related to cover. we were able to catch some suspended fish  that were not on cover. mind you we caught some. we threw at a ton and could not get most o bite. the pros make catching those suspended fish look easy but i assure you its not. i dont feel like  fish enough to really get good at catching those fish and have no plans to add ffs.its not that im against it i just feel i could use my 3k more effectively elsewhere.

[Bucks Bass and Bourbon]

On 10/4/2024 at 2:16 PM, padon said:

my friend has it, i dont. we fish out of each others boat alot. i do have 360 and use it to line up on structure and cover as you described using live. he only time we felt it really made much difference for us was just recently when fish really started to follow shad and not be as related to cover. we were able to catch some suspended fish  that were not on cover. mind you we caught some. we threw at a ton and could not get most o bite. the pros make catching those suspended fish look easy but i assure you its not. i dont feel like  fish enough to really get good at catching those fish and have no plans to add ffs.its not that im against it i just feel i could use my 3k more effectively elsewhere.

Oh you don’t have to assure me it’s not easy catching suspended fish. I spent most of yesterday and a few hours today on two different lakes scoping countless fish and I don’t think a single one gave the slightest thought about anything I threw at them. Underspins, damiki rigs, hover rigs, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and the list goes on. Even tried dropping a drop shot down through them just to see if one would follow it down. It’s like my lures weren’t even there. I even acknowledged to myself that throwing at those fish was probably a waste of time then every time I saw another school I tried again. Stubborn. I guess I just wanted to catch one of them haha. 
I still caught some fish but only one of them was outside the shallows. Can’t make them bite. FFS to me is a lot of fun watching what fish are doing.