Too Much Tech?

[BiggerWorm]

I would like to get some opinions from some of you tournament fishermen about some of the technology being used in tournaments today.  A few years back we saw the arrival of the GPS, which for most, has made finding hot spots easier to locate on open water.  While I  have and use one, I do feel it has lessened the art of being able to locate and get on hotspots with only a depth finder, an advantage I feel I used to have.  The latest being the side imaging made by hummingbird.  I've seen it work and its quite impresive. But I'm not sure I'm excited about its arrival.  I guess my question is do you feel we are going to lose the art of fishing as we know it through these devises, or only change it  I don't want to see a day when we can drop a device in the water and say, "O.K, I'll catch this one and you get that one over there".

[Tin]

Doubt that will ever happen. Even with GPS's, ya sure you know exactly where your spot is, but it doesnt always mean the fish are there or they are going to be caught just like last time.

[frogtog]

Yep they tend to put to much stuff on boats, I catch myself sometimes

messing with the gps and ff to much when I should be fishing. I bet

twenty years from now I want even be able to compete with the younger generation with their gadgets. ;D They will have locator's that say, go 1 mile turn left. Go 345 feet turn right, Arrive at destination

on left, 3lb bass 6' deep, red Bandit 200. :

[Jeff H]

GPS was just coming in as I was going out.  I never owned a GPS unit and still don't.   I might soon though.

My gripe was with underwater camera's.  They showed up in my last year of tournament fishing.  I never bought one and still don't own one and I never will.  They would take a lot of the fun out of it for me.  I guess it saved those guys who'd dive a little time though. :

I never even got to the point where I preferred a LCD unit over the flasher.  I still use a flasher on my bow today.  I guess I'm about as old school as you can get.

I've nothing against locators of any kind, but the camera's bug me.

[Matt Fly]

The only way GPS can help you find a hot spot is by word of mouth or knowing the Long. and Lat.

To find fish, you must have knowledge of were to look to start with, and last time i checked, GPS was for navigational purposes.

A satellite finds no fish.    Repeat, the satellite that feeds the unit sees no fish.        Some one had to locate and mark that spot before it ever became known as a hot spot.

CAmera's,     Did you know that camera takes time to use and it takes time to find fish.        Also, most of my waters are to stained for it to be effective in East Texas.

I was also told, even in clear water, gin clear, that you couldn't see very far.     I call that handicaped.    Take you longer to find fish with it than the graph.

Biosonix on the lesser trails is not allowed.   Don't know about the pros as of this year.

For the most part, our local trails are cut and dry.     No biosonix, cameras.  no cell phone usage with other constestants, and no radios unless for weather only.

So at this time, I still believe in the vast majority are finding fish with a graph and what GOD put in between their two ears!!

[Willzx225]

I tend to agree that the GPS will not make an angler great overnight, but I tend to disagree with the statement that a GPS will not help you find fish unless someone gives you some coordinates.  I have really relied on my Mapcard Data in my GPS to help locate fish while on the water.  I can now see where a channel swings close to a point, if the bank across the creek has deep water on it, etc.  I know you could dig out the paper map and look but my GPS allows me more effeciency on the water.  I can process more water over the course of the day and it helps me locate fish.

[HesterIsGod]

Personally, I really dont like the new biosonix stuff. The biosonix is the gadget that is supposed to emulate the sounds made by baitfish and it will actually either draw the fish closer to your boat or make them bite better. Cmon, this is pretty darn close to cheating in my opinion. Its one thing to look at the fish through GPS, but to actually make the fish bite better or lure them to you using an expensive gadget, I just dont like it. Why not just throw out a 20 foot net on that reef or next to that laydown.

Just my opinion. Anyone else Got an opinion on biosonix?

[bassdocktor]

The GPS is nice for remembering a spot on a lake you don't get to fish often, maybe once a year. Plus with the map it is a great navigation aid. Now you can get card or preloaded maps which are pretty nice. It gives you one more map with contours you can use.

Most trails it seems don't allow the cameras. I'd like one for when I go out to have some fun. It'd be nice to see what is actually under the water and many people use them to better learn their fishfinders.

The side new stuff by Humminbird seems cool but is not something most people buy. Again it'd be cool to have but only time will tell if it takes off like GPS has.

Biosonix seems like an interesting idea. You also have to wonder how much it works and how much it just builds confidence. I belive somewhere I read that leaving it on too long will actually scare fish away. It'd still be cool to try out one day.

[RoLo]

Way back in the 60s, I had a single-readout Texas Instruments "Loran-C",

which I used to cross-fix junction buoys, fishing spots, shipwrecks, etc.

[Before Loran-C I used RDF (radio direction finder)]

The main difference between Loran-C and GPS is that Loran-C

coordinates do not represent Lat/Lon directly, but use correlative coordinates.

Whereas GPS reads out directly in latitude and longitude.

Further, GPS is a global system while Loran-C is established using local masters and slaves

with regional limitations. At that time I lived in New Jersey, so whenever I fished in Florida or Canada,

I had to select new local towers for the respective region (what a pain)!

My point being, electronic boat positioning is nothing new, but thanks to GPS it's a darn sight easier, cheaper & better.

Based on what I've seen from Biosonix and side-imaging, they don't impress me much.

They remind me of the RDF equivalent before GPS, in other words, I think they have a looong way to go

Roger

[fishfordollars]

I am all for the new items. GPS has saved my bacon more than once. If you have not tried to run 30+ miles before daylight to get to your fishing area you won't understand it. It is the safty feature that we have been needing.

[Catt]

I don't think there is too much tech but rather to much dependency on that tech.

I laugh when people call depth finders fish finders; a fish finder is what's attached to the end of your line.

A GPS will show your global position hence their name; yea a GPS unit will have a map card but you still have to use a depth finder to locate structure and cover.

I have on a couple occasions used a side imaging and believe they are awesome but you still have to cast a lure.

The biggest laugh is when I see someone at the marine and ask if the tried the structure I told them about only to hear their answer no because I didn't mark any fish on it.  

[michbass]

Gps are great for marking spots top come back to especially rock piles on St.Clair and Erie.  Also on the Great lakes it sure helps your get back to the launch spot easy.  On the smaller inland lakes it seem just a easy to remember by the surroundings.