Another high-tech toy taking the fun out of the ancient art of fishing
Fishing is an ancient art that has grown from a simple worm on a hook to what we are using today. It didn’t take much to catch fish. Heck, the legendary Lauri Rapala caught incredible amounts of fish using his namesake lures tied to his fingers without a rod or reel.
Fishing has become more and more sophisticated and is exemplified by the innovations in the use of fishing electronics.
I remember seeing my first electronic depth finder. The Lowrance green box allowed me to stop dropping a marked line down to see the depth of the water.
As electronics became more and more sophisticated, sonar helped anglers to locate fish. A good sonar angler can determine what is on the bottom, where the thermocline is, the difference between a cluster of floating weeds and a ball of baitfish and what the bottom is composed of.
Personally, I think the invention of depth finders is the biggest invention to ever hit the fishing industry. People have caught more fish in a smaller amount of time than they ever have before.
I remember seeing ads for “miracle golf balls” that could travel incredible distances and cure slices and hooks. The ads cautioned golfers to order their balls right away because the lords of gold were going to ban the use of the balls.
What does this have to do with fishing? Well, there has been so much buzz going around about the latest technology in electronics that there are people calling for a ban on it.
Forward facing sonar, FFS, is the hottest thing in fishing. I must admit that it is darned cool. The picture on a FFS screen is more closely like a photograph than what an old sonar screen looked like.
FFS doesn’t just show you a picture of fish, it shows you what size the fish are that are swimming under your boat. Using FFS allows a fisherman to not only target fish, but to target the largest fish in an area.
I heard a seminar given by a top bass pro who explained that he stares at his sonar screen all day looking for big fish. He doesn’t waste time chasing small fish. He might only make 8 to 10 casts in a day, only casting at the biggest fish he spots.
That’s not fishing to me. That would bore me to death. I asked legendary angler Gary Klein for his opinion. He replied: “You know, that’s not fishing to me at all. Ten casts in a day? I’d be bored to death. That said, I’m not saying those FFS guys are wrong. They’re catching a lot of big fish and cashing some big checks. It’s just not the way I want to do things.”
I am amazed at the amount of fighting going on in the social media world regarding FFS. Everybody has an opinion. Of course, I have mine, too. I think FFS is here to stay.
A lot of older anglers are claiming that FFS gives “kids” an advantage in fishing. I guess it’s because youthful anglers supposedly learn the technology more easily than senior fishermen. Heck, go out and learn how to use the new technology. Age makes no difference.
Isn’t the appeal of televised tournament fishing being able to watch big fish being caught? Instead, you have a group of people who want less fish being caught in tournaments. That makes no sense to me.
It seems to me a lot of the folks who want a ban on FFS are either unable to learn the nuances of FFS or are unable to afford the rather hefty price of the FFS technology.
That’s OK. I’ll just continue to use my traditional sonar unit when I’m out on the Fox Chain and be happy catching the amount of fish I am used to catching.
• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.