Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

Hahaha I'm with ya Cam 👍

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

I guess it’s the “American Way “, let’s just turn everything into an infomercial to promote a product?
I will pass as it would take the fun and satisfaction out of it for me… as well as $20-30K. I will just not watch the pros watching their monitors anymore. I grew up watching Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston, Hank Parker, Tony Dean, Jason Mitchell and Al Lindner, plus some local talent. I learned a lot from those guys over the years, but not many share the knowledge anymore unless they are sponsored or can endorse the sponsors products? Just my opinion!

hueey Loc: Lake Fork Tx

Hey NoCal Steve, I take it by your statement you don't like people that use their electronics?? Also, you probably would not fish with me anyway, I use much more than wtr temp to fish with and I have several rods on the deck of my boat.
With that said why is the wtr temp measurement so important to you, isn't that using technology to attempt to catch fish???? Please explain the difference? Just asking??

hueey Loc: Lake Fork Tx

I have a friendship with Bill Dance as he comes here and fishes annually and stays 2 houses down from me. What ever you do, don't look at his boat(s) as he has several, but they are equipped with the latest and greatest electronics, as well as Roland Martin, watch his saltwater shows and see what he uses to locate fish.
Sorry to pop your bubble, but it is what it is.
Also, you can look-up information on electronics usage and many pros have videos on how they set theirs up and the different settings for different fishing conditions. I have learned a lot from these videos.

I do respect your opinion on using or not.

barry French Loc: Ohio

@jb134 - I couldn't agree more. I certainly understand, and at times agree with many people's perspective on FFS, however there is nothing easy about it. To be honest, if you don't know what you're doing you're likely better off fishing without it because it can be an enormous time drain staring at fish that aren't hungry, or willing to strike on a reaction bite. I've had the opportunity to fish with many high level pro's and I've fished against them. Most are simply better fisherman and spend an enormous amount of time and resources on perfecting their craft. I get that FFS isn't fun to watch and that's the pro series (Elite / MLF) job to figure out how to make the sport more exciting to watch again. But, they're pro's. For some reason fishing is a sport that everyone feels like they can be a pro. Why doesn't everyone think they can be a pro basketball, or football player? It's probably obvious they're not good enough. Until you actually understand what a real pro's do to be the best, it's impossible to judge. They're pro's for a reason and likely better fishermen than the rest of us mere mortals. And that's not to say that becoming a pro isn't possible, but as most of us know, there's a lot more to the sport than just fishing. There are endless 20+ hour work days that none of us typically see. Oh, and there's the fact that only about 40 of the top 300 pro's make ANY money. Most live the life of a minor league baseball player and I can promise you it's not glamorous.

Just my two cents and I appreciate you all! Love this forum and love the fact that people are open minded to each others opinions without crapping on each other constantly, so thank you!

Ps. I personally like using FFS, you can learn a lot about a fishes behavior and patterns in different environments and times of the year. With that said, JB134 is right. Every time you're using it on the water is a new learning experience that comes with a lot of potential frustration and hiccups, but that's how we all get better.

Allen D Loc: Texas

I'm in agreement with JB.
If you have limited time to fish and want to have the chance to catch some then try FFS.
I have almost the minimum equipment in Garmin line with livescope. The head unit also has side scan and clearvu and traditional sonar. I use these as much as livescope.
They will only help you find the fish...but you still have to get them to bite. When they ain't hungry that can be a chore...
I love being in my boat floating around like a bobber enjoying the day as well as its all part of my fishing trip.
By the way...I'm 70 years old so I know of all the sonar option going back to the 60's and still have the 2 flashers that came on my Skeeter...

Just sayin...if ya got use it...if ya don't don't knock it until you try it.

hueey Loc: Lake Fork Tx

That great.

Still above water Loc: San Francisco ca

Ok , here’s my opinion folks. For nearly thirty years I fished with a low option Lorance fish fish locator/ graph on my boat. Upgraded several months ago to a nice Simrad unit. Has all the bells and whistles. Chart planning, navigation points etc. I only use four options which I find valuable. Number one is , when fishing for fresh water bass is water temp. Very important to me when fishing a pre-spawn bite! Number two, reading bottom structure. Rocky points, weed beds etc. when jigging I read for bait balls and turn off the fish ID.i find it to be a very misleading opinion! Number three is depth when fishing for fresh water bass.i use this option as more as a safety issue essentially when water clarity is an issue. Number four is trolling speed, I find this to be a great asset when trolling for trout and stripers. So many lures available now are dependent on proper trolling speed for them to be affective which I find the trolling speed option to be very valuable.i also turn off the fish id option. Heres story my friends, when I first joined this site I was fortunate to meet Steve, SAW1, we planned a trip on the Petaluma river for
fishing for stripers. Met him there. Steve had no electronics on his boat. He said that we were going to troll for the stripers at 4.5 to five miles an hour. This blew me away.i had my doubts! Steve didn’t need electronics, he read the river and read the action on his rod tip. That day we put over twenty stripers on the boat. A trip ago several months past while on his boat! Another twenty fish day! On that day we saw many other boats with zero fish trolling past us at least us at then at mile per hour. He said , they ain’t goona catch! Sometimes knowledge beats technology! Since then I’ve had great success using my graph to target trolling speed. So yes it’s great opinion. But I’ll take Steve and his knowledge any day over it!!

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

Maybe I'm wrong but sure looks like his tec skills are better than his fishing skills.
If it doesn't make it easier WHY
spend the extra money. 🤔

JB134 Loc: Montana

I would respectfully disagree. Every single elite pro that week was, for the most part, very skilled on FFS. It may not be their so called strong suit or even preference, but I can assure you they have FFS skills. I can also promise they have have some of the best FFS gear on board. All that being said, the winner had to put his FFS skills together with his fishing skills. Again, I can’t emphasize it enough… FFS is just one tool among many, including “fishing skills”. It can sometimes make your day on the water, and on other days it doesn’t really add much. Just my 2 cents.

hueey Loc: Lake Fork Tx

To each their own. If u like it use it if not don’t use it.
Fishing can be very expensive for us fishermen. It’s our own call on how much to invest.
Just go out and enjoy your time on or around the water.
JMHO

CamT Loc: La Porte, Texas

There ya go !!!!!

Whitey Loc: Southeast ohio

Well said 👍