I have nothing against FFS technology except as it pertains to the Elite Series. I’m posting this video in the hopes that we can open up constructive conversation about this technology and how it has changed bass fishing forever.
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When you're no where around any visible bass habitat and you're dragging in 30lbs. In one spot,if you flipped the switch off he would be looking around wondering why am I out here,he could throw his little minnow the rest of the day and not catch anything, like you said there is nothing like reading the cover then slam a 6,I have seen the the evolution in the sport having fished my first tournament in 1974,we didn't fish for money that's for sure.
I’m not watching bass fishing anymore because of the forward fishing sonar If they want to use it in practice fine but win tournament starts take it off the boats that’s my opinion
Great take on the subject!
Don't like ffs, don't use it. Don't like it in tournaments, don't fish them.
I have a fishing buddy, his boat has a ffs, I never look at it. I stay in back and fish
My boat doesn't have one and I don't want one. I like using my experience and knowledge to figure out what the fish are doing. That's part of the sport.
I don't enter tournaments because of ffs. I used to fish a lot of tournaments.
My personal opinion, is to use the knowledge gained to catch fish. It's more enjoyable. Just sayin.
You didn’t mention the 5+ Graphs they got on their boats also. I saw where they weren’t just using a simple Livescopes, but the Ocean Livescopes. That gives them more range. Probably limit it to one Livescope, not the Ocean one.
FFS should be treated like Indycars Push To Pass system, have a limited use time for FFS. This could be easily accomplished by mandating in the rules that competitors may only have 1 FFS transducer and that the FFS unit must be directly connected to its own battery, which could be regulated so that FFS would simply run out of power after a certain length of run time.
Total comedy sh@t show lol not what most even recognize bass at this point.
Although you raise some interesting points – its hear to stay – i wont be suprized if they regulate it in the future but i highly doubt it will be banned …
I love bass fishing since I was little and that first smallie spit my worm back at me! I'm working class poor white trash. I never wanted to be a tournament pro, would love to make a living catching fish so don't get me wrong but as a guy who never liked the ideal of tournament fishing I still enjoyed watching it. With that being said this is ruining the sport for sure. What's next is the ? All of us should be concerned with. State Wildlife departments need to address this that is the only way. Now I'm a river guy 100% my local river is shallow so no need to even have a fish finder and I still get those bites that take your breathe and make your hands shake after the release. But yeah it's all about the unknown and unseen till I bring It out of the water to show the 🌎.
Don't have FFS but think its pretty cool. I probably will never get one for myself. I like the mystery too.
I would love to see it banned at the Elite level. I have not enjoyed seeing the change that’s happened in the past couple years. I think if they made a decision to limit the number of transducers, we’d still see every tournament won using it. To ban it would set a standard for tradition, ethics, and environmentalism for the sport.
The "High Tech." age has taken many things out of our society. A few examples would be the Graphics industry, Math, tuning race cars, and most instinct driven decisions. Memorizing key strokes, data patterns, along with programming have cost our society the Zen of work. I'm sure these kids are extremely good at electronics but is that real talent? I would like to see them fish with no electronics maybe make that the classic platform?
You’re missing the most important point. It’s not about how many screens you’re watching fishing on. It’s the fact you are sitting there on your couch watching fishing instead of fishing. Stop watching and get out and fish! Live sonar in tournaments is an unfair advantage unless everyone has it. A better, faster boat or whatever the next thing that gives you an edge is the same so let’s put everyone in a 10’ johnboat with a 9.9 and one zebco spincaster to even the players. There, I fixed it for ya!
adapt just like we always have.. or get left in the dust.
They lost me as a viewer. I’m not going to watch other men play video games.
I like your a rig analogy, if they took that ffs should never have been allowed for sure, and I agree most of the guys winning with ffs wouldn't beat the greats
I love how it’s all the old farts that complain about livescope🤣
I agree with much of this from a viewer perspective, but these electronics manufacturers are one of the primary endemic sponsors that are funding elite level competition. They won't continue to invest in the elite tournament space if their newest and highest margin products aren't being used. The tournament scene won't survive without it.
It's all about money everyone knows it! 😑
I just want to see good quality bass fishing.
i like that idea. about not using it at the elite level
Great vid. I believe that the lakes this season will be show case the talent level. We just saw a pre-spawn cold water bite where FFS was the big key. Now Lake Fork the fish will be on the edge and even moving into the spawn. witch I believe will balance the field. Then Bass is in Florida, Hairs chain and St Johns. That is a flipping and deep weed bite in a post spawn. The veterans will be the favourite going into Florida and FFS will not be a factor. I personally feel. my 2 sense.
It's like this it's so talked about n proven to work that no matter if it's banned on elites the word is out on it so won't stop the money flow for these companies so can't see that as excuse anymore for them.. rangefinders n other yardage gadgets sell out every year despite not being allowed on tour .
I don’t care what these guys do. I personally like seeing guys pull in bags over 75lbs pretty consistently. Without it the winner would have had less than 50lbs on Toledo this last week. I’m still using it on my lakes for smallies, walleyes, and pike so go ahead and use it.
Forward facing sonar has ruined the sport of bass fishing it has taken away a lot of the skillset required and the time on the water. And I'm going to use the analogy that everybody does it's just like using drones or a spotlight to hunt. It's not fishing
I honestly believe Ray Scott would qualify this as cheating. I know I do. Live scope is the fishing version of “game genie”. There’s no longer a challenge. The sport is now reduced to parking over a school of bass and taking your pick on the lot and leaving. No skill needed
Screen Master Classic
Great video. I got into the sport of bass fishing about 5+ years ago. Plain an simple I got into it because of thrill of the bite. The techniques it takes to catch a bass. Anyone can put a live worm, piece of chicken liver, shrimp and catch something. But bass fishing takes technique and love that. I watched videos of whom I consider OG's of bass fishing Bill Dance, Roland Martin,KVD,etc. which have inspired me to bass fish. So I agree with you Matt. All these electronics I believe are ridiculous in the bass world. Someone should start an organization which doesn't allow any electronics in bass tournaments just good old skill.
And you just don’t have the talent on livescope and you’re upset, it’s okay but realize you’re a hypocrite. You just want it your way instead of the new way
If you bed fish at all, you’re a hypocrite
WHAT you didn't go all Randy on this topic? How dare you!!
All kidding aside, well done sir, I could not agree more. After watching the Toledo event I was disappointed. I have been fishing that lake off and on since the early 80's if not before. I looked at it as an opportunity to learn more about the lake and how it was doing. I got nothing, unless I want to scrap everything I own and learned in my 67 years and go full blown FFS. Now I do own one, and I see it as a tool, especially when I get time to go bust some crappie!
Someone else commented on limiting FFS on certain lakes. I had a similar thought, what if, a big IF, when the schedule was announced they randomly drew three lakes out of a hat and those were either no FFS or limited use. That would put everyone on a level playing field far in advance of any pre-practice and preparation.
Thanks Matt, you gained a new subscriber with this one sir. Let's go catch some old school!!
You gained a subscriber
Do you think the anglers themselves are afraid to let go of the tool? What would happen to any of the heavy hitters if the day that FFS was banned in tourney, they finished 50th?
Ray Scott would never have allowed it period.
Being in the outdoors is what it’s about hard to enjoy it when watching a screen all day.
It eliminates the need for skill and experience. Takes the sportsmanship out of fishing!
What is the difference in FFS and if the wildlife commission allowed drones for deer hunting?
Fishing with $30k in electronics, face in the large screens instead of reading the conditions, structure and water then calling it professional fishing is like calling the guys flying in helicopters shooting hogs "hunters".
You are 100% correct when you describe getting into it for the excitement of the bite. They should put ffs in a video gaming category and not call it fishing. Then the "fishing tournaments" could be real fishing without the ffs video game element.
It's nice to hear a level-headed take on it. My thoughts are that technology is only going to get better. You made the Twitch analogy which is nice because I think that's where a majority of the sport will head as they find new ways to interact with their audience and support their tournament fishing. A different take is that if the tech is that good get rid of pre fishing, sadly that would hurt the non-FFS anglers even more.
I agree 100% I have nothing against those who choose to use it. But I don't want to watch it for hours. And I feel that professional fisherman should be able to catch fish without FFS, RFS, SFS. I have lost all interest in watching it.
Just a question, how many people here are against FFS sight fish for bedding bass? In my own opinion is far worse to the fishery than FFS. If you don’t like FFS because of the entertainment value of watching it I get that but watching someone bed fish is equally boring. If you enjoy the surprise and excitement of the bite just don’t use it! if you tournament fish you have to get on board or accept the fact that if your not using it your going to have trouble competing. There’s too much money in this technology for it to go away completely. This won’t be the end of it either,technology is only going to get better. I will admit that I have ffs and it’s fun to use but boring as hell to watch someone fish that way. I’m 62 and started fishing with a flasher, moved to a paper graph, then lcd,and so on. So I’ve watched a lot of things change, so all I’m saying is I don’t believe this is going to stop here.Good luck to all and God bless.
Bass should atleast not use it during tournament days but allow it for practice. Atleast meet real fisherman halfway on this
Should be banned in every tournament, I'll never watch again until it's banned.
I think when you get to the elite level you should have to use the skill and intuition you learned over the years to fish them. Maybe make it so the final two days are based on actual fishing skill and let the best of the best rise to the top. We would see quickly if the scopers could hack it if they don't finish well once it's taken away.
Maybe make FFS legal only during practice. It would give anglers yet another tool to help locate fish but during the tournament, they would have to put the pieces of the puzzle together without the help of FFS.
I use ffs when I have my kids out fishing just to get on the fish faster so they don't lose interest. As far as individuals who make a living fishing tournaments??? I would believe it should come down to skill time and dedication too knowing how to fish. I get bored with it when I try to just use ffs when I fish so I find myself turning it off and going back to old school a lot So I could not watch someone else in a tournament using ffs on tv.
I'm done with it. It's just about over for the true sport now. I'll just go fishing and have fun. I won't give a minute of my time or money into these rediculous tournaments.