After using FFS for a year I contend that it is harder to catch fish using it than simply fishing structure. Bait presentation has to extremely precise and then the fish may hit 20% of the time.
Watching it being used on TV is very misleading. Those guys are getting 6 to 10 bites a day but when viewing on TV it looks like they are killing them because of editing.

I would like to see a FFS only tournament and see what the weights are! I’ll bet it would surprise everyone how low they would be.

I was on lake yesterday, I scoped for 2 hours solid. Caught 4 drum..... then I just went fishing and caught 9 bass without it. I like it for finding bait, areas with fish, cover, etc. I love it for crappie. It's not easy with bass and anybody that thinks it is had clearly spent zero time on it. I have been using it for 2 years and can count the bass I have seen and dropped on on 2 hands. What you see the pros do and the edited videos on you tube are far from reality for the average or in my case below average guy.

I did have 2 what appeared to be bass follow bait. I actually consider that progress at this point

And let me add that I think I understand why they have more success in winter. These damn bass swim constantly when they are around bait. By the time you find one to throw at, then get the cast half way right, identify your bait on the screen, which isn't easy if there is a bunch of bait around the damn things have moved. I suspect when they are cold they sit there a little better.

I agree with WAWI…mostly.
I’ve been using it about 9 months now and have found it easier to find and cast to bass than WAWI, but it’s still not easy. Schooling bass and suspended bass are easier to identify and cast to than those on the bottom, in weeds, or among rocks. I’ve successfully cast swimbaits, A-rigs, crankbaits, and C-rigs to bass I’ve spotted and targeted. But I also cast blindly into areas where there are fish that are moving around a lot, or I can’t see but the cover looks good. I use a hybrid approach I suppose. But I had a career where I spent a lot of time interpreting images on computer screens, so maybe that helped shorten the learning curve.
Long and short: it absolutely helps me be confident I’m casting to where there are fish.
It does not guarantee said fish will eat my lures.

Both of WAWI’s comments are spot on for me too.

Fished a little “get together” Sunday with a few friends. We all have FFS. The scope didn’t catch any of us a fish. We eventually all had to just go fishing to catch a limit.

You guys are making far too much sense.

And if the wind gets blowing a bit for me it gets a bunch harder, to the point I don't even try.

Same here. I’m at the lake all week this week and have been using it exclusively on Monday and Tuesday. About 5 follows and 2 catches. I’m not chasing big bass I’m fishing for anything I think is a bass on the screen.
Yesterday I got tired of not catching anything and put on a chatterbait and caught 10 fishing the bank fish in a few hours.

If you're only getting bit 20% of the time... And do better without it... Pros are only getting 6-10 bites a day... Why are weekend warriors spending $4k - $10k, and pros spending $30k - $50k for such an ineffective product???... And we pretty much did just watch a FFS only tournament... Top 10 finishers all had over 100lbs in 4 days of fishing, and if they'd have let the Top 20 fish on the final day it probably would have been 18 of the Top 20 finishing with over 100lbs...

And for the record... No, I don't have it and probably never will... Don't have spot lock either... No poles... The tech doesn't fit my style, just like drop shoting, Carolina rigging, Neko Rigging don't fit my style... I simply choose to spend my money in other ways... If you got it flaunt it!!!... Why try to talk it down???... Own it!!!... And yes, come this Saturday or Sunday I'll plunk my $50 down and fish a Wildcat against 20 - 25 boat (probably 2/3rds will have the technology) and I'll see where I stand... Dan

It's not easy for the pros either. That young man that won at Fork said he had live scoped and thrown at that big one on the stump for four days until she bit.
When we watch Youtube, we are often seeing private lake and edited footage, sometimes from multiple days.

But wait jagazzjockey says it's a crutch , a cheat, a shortcut , unsporting ........ so easy the geico cave man could do it!

And don’t forget how it’s decimated the fish population- evidently catching them on a medium spinning rod is harder on the fish than ripping their face off with a broomstick and braid from 20’ away….

I'm not gonna speak to what the pros stuff cost. Would you agree that when you buy a new boat it has a front graph, and most guys are gonna run some type of front graph? If that us the case and you have a garmin or Lowrance that's been made in the last 4 or 5 years it cost 1500. That's all it is. Guys were hanging 3 or 4 graphs on boat way before this. That goes back to SI.

This thread makes me feel so much better!!! Lol I got FFS three weeks ago. Spent many hours out on LBJ where I live and saw a few fish but not many. Had a few followers and caught one fish that I "think" I saw hit my bait. Fast forward to this week and I spent 3 days at a private lake near Athens. The difference is incredible when there are actually a lot of fish around!!! By no means did I become proficient at getting the bass to bite but I definitely learned a ton and caught 15 +/- fish utilizing the scope. It also helped me realize I wasn't actually doing anything wrong at LBJ-there just aren't as many fish there where I was scoping! Something else I noticed on the private lake that was crazy was how many fish follow the bait back to the boat and then it was as if they enjoyed the company of the boat and stayed right under the boat about 5-10' down. I did actually catch a few of these by dropping my bait (chatterbait) down to them and jigging it. Why in the world did they get under the boat and follow me around? Shade? Anyone have that happen to them? Finally I'll add that the dang FFS is addicting as all get out and not easy by any stretch (actually for me it is ridiculously hard and I am amazed at what some of these guys can do with it) but when it was all said and done, I turned the dang thing off and went to a spawning flat and threw a Whopper Plopper around and absolutely smashed a bunch of great fish.

Weird that the guys who are so opposed to using it for themselves try so hard to convince those of us who choose to employ the technology that it has no value.
Don't want it? Don't buy it.
Personally, I enjoy it and have learned a TON about how fish react to my lures and presentations. In fact, that's one of the biggest take aways for me. Seeing how the fish respond to presentations and adjusting accordingly. Happened yesterday and happens every time. You'd probably be surprised how many fish follow or swipe at a crankbait but don't hit it. Giving it a twitch at just the right moment can mean the difference between nothing and a solid 6 lbs fish, at least from my experience last week.