To be consistently the best or in that conversation, you have to be the best on the field today using everything thing you can from boats, to bait, rods and reels, tackle, techniques, electronics, etc. That can’t be done without FFS in the mix. I doubt you see a B.A.S.S. AOY that doesn’t have solid FFS skills. The technology has just gotten too good not to leverage it.

You will see tournaments where it’s not a factor or tournaments won without it when it’s is a factor.

Fishing has always evolved. You either evolve with it or you become a donator. If you develop a new skill you can move up out of the donator group.

That’s the primary reason they want it gone. They aren’t interested in learning and leveraging it. They want to do the same thing they used to be successful with.

How many of the non-scopers did good at Fork? Not very many, your theory is blown out right there.

Crappie fishing went through this years ago. Tournament entries are way down but with that said if they banned it we’re all going back to spider rigging. Pushing 16 minnows on 8 rods through the water all day. I would rather be middle of the pack than have to go back to spider rigging. Nobody in crappie makes a living fishing crappie tournaments so I can understand all the grumbling from bass guys that can’t figure it out. Like others mentioned. Same stuff was said with flashers and side imaging. Course it wasn’t as easy to interpret either. I don’t see if going anywhere. Truman lake had an old man series that went to no FFS and they didn’t last. It’s technology. Adapt or get left behind. That’s my 2 cents.

Slew

I watched a Muskie fishing show today on one of the fishing channels,..two guys caught 26 muskies in a day and a half. They were using FFS,...hunt em down and catch em on the first or second cast. normal catching is 3-5 fish a day normally they said.

That wasn't my point. I will always think that the best bass fisherman has the best knowledge of seasonal patterns and how weather changes affect fish. Lots of water coming into a lake. Lake turnover. Wind, etc.
What colors the fish like best and types of baits work best in different situations.
Today thats not who is winning the big tournaments. They rely on electronics to target fish. The game is changed and thats ok but its gotten away from knowing fish skills to knowing electronics skills.
IMO as I pointed out.

Any endeavor that becomes easy, stops being interesting sooner or later to many people

BS. Those guys are proving the best knowledge of seasonal patterns as folks knew it doesn’t hold water and isn’t fishing gospel anymore. Adjust or get your butt handed to you.

I think seasonal patterns were much more important when fishing pressure wasn't nearly as bad as it is today. Seems like the only way to get bites today is to do something unorthodox.

[/quote]
BS. Those guys are proving the best knowledge of seasonal patterns as folks knew it doesn’t hold water and isn’t fishing gospel anymore. Adjust or get your butt handed to you.[/quote]
I think seasonal patterns were much more important when fishing pressure wasn't nearly as bad as it is today. Seems like the only way to get bites today is to do something unorthodox. [/quote]

And that is a good point. Lot's of pressure on the big public reservoirs around here. The bass get wise. And the average angler these days is pretty competent too. If you've never fished a jerk bait (for example), lots of videos out there on how to do it, what tackle, when and so on. The learning curve has been shortened considerably.

So now someone in the "old crowd" is a hero to the flat bill crowd... ... That oughta get a few under 30 wearing NB... Dan

Still a lot of pros left that need to make a video of where they stand on FFS. The fishing world is heading their breath until all opinions are recorded....

“Seasonal movement” just proves that an angler either guessed lucky on his spot or didn’t. The myths have been blown out and the anti’s just can’t handle the truth.

I found fish on ladders/steps on seawalls that were on or just inside secondary points . Found both orespawn and posts pawn fish staging on them in major creeks. Go farther back in creeks and no bites. Focus on the secondary points near tge front of the creeks and it was almost automatic. I found that bite Friday in practice. Tried a ton of other guesses and even used FFS a bit. That seemed my best bet.

Got bit all day Saturday in the tournament doing the steps deal. If I tried other stuff or got away from it then the bites would stop. Probably got bit in 15-20 different spots running that. Scraped up a decent limit and probably left 2-3 more pounds out there from lost fish that got me wrapped up etc. Hardly any other bites doing other stuff.
I would call that seasonal movement but I'm wrong a lot. Pretty classic deal for tbis time of year in finding fishcoming and going on secondary points.

I'm not an anti FFS guy at all. I am learning it more and more. I don't think FFD is showing everything we ever thought is wrong but I do think it's taught us a lot about a certain population of fish that we knew little about. Those roaming g and suspending fish have always been a mystery up until the past year or two.i also know a lot of FFS users are using FFS to help be more effective catching g fish while still using seasonal movements. For instance it still rings true that from February till late May all over the state tbat a significant population of fish move up shallow to spawn. That has not changed. I also bet a lot will transition back to offshore spots just like always. That is seasonal movements to me

The GOAT

Hayden Jeffries from Mississippi does, along with a few others, there are pros who make a living fishing crappie tournaments.