was watching a replay of final day of major league fishing tourny on Cherokee lake this weekend and noticed seven out of the top ten were using some kind of a swim bait or jerkbait and fishing for suspended fish....seems like every tournament I've watched recently,the fishermen are doing same thing......can anybody in the tackle or retail business comment on this....got to believe spinnerbait,crankbait etc. business has dropped....

Joe q public is still fishing pretty much the same. I guess long term they better make more swimbaits and jerkbaits......

Minimal effect. Only 30% of fisherman have a boat/kayak/float tube.
Across the US, more people fish for trout, walleye, and fish that are good to eat.
Then there are those that live close to the coast…they will be saltwater fishing for fish that taste good and fight hard instead of chasing little green fish that taste OK.
Bass fishing is mostly southern, like NASCAR…but even more niche than NASCAR.

Of those, maybe 1% tournament fish and even less will have live sonar.

In order to fish with a 1/16th oz unpainted jig head 2.5inch minnow and a jerkbait in Texas for suspended fish effectively, you would also need spot lock.

So, you are looking at maybe 0.25% of bass fishermen.

Most people fish for fun and this does not necessarily mean catching the most or biggest fish.

Most will fish tackle and with techniques they enjoy.

They will adapt. I mean look at how many companies make squarebill crankbaits,How many make a rat-l-trap type bait, now different chatterbaits. Plus give it two years something new will come along that us fisherman will have to have because it catches fish so well, we will have to hide the lure when on the water because the fish will be jumping into the boat after it.

As the new balance crews dies off the demand for yellow spinner baits will probably drop

As the fish see them more, the jerkbait and fairy swimmer will be less effective.

From what I see from caling on tackle stores in a few different states hardbait sales as a whol are down especially crankbaits. Traditional sift plastic baits are slower as well. Spinning gear is selling about as good as it ever has.

Overall tackle sales have been affected by FFS. I think things will evolve and settle back in to fairly normal numbers eventually. Also it's hard to 0ut the decline on any one thing. The economy itself is a factor.

got two firiends that tournament fish and both have FFS and they tell me almost every tournament fisherman they compete against now has FFS...they also said they are seeing more high school fishermen that have latest FFS.....
got to believe you are way under estimating how many people are using FFS.......

The tackle industry is built on catching fishermen, not fish…. Personally I don’t feel sorry for any of them, but like an industry those that adapt survive, most all the big players are coming out with new products or having success with existing products that actually worked.

I think the economy is taking a large toll.

More tackle companies will get bought up by big equity groups, bring overall quality down, then dump the brand or just kill it all together.

And when the "balls havent dropped" crew get old enough for a drivers license, the demand for spin cast set ups and bobbers will probably drop.

You sound incredibly immature.

Relax, slayer.....

My wholesalers are blasting me info and flyers and constant e-mail's with new baits specifically targeting FFS users..

Ain't got too much impact down here as of yet.. Some folks use it to locate fish.. But not too many are Cruisi'n and Choosi'n what to throw at..