True watching a bass tournament on TV is a 30 minutes of highlights sport, not many have the tolerance for an 8 hour TV watching endeavor.

Exactly WAWI

Like others have said if they could incorporate the live sonar onto our screens I think it would probably make it more interesting?

Agreed but I'm still not gonna sit in front of my TV and watch 8 hrs of fishing.

Gerald Swindle has a good take on the effect of FFS in pro bass fishing.

Lol right? It's like the 90's all over again or something. God forbid we advance and make fishing better. Regardless of what's out there, the bottom half of the field in each event struggles, we just don't get to see it. The Florida events typically no livescope but most lakes set up good for it. I think the biggest takeaway should be just how many fish are setup out over deeper water on the move. Goes against conventional thinking

Live sonar improves catch rates some for a very few excellent anglers who devote and dedicate time on the water. It improves catch rates significantly for the best of the best anglers who compete and excel in tournaments.

The 99% remaining anglers, live sonar has a negligible effect.

Similar to golf; despite massive advancements in ball, club head, and shaft technology over the past 30 years; the average handicap has only dropped two strokes; but the overall enjoyment of the game has declined massively. Despite technological advancements, the overall appreciation for golf has plummeted. There are more important aspects than the score for 99% of golfers, just as catch rate isn't the most critical aspect of fishing for most.

Improving catch rates is critical for tournament anglers; but there are more important factors for the other 99%.

Now spot lock, that makes fishing more enjoyable.

Blaukat just released another anti-FFS video.

Watching someone else fish is boring. Period.

I agree with Hackney's opinion on FFS. It's not the end of bass fishing.

LOL, yeah the end of bass fishing would be an extreme outcome.

To be honest watching some one else fish while sitting in the living rooms ok is pretty boring anyway. That is the reason it will never come close to being high dollar sponsored paid event like golf or tennis.

"Live sonar improves catch rates some for a very few excellent anglers who devote and dedicate time on the water. It improves catch rates significantly for the best of the best anglers who compete and excel in tournaments.

The 99% remaining anglers, live sonar has a negligible effect."


...and from which orifice did you pull this statistic?

BTL podcast had a "numbers" guy on the other day (Cant recall who he was) and they were discussing fish catch rates on the elite series since 2006. They were crunching all kinds of numbers, but the one stat I remember above all of them was the per day catch rate and the number I believe was 4.51 (fish per day) avg for elite series since 2006 in all of their tournaments since 2006. They were comparing it to the last 5 years catch rate (livescope era) and there is NOT a significant difference at all. He went on to say that during the "split" years (mlf and bass) it was even lower and attributed it to the drop in talent. Take it for what it is, but I found it interesting.

Maybe catch rates have not increased, but when it comes to the pros winning on summertime smallmouth fisheries, they are FFS fishing. The it doesn't matter argument is just not true when it comes to the pros in the smallmouth tourneys. People try and explain it away for one reason or another, but it is undeniable that FFS use wins those tourneys.

I wasn't

I wasn't justifying it one way or the other, just trying to relay what I had heard on the podcast and found it interesting. No doubt that FFS has been a factor in just about every win on the elite series this year, even in the south (see Cifuentes win on Seminole with a drop shot!) and it will continue this weekend as well at the St Lawrence. If they can get onto Lake Ontario (wind supposed to be bad), it will really play. Also no doubt that the winners are younger and more savvy with this technology.