winner of the classic was 22 years old and runnerup was 20 years old ….
where is tournament fishing headed?

Quit bitching and go beat them young whippersnappers.

More $$$$

to the next generation, as it should be!

You just can't get over your obsession.
These guys have probably been obsessed with bass fishing most of their life.

I don’t see a problem. I believe KVD was 22 when he got started on his winning ways in BassMaster. A lot were saying his style of fishing would not hold up….he sure proved them wrong

That means ANYONE an do it. It doesn’t take lifetimes of learning….just a few short classes on scoping.

Congrats young man!!!... Dan

It’s not about livescope-sometimes young folks come along and they just happen to be better. Wheeler was kicking everyone’s butt without livescooe for the first 10 years of his career.

Next yr the classic will be a on tik tok. Im done, nothing to see here but screen shots of teenagers fishing outta Daddys pocket for the Classic Championship! Congrats to Lee For actually fishing a tournamant, and not staring at it!

If you watched the live then you’d see he scoped plenty. He just had more success doing other things

I watched, chatterbait over grass alot, no scope. Today swimming a tx rig worm thru grass no scope, who does that lol. Lee Won in my opinion, scope guys got it done Hunting fish, not fishing!

You were on the water? Otherwise you were watching prerecorded fish catches interrupting a very boring podcast.

What do you mean? You're 40 and still a troll.

Watch the NPFl if you want to watch no-scope fishing. You have choices.

Have you check on how many years these (youngsters ) have been fishing some of them start out in high school ,then college, then the pros, some of them have a few years under their belt .

We are in the video game era. Will only get worse when virtual reality and AI take over.

Were the olders anglers mad when Bryan Kerchal won it? He was pretty young and I bet the young anglers in the Elites today have far more experience than he did.

So much this^^^

Its a time where growing up old school and learning from your pops and your grandpa how to do it now hurts you. Basically not having any previous memories of fishing and only one way to catch them like a video game dominates. Pretty wild how fishing is changing.


Its also crazy thinking about he maturity level mentally of a 19 and 21 year olds in general being able to dominate "the biggest stage in fishing." It just shows with FFS you dont have to have what it used to take to be competitive.

I'll bet some of the more established pros weren't happy to see Kerchal ride around the arena hold the trophy and flag... Jealousy... Making excuses on why they didn't and how he lucked into a win... It's human nature... Now they'd never admit it but I'm sure some were dismissive of his talent/ win... Dan

Bryan Kerchal beat them the traditional way, so I doubt anyone was too upset. I don't believe this is about young anglers winning, more about the methods. Seems a lot of anglers believe it would be better for Pro Tournament fishing to not allow ffs. Many are not against ffs sonar for casual anglers, but believe Pro fisherman shouldn't be allowed to use in competition.

Yup and there is a reality now that everyone should be figuring out. With 20 or so solid scopers in a field a couple of them are gonna land on them. It may not be the same one every week but it's gonna be one of them. If you aren't fishing in a 2 foot deep swamp you aren't gonna beat the scoper portion of the field 95 percent of time.

Can't wait for AI to be built into the electronics system. I'll tell it what I am doing and what I need. It'll tell what I should be fishing with, generate trails to the best areas, and then take over the live scope and trolling motor while it hunts for fish. Once it finds one, it locks on the fish (of the minimum size I input) and keeps the boat and livescope perfect while I cast where it's telling me too.

And we'll say those young anglers are just utilizing available technology and are mature beyond their years. We'll bash those old manual livescope guys as past their prime and unwilling to adapt to today's technology when they complain that fishing is ruined.

It's gonna be awesome.......Said nobody.

classic has been held for 53 years and other than Bryan Kerchal,every winner that I recall has been close to or over 30 years old...FFS obviously has drastically shortened the learning curve as learning to find and catch bass...good,bad or indifferent,only time will tell....

Remember all that HS and college fishing you brought up so much. You are now seeing the results of that. It's not all FFS.

may be like football,basketball and baseball....except for a few really gifted athletes who turned pro,the rest of us just turned into spectators...

I’m 45 years old- we grew up with video gaming consoles in every household- it’s no different than today- these young’s guys are good and they don’t get the credit they deserve.

It won't be long before the entire field basically turns over. As guys fall below 70 and have to go back to the opens they get replaced with more scopers and they won't be able to requalify because they can't beat the scopers. It won't be long before BASS loses every name they have had from a marketing stand point. They are gonna have to make some decisions going forward that are gonna be uncomfortable

Well they’ve got 99 problems… the internet broadcast was abysmal- they either have zero budget or they got ripped off- one or the other. And when your showman keeps saying double guns loaded bang bang - who are they trying to entertain with that nonsense….The whole production was third rate at best.

He was trying to sound “Texan”.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1859075221614925

He should have thrown that 8 pounder up into the stands! That would have been EPIC! Talk about set the new balancers into a tail spin! OMG!

I believe as tech becomes more prevalent in fishing, we will see younger folks taking a liking to fishing and hurting some egos.

Fishing will become a mainstream sport and you will see more of the younger generations owning the sport and the older generations will have their own playground.

Think about Baseball, Football, etc. Younger generations own the sport and the older generations retire and play the sport as a hobby.

Nah. Would of been a Royal Rumble for the fillets. Eat everything like Papa showed em.

Fishing will never be mainstream- darts, bowling, cornhole, women’s pillow fighting- all gets more ratings.

I put LVS35 on y boat a month ago. Ive been out 6 times with it and I'm pissed. I still backlash, make errant casts, break off, hang up, grind rocks with my TM, struggle with boat control in 15mph wind and there is nothing on the dang thing that says THAT'S A BASS, AND the fish don't seem to know that minnow im swimming right over their heads is meant for them,

Agreed....fishing probably peaked in the early 2000's. It will always be a niche market.

Question: Is there a point when there is too much technology in tournament bass fishing? I saw one guy post about AI being incorporated into fishing, and I 100% see that coming. I can see it getting pretty insane with what will be available in the future.

How bout we celebrate a 22 year old that had brain surgery 1 year ago. And yesterday won the Bass Master Classic. It was a fair playing field. Every angler had access to the same equipment and tools and baits. Life is so much more fun when you are celebrating others victory's instead of bashing them.

The only thing that’ll be “AI” in fishing will be the [censored] customer service from the expensive graph companies.

So much truth in this statement.

I haven't seen or heard anyone bashing the kid. Congrats to the you man! I've seen discussion about the changing of the guard as far as top anglers go. I was pulling for my buddy Lee, and he came up a little short.

Actually........yea they were. A couple of them were quite rabid about it, I believe Velvick was one of the most vocal - something about a "nobody that shouldn't have been allowed to compete at this level".
I remember because I wondered what place did some surfer guy calling out a hamburger cook..........

wait! there is now an LVS 35 ?

This post is a top candidate for weakest and most petty post early into 2025.

FYI like any other physical activity or sport, youth is always going to prevail. If not Joe Montana and Randy Moss would still be dominating the NFL

well said

Livescope, get it or keep donating.

17 year old wins BFL.

https://www.bassfan.com/docktalk_article/23659/NYC-native-17-wins-BFL-at-Harris-Chain

I got 4th place in a club tourney October ‘77. I did it the real way…without a cheaterbox. I probably would’ve at least got 2nd if they had one back in my day

Found some cryers.

Shut up bear you old geritol. Go cry somewhere else.

Placed 37th at the team tourney last weekend. If them 36 whippersnappers would’ve turned of their cheaterscope, I would’ve won. I’m older than them. My experience would’ve dominated.

hey-I'm not crying....am neutral... just pointing out the changes in tournament fishing last few years and curious where we are headed.......

You aren’t neutral- the entire premise of your thread title is flawed.

A young guy playing by the current rules won. Congratulations to him it’s a life changer for sure. Im happy for him I really am. Im also sad for our sport that we love so much. It’s come down to all you need is a scope, a jerkbait and a Damiki rig and you can make it to the Elites. Don’t see whats so Elite about that. Zona said it last year “Pretty soon you will have a guy on the Elites that has never caught a fish he wasn’t scoping.” This is my opinion and Im sure I will get grilled for it but in my mind it cheapens the sport. Eventually BASS will ban it or severely cut it back, its inevitable and the young folks will be very upset. Why do I say that? Because the almighty $ always wins. When Strike King, and all the other lure manufacturers start having decreasing sales in spinnerbaits, crankbaits, worms etc they will start applying the pressure and then you know what happens next. Let the name calling begin.

Man, all the inter web forum banter between FFS, the new Bass Cat, the youth, the coverage, the weigh in crowd size and potential dead fish, etc etc etc it seems they should just shut it all down. Nobody seems to like a damn thing!

I’m not gonna disagree with you on this point of view.

The companies do have a little control over the decision, maybe enough to influence rules, maybe not.

I am gonna say that the Elites, and other professional level trails, should not allow forward facing live sonar.
Similar to how MLB doesn’t allow aluminum bats to make it harder to hit home runs, the professional trails should lessen the crutch for electronics. If ya wanna make the elites, it should be based upon one’s ability, not their equipments ability.
FFS is a Pandora’s box that I feel might be too late to close it back up. BASS might be too far into it to back out now. Half of their field is there based on their FFS skills.

Nothings changed. The person that catches the best 5 fish wins. Pretty simple

All BASS had to do was allow ffs one or two day and not allow it one day and the best fisherman would have won.

This is such a dumb argument that makes no sense. Why stop there? Why not make it a bank fishing tournament?

well heck that would be great. Why don’t we let them use live bait also.

well at 85 years old and been retired on fork for 27 years, the young'uns have taken over.
so be it, welcome to the future.

I still sometimes go out and still catch a few with "old skills"
time moves on and i hear we have "smart phones" now.
god bless the future.

At this point why not allow the A-rig?

Im not for or against ffs. But it being legal while the A-rig is banned is insane. I mean how ridiculous is that?

Agreed 👍

This is America fish against FFS or don’t your choice!
I think there will be some other trails going to be traditional and ban FFS,
It will not be one of the big circuits.

Follow the money.

The priority with the current BASS BPT MLF administrators isn’t the spectator.
Watching someone else fish isn’t the most exciting thing in the world; but when you replace the mystery of searching for fish with watching a screen viewer targeting blobs on a screen in real time, there is no drama for most fans of bass tournaments. Watching someone throw around a big umbrella of wires and hooks and winding it in is at least fun to see…..but I guess the administrators want people in the expo buying electronics instead of participating as spectators of the event.

Not sure it’s gonna hurt the pros, but what will get hurt are the smaller trails I believe. People will only donate for so long before they decide a $400 entry isn’t worth it and stay away. You can say this is great for the sport all you want to but time will tell whether it is or isn’t. As far as the young man who won you can’t help but be happy for him because of what he has been through. 👏👏👏 ,as far as second place, well that’s another story. Read the interview Bass did with him either this month or last month in the magazine and it will explain a lot. Mi dos centavos!

5 pages,68 replies and 2028 views in less than 24 hours….
have you ever posted anything with that many replies or views?

What a stupid statement- everyone has a scope and a jerk bait and for most guys it’s good for a 10lb daily limit.

Could they use SI,DI, Mapping, Power poles and spot lock trolling motors on the non FFS days? You guys don’t have any logic to your arguments.

I think a lot of guys here are missing the point. I don’t think we are going to like what this is doing to our fisheries in a few years. Fish are only going to get harder and harder to catch until one day most of our lakes are like fishing Ray Roberts. I’ve seen it change in my 36 years on earth and I know you older guys have too. The fishing pressure has expanded to the entire lake and has grown exponentially. We will eventually grow the sport to much and it will outgrow our resource.

So you’re willing to quit fishing so the pressure will be less?

No. But I’m also not preaching “grow the sport” which we all know is just a ploy for companies to get rich. The sport was growing at a natural pace until they tried to make it mainstream. It’s just fad at the moment. Like travel baseball, golf, and all that other stuff. The new texhnooogy has brought a whole group of people into the industry and those fish that used to get away from the pressure are no longer able to. It will hurt our industry. And I can tell by your comment you are one of the ones missing the point.

I often ask the Pro FFS in tournaments crowd if there is a red line for them in regard to technology. At what point is it too much? Because if you eventually have a line then you are being hypocritical, and if you don't, then you are an idiot.

I posted a hypothetical on A.I. and guys scoffed like it wasn't reality. I have news for you, the technology is already there, it just hasn't been applied to bass fishing yet. Now that Private Equity owns bass fishing you can bet that its coming. I recently left the PE world and it's all they talk about.

Today's boat is already totally networked. Starlink can be built in, more advanced black box processors are simple to make. A.I. will be in your bass boat.

Trying to equate a scope to these other innovations is absolutely moronic!

I was for it, the more I think about it i really don't think it's good long term. And yes I have it.....

Yes, power poles, spot lock, SI, DI, and mapping are tools that assist in the efficiency of finding areas likely to hold bait/fish and then anchor and fish those locations effectively.

Live scope is completely different, enabling the user to visualize, track, and target the fish in real time. It's hunting.

How popular have hunting tournament trails and hunting tournaments been historically? They haven't.

Anyone arguing that spot lock, power poles, SI, DI, or GPS mapping tools are even close to the level of advantage that FFS gives is not arguing in good faith. FFS gives you the ability to look at an individual bass behavior in REAL TIME. It's essentially sight fishing on ALL fish in ANY depth of water.

Baseball, NASCAR, Formula 1, etc. have limitations on technology to keep the spirit of competition alive. Formula 1 especially puts limitations on technology that jeopardizes the spirit of the sport. There is no reason that limitations on technology cannot be applied to bass fishing. Simply limit the number of days that FFS can be used in a given tournament, or only allow FFS during practice would be an easy fix to this issue.

I believe BASS has sat on this issue for far too long and if they instituted any real limitations on FFS it would kill a large portion of the Elites ability to actually catch fish. Way too many newer Elite anglers cannot cope without FFS.

Jesus……….l

Not dead yet.

No doubt…

There are 2 different sports, Tournament Bass Fishing and Tournament Livescoping. They’re just mixed together for the time being.

Ok Josh

Stanley Mitchell, Classic winner in 1981 at 21 years old. I bet he prolly had livescope and many years of experience.

I agree 💯%!!
Give the young man credit!!

The loudest voices on here are the scope at any cost crowd, the old man bad crowd, the he’s just being hypocritical crowd. I believe you’re missing the point in the conversation. What are the long term cost? How much technology is too much? A very good point was brought up about every other sport limits something in that sport. Not to take anything away from the young man who won under today’s rules, Congratulations! But that doesn’t mean the sport is healthy for the long term either.

Realistically, we are the zip it because it’s legal and quit crying all the time. Almost every thread, whine whine whine. Whining about a 19 year old, whining because guys got DQ’d for breaking rules, whining about the front looker, it just never ever ends with you people.


Let me add in the: whining about a 22yo winning. Whining about “spectators” on the water. I have to hope that I’m taken out of this world, before I start acting like the “yell’s about everything” crowd. Some of you are truly miserable people.

Oh I have to add in the, “but their mommy and daddy spoils them” guy. Yeah, some people are wealthy, get over yourself & envy.

Fish gotta eat and are predators, they ain’t going on strike, more people fish now than probably 20 years ago.

FAT fingers

Nope gonna have to disagree with you on that , the scoper crowd on here far out numbers the NB crowd and is definitely more loud about it. Most but NOT ALL have the opinion that their opinion is the only one that matters and the rest of us are just cranky old farts. Look back, who has said anything negative about the young man that won, certainly not I. As far as the mommy and daddy spoils them crowd so just get over it, spoiling the kid gets you what finished in 2nd place. If you think that he and his mommy are a good look for bass then 👍

If everyone just minded their own business this magically goes away👍

if everyone minded their own business,this fishing forum would magically go away...

$100,000 boats, $800 rods and reels but FFS technology is a step too far.

It was the whistle. Gotta ban those whistles.

You can certainly disagree, but you’re wrong. You don’t see anyone saying, “oh my goodness, livescope is so awesome to watch in tournaments”. What you read is, “it’s legal, quit crying about it” & “you better learn it, if you’re gonna compete with the ‘yutes.”

Who said anything about the 22 yo winning??? Ummm, did you see the first comment in this thread created specifically because of a 22 yo winning, apparently not.

Do I think McKinney and his momma are good for the sport? There is nothing tournament related that’s good for the sport, zero. I think BASS loves the kid because of the huge high school/college return he can bring. Sure, he’s a bit ADD, but most of the kids now a days are different. If you don’t see that, then you’re not around many kids. People hated KVD when he came onto the scene, they hated Skeet Reese, Gerald Swindle, Jacob Wheeler, this is nothing new. People can’t deal with change, especially when they are constantly yelling about the clouds. Unfortunately for the McKinney haters, that boy isn’t going away, you will be hearing his name for awhile.

How do a lot of the young anglers afford the sport? I know when I was in my young 20's there was no way possible I could afford a new $100k+ boat and all the equipment it takes to be competitive at a high level.

title of the thread was "so much for years of experience".......meaning that 10,20 or 30 years of experience can no longer compete with a few years experience scoping for fish.....and...where is tournament bass fishing headed....FFS banned or limited? older guys retiring from fishing tournaments? how about fishing tackle industry collapsing except for plastic minnows and jig heads....if youger guys dominate but can't afford expensive boats,what happens?
will the fish learn to start fleeing from scoping?
next few years are going to be interesting.....

Just imagine what somebody could do if they had “years of experience” AND a cheaterscope.

I don’t understand the “cannot compete with part”. Everybody has the same exact rules

why are young guys dominating tourny fishing?...1st and second classic places went to a 22 and 20 year old...17 year old just won a toyota tourney in Florida....half of the Bassmaster classic qualifiers appear to be 25 years or younger...
is it due to younger people being better with electroinics especially being able to see what's on the screen better? or adjusting their electronics to get the maximum viewing?
is what an older fishermen has learned over the years not really accurate and it's far better to fish open water and for fish you are actually seeing?

throw in bare feets and cant speaks, and you got what we got

What’s stopping the old cooters? I really don’t understand.

They'd rather b!tch and complain then put forth the effort to learn it.

That is a good question, in my case its hard to commit to using the FFS all day when i have so much history flowing around in my head. To me to be good at FFS it require commitment to fishing with it all day. I often wonder is this is where the experience hurts some of the older generation.

Sums it up.

It helps if you have parents with money. Don’t ask me how I have my new Ranger.

I use to care but it's doesn't even matter. The industry DESERVES these little future monsters and the little integrity they convey in their vids. Just watch, I see what's coming. It'll go from ,oh you fish bass tourneys? That's cool." to "oh...you're one of those". Calling it. Based on the trajectory now I'll give it 3 years. When they get off their parents insurnace time frame.

Like Matt Herren, Boyd Duckett, Jeff Sprague, Mike Long, Tony Christian, Scott Martin, Robbie Rose type integrity? Them youngsters just don’t have this old school type integrity

I thought that happened with the Googans and the YouTubers vs. tournament fishermen, which resulted in Terkla & Milliken hitting the tournament trail to prove they could fish?

I'm so tired of hearing or seeing this every time you turn around.
I fished a small event last Sat and got my butt kicked the old fashioned way, took 32.04 to win and they were not scoping. Good for them, bad for me.
I like seeing fish bust a frog, attack a blade from a bush, swirl on a fluke and the tap-tap when I pitch under a dock. I can afford FFS but don't have it and may not get it but I don't resent the guys that do have it. I've got more to worry about in life than how someone catches fish.
Yall need to get over the whole age thing as well. KVD, J Lee, BP were all young guns that were shaking up the olds when they started - and all of them now use FFS.

Integrity…..really. Have you not been around a bunch of people with a pot of money to win? From club level up there are sheisters. Fishing is full of them! The pedestal some folks put these anglers on is unbelievable.

That’s where I’m different than most guys. I’m not in it for the money. I do it for the ladies

The young FFS guys are like the the progressive bunch in the country. They have found an easy way to do things .They have spent thousands of dollars to have what they have I don't blame them for being mad when people say that FFS has got to go .They think that they are doing no wrong. I used to think I was doing no wrong when spot lighting deer either until it got to where deer were getting harder and harder to find . Then parks and wild life took it on and for the most part got it under control . FFS will be the same before long .Congress in each state will have to pass a law stopping it .It will have to be done or bass fishing will get even tough on the FFS guys like it has @ O.H.IVY. THESE YOUNG GUNS WILL WONDER LIKE JOSH JONES WHY THEY CAN SEE THE FISH BUT CAN NOT CATCH THE FISH.

I put 65 years into learning it the hard way and to have it thrown out for a machine to take it's place dose not sat well when I can see with my on eyes how it is unfair not to us old fishermen but so unfair to the fish that us old foggies have loved competing for for so many years. FFS makes a kid an expert in no time at all .It has always been the same you go to abusing it and soon there is no more of it

You abuse English grammar and writing, nobody has banned you.

So why hasn't it made the old an expert in no time at all. You'd think with all their years of knowledge and experience combined with FFS they'd be unstoppable. Or perhaps, and this is going out on a limb. These young guns are better fisherman they you give them credit for.

Butch this statement is one of the dumber things that has ever been posted here. You just took thousands of young people and lumped them into one group and that group can be pretty scummy.

Solid point. Progressives shouldn't be likened to FFS scum.

If you think everyone is cheating, youve already lost.

Who said anything about cheating? Cheating is a small part compared to the 7th grade clique antics some folks bring to the table.

Holy [censored]. It’s wild how all the fish you used to catch stopped biting since FFS came around.

I love the fact that nothing divides the forum like a lively discussion on ffs! Now get off my grass or lake with that thing!

well it was dead for 4 hours until you brought it back up,

If watching teenagers using FFS dominate BASS causes you to stroke out, then watch the old cooter league - NPFL. Why watch BASS if you're going to wig out seeing a young guy catch bass using FFS?

9 pages,128 replies and 3965 views.....not bad for a weak and petty post......just wait til April fools day....

Well it sure seems like the anti-FFS guys aren’t allowed to have an opinion on this forum.

We are all entitled to our opinion, but if you say anything against FFS the attacks come flying.

Know of any other groups in the country that respect your opinion only if it agrees with theirs?


I’m somewhere in the middle. I have a FFS and in fact caught every fish this past Sunday on Alan Henry using it. Found some fish about 12-15’ down and they absolutely would not hit any moving bait I put in front of them But if I stopped my Crankbait in their face they would sometimes eat. I literally watched every fish I caught eat my Crankbait.

With that being said, I also believe it’s the worst thing to happen to the sport.

That is an amazing accomplishment.