Real-time sonar and the future of fishing

“Oh, it’s a big deal alright! It’s the difference between throwing 300 castS a day and throwing 50,” my buddy said. “And there’s a big difference on how you feel at the end of the day doing one from the other. You’re a lot stronger the second day if you only threw 50 baits the day before than 300. It’s an advantage right there.”

He went on to explain that out of those 300 casts he feels 25 will actually present to a musky properly to interest the fish. Some days a lot more, some days less. He explained the timing of the cast, retrieve, figure eight, repeat and how that stacks up into a day of musky fishing.

He was talking about the newest type of electronics for fishing, boating, and sailing to come onto the market - forward facing sonar. You might have heard it called “live scan” or a trade name or something else. The price of these marvels of fishing sonars runs around $4,000. In case you’re not familiar with the price tag of these new units you did read that right. Probably not a lot of boats sporting these units on Diamond Lake. But the last month they turned into a hot topic. We got on this over the events from the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament from Morehead City, North Carolina, that ended June 17th with some controversy. A boat entered, kind of an underdog, hooked up on a big marlin in the waning hours of fishing. The fish “unofficially” weighed 619 lbs. and was the biggest fish caught, which meant that they would have received a payout of $3.5 million – you read that right – but it was disqualified because of a mutilation mark on the fish that most likely didn’t hamper its ability to fight since it took six hours to land.

Two hundred seventy-one boats were entered with an entry fee of $20,000. The boat that caught the fish was smaller than most. They had the saltwater version of electronics that a guy on Diamond Lake might use. Most of the other boats had the high end saltwater versions of forward facing sonars, most having multiple units that provides a 360 degree view underwater around the boat. That’s how we got on the topic of forward facing sonars (FFS).

And then more conversations with others popped up about the same thing, magazine articles, podcasts, etc. I didn’t go looking for a single thing. I still call sonars depth finders, because when fishing electronics first came out that’s pretty much what they did and often times not so hot.

The depth finder in the boat I grew up with involved an ancient bait casting reel, braided line with a loop knot tied every foot and an ounce sinker on the end. It was homemade and it’s still in my mom’s garage someplace. Maybe the fishing museum in Hayward would like to display it?

I’ve gotten an education on FFS through this. The display is real time and not historic like the depth finders I have. If you don’t see the fish the few seconds it’s in the cone you missed it, so you have to watch the screen instead of throw baits. The screen is almost as detailed as a video game. If someone is watching the screen, they can actually see a fish strike the lure of someone fishing. It makes trolling quite easy. No calculations needed. Just another unit facing astern and the anglers can see when their lures are at the depth they want and even see a fish approach a lure.

It turns a full day of fishing into a six hour boat ride and maybe an hour or two of actual fishing. Opponents say these will cause a decline in fish populations and the fish should be caught by the best angler, not the best gamer. Proponents say it makes them better because of what they learn about how fish act and behave towards baits, presentations, boats, etc.

The depth finders from the 70’s had people saying similar things. Electronics makes fishing more efficient for sure. Will it wreck the fishery? I have no idea.

I also have no idea how a guy can go from calling me with a question about should he use his springer for grouse that’s being trained for pheasant, to a passionate dissertation from him on FFS because I asked if he had a Garmin dog tracking system. Tight lines folks.

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