Could live scopes be banned inWisconsin?

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Da Musky Opener, dis Saturday in da Northwoods. Always on da Memorial Day Weekend der.

I remember in my youth how we planned the whole month of May to spend the musky opener just fishing for musky. That lasted for about an hour maybe two and everyone started fishing for fish that we caught all the time.

Memorial Day weekend’s about something so much more important than musky fishing or any fishing for that matter. It’s about those that gave all so that we could remain free. Those weekends weren’t just about fishing, ball games, parties, and cookouts. On Monday, we rushed home at first light from the cabin to play with the band at the Memorial Day ceremonies. It rings home watching wreaths placed at the graves of the fallen. Taps, a gun salute, the Star Spangled Banner, tough old guys standing at attention in old uniforms with tears in their eyes, and a speech by someone you don’t know, about their daddy being killed in Korea when she was six months old and he never met her. A sincere thank you to all that paid such a tremendous price for us. Some gave all . . .

Our little state of Wisconsin sent shock waves running through the national fishing community. All of it stemming from question 22 on the Annual Spring Hearing Questionnaire. Part of the advisory questions of the Conservation Congress section.

The preamble talked about the efficacy of new technology and connected that to needing to reduce bag limits. Some big leaps in the logic exist in that preamble. The question: “Would you support banning the use of live scopes, and similar 360° imaging electronics in all Wisconsin waters?”

6,786 voted in favor, 6,290 voted against, and 3,248 said they held no opinion on that matter. The results came out and a bomb went off. Social media YouTuber fishing channels started the cry that echoed through fishing chat rooms across the country. One such YouTuber proclaimed that “This ‘ballot initiative’ holds the power to change fishing forever in the U.S.”

Wisconsin isn’t a ballot initiative state – that seemed to be lost on this individual. Only 16,324 people in a state with a population of 5.8 million people voted. He even read off he voting totals.

An advisory question on the Annual Spring Hearing Questionnaire hardly possesses the ability to ascertain how this all shakes out in a couple years, if it shakes out at all. But it does demonstrate the uniqueness of Wisconsin’s process for natural resource management decisions.

I know several people who installed 360 degree real time sonars on their boats and all are big musky fishermen. I know a lot of us think we are big musky fisherman, but these guys are.

Most fish musky tournaments, they spend a week or more in Canada every summer fishing for the elusive 50+ inch musky. One group several years ago caught seven such musky in a week and live scan sonar didn’t exist then.

By now they all at least spent the minimum $2,800 for the basic livescan package and most upgraded with the specialize transom mount for the Garmin which adds a couple grand. Some even went for the Hummingbird ultra package that includes a set up for the boat and ice fishing setting one back a mere $5,700. Add in taxes, shipping, maintenance plans and it cost more than our boats. One must catch a lot panfish and walleye to justify a unit like that.

Do they catch more fish? A few of these guys found some crappie staged up in the pre-spawn staging area in a lake an hour from here the week prior. On Wednesday they went fishing for them. They caught a few but the fish moved on that sunny warm day to shallow water. They then headed to shallow water and each kept less than their limit of 12 to 13 inch crappie. I saw pics. They caught them from the wood.

Now, if I or you dear reader planned to catch spawning crappies, I’m guessing our plan might involve fishing them in the wood in shallow water and we don’t need three grand or more in electronics to find those spots. Just say’n.

This all made me chuckle. At one time fishing reels were thought of by some as unfair technology. Maybe this is a time we should all “just shut up and fish.”

Thanks to the Some.