ALL THE HATE ON FFS ?

[inspired fisherman]

It seems everyone hates FFS . I talk to anglers all the time , from weekend guys who fish for fun . To BFL guys , to top pros . What I hear them say is , I have it but I dont use it . Or I have it but I dont like it . Or I wish it would just go away . Well these guys spent a lot of money not to like , or not to use this technology . Why buy it in the first place . But talk is cheap . Fishing fans I have talked to at expos and major tournaments seem to be about 70/30 against FFS . Hear again if seventy percent of the fan base quit watching , and did not buy the product , real changes would have to be made . But it is more like complaining than anything else . What can be asked , is it detrimental to the sport . Do the fisheries suffer , not just from tournaments but from recreational anglers fishing all week every week . What are you guys thoughts on fishing pressure and FFS . Have there been an impact on the lakes you fish . I get sports evolve , nothing stays the same . The kickoff has all but been eliminated in the NFL . MLB could juice the ball to get a 100 home run season . Golf has strict ROI requirements on drivers off the tee , and they are talking of rolling the ball back to keep the older courses playable . So there is some fine lines here . Bass fishing for fun or profit involves a living resource . Follow the money , who is protecting our resource .

[RNKingCx19]

But..But it’s still on their boats. Don’t use it naw they do or it wouldn’t be on it. FFS is a game changer go from fishing to catching.

[weiglein4]

Oh my goodness

[JStew]

There was a lot more fishing pressure back when the common man was capable of buying the equipment and baits the tourney guys were winning major tourneys with. Detrimental to the sport? Yes - it’s created a disconnect with the 70% who now aren’t watching and have no intending to purchase. I don’t spend my saturdays staring at a screen. Side imaging was as far down that rabbit hole as I was willing to go.

[ThomasD]

where's that dead horse emoji when you need it

[badboyjigs]

[QUOTE=JStew;13935845]There was a lot more fishing pressure back when the common man was capable of buying the equipment and baits the tourney guys were winning major tourneys with. Detrimental to the sport? Yes - it’s created a disconnect with the 70% who now aren’t watching and have no intending to purchase. I don’t spend my saturdays staring at a screen. Side imaging was as far down that rabbit hole as I was willing to go.[/QUOT


my thoughts almost exact ! You nailed it sir , our sport ain’t dieing but tourney fishing is on life support !

[BigFishSteve]

Sure they don’t……

[Jim285pro]

Interesting thing I’ve seen is how many were all for it a year ago and now have come to despise what it’s doing to fishing and want it to go away. I’ve met no one who was against it and is now all for it.

[1958]

Just MY opinion.
I think most people are not so much against ffs but just don't want to watch a pro fishing it. They miss the strategy of figuring out what the bass are doing through out the day. It took some thinking, knowledge and experience to be the best. With ffs none of those come into play. The person who wins today is someone who can stare at a screen constantly

[WarEagle24]

where's that dead horse emoji when you need it

[JStew]

It’s actually dominated the crappie circuits and crappie hobbyists for many years. It has been detrimental to overall numbers and pressure is on many states wildlife agencies to lower limits due to FFS. Seems the bass guys aren’t so quick to adopt and due to catch & release and lower fishing pressure, it hasn’t diminished populations. Bass eaters prefer 1 to 1.5lb fish, although a mess of Kentuckys are pretty good eating. Most really don’t eat.

The holy grail of TV tourney watchers is an off the shelf purchase to help them compete without the time on the water. What they don’t get is the FFS learning curve to become proficient until after they’ve taken out a second mortgage on units and mounting hardware. If you’re not spending the time on the water to learn the skills to be competitive without FFS, you’ll never be proficient enough to really do any better than without the units. The holy grail is just as elusive as the basic knowledge. Time on the water and advanced proficiency cannot be bought around. Anything else just makes you a wanna be. In days gone by - a patch pirate with a free bag of baits and a jersey.

[Highcentered]

I love my FFS. It shows me stuff I'd miss if I didn't have it. It makes me more efficient at fun fishing. Still fish blind a lot but when I go offshore it's nice to have.

[borderbasser]

where's that dead horse emoji when you need it

+1

[LateralLine]

Jeez.jpg

[Phoenix Jim]

I love my FFS. It shows me stuff I'd miss if I didn't have it. It makes me more efficient at fun fishing. Still fish blind a lot but when I go offshore it's nice to have.

Exactly! I also think those, not all, that hate it can’t afford it

[ECobb91]

There was a lot more fishing pressure back when the common man was capable of buying the equipment and baits the tourney guys were winning major tourneys with. Detrimental to the sport? Yes - it’s created a disconnect with the 70% who now aren’t watching and have no intending to purchase. I don’t spend my saturdays staring at a screen. Side imaging was as far down that rabbit hole as I was willing to go.

well said, exactly how I feel too

[Aj14]

Oh great.
Now PETA is going to get involved.

[JTN]

The Minn DNR has been lowering panfish limits yearly on select lakes, the list of lakes gets longer every year, lots of lakes are limited to 5 sunfish and 5 crappie… Rumor is state wide Walleye limit is going from 6 to 4 in 2026-27.
Minn DNR has stated fisherman are much more effective at harvesting fish with modern technology that limits must be lowered. FFS is crazy effective basin fishing roaming panfish through the ice, drill a few holes scan out 100’ or so find the fish drill on top of them. One guy sitting running the FFS calling out directions and how many feet away one guy with a flasher and a auger…Before FFS you’d drill a couple hundred holes and one drill on top of them a few times in a day….

[RipRapRanger]

I love my FFS. It shows me stuff I'd miss if I didn't have it. It makes me more efficient at fun fishing. Still fish blind a lot but when I go offshore it's nice to have.

This is spot on. I don't fish tournaments and I also don't get as much time on the water as I would like. I maximize my time/catch ratio by not making a 1000 extra casts in dead water be it void of fish or structure. I've had FFS on my boat since 2019 and will never feel guilty or apologize for using it and will never be without it.

[jigheadworm]

Fished the Tuesday night derby on a local lake last night 32 boats fished out of the 32 only about 5 boats didn't have ffs so it must not be hated to bad here in east Tn.