all the garbage about foward facing sonar, what if you are close to retirement and watching your dollars and every "pro" is saying oh you have to have it, shoot, it cost more than my boat !! can you live without it?
all the garbage about foward facing sonar, what if you are close to retirement and watching your dollars and every "pro" is saying oh you have to have it, shoot, it cost more than my boat !! can you live without it?
Yes. I don’t have it and still enjoy fishing the way I always have. If you are fishing tournaments, there might be times when you can be at a disadvantage, but that’s fine with me.
If your fishing for fun I would not even worry about it. Continue doing what you doing and have fun. I very seldom tournament fish but I can see how people who competitively fish feeling like they are a disadvantage without it. I know if I was buying another boat and it came with basic accessories my first thing to purchase would be shallow water anchors, a good sonar with side image and GPS mapping and my last upgrade would be FFS. Now I realize that’s me and not you. Only you know the answer to what your needs and wants are. If your happy without it then continue on. I will say I like FFS but I also dislike it. It’s a valuable tool but can also be frustrating when you can’t get them to bite or see them chase and turn away. Sometimes I turn mine off and simply go fishing.
I have it. Will be the first to admit I haven’t put the time in to learn it and/or fish specifically using it. I plan to put more effort into it this coming year. With that said the way I prefer to fish ffs isn’t truly a major help. So I’d be just fine without it.
If you wanna have a chance to best the field in your tourneys....yes, you need it. If you're fun fishing.....heck no you don't need it.
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I don't fish tournaments. There are days when I hardly look at the screen, and there are days where my success is because of FFS. I don't have to have it, but I like having it there as an option. It's one more tool to help me figure out what the fish are doing. But I still catch fish without it.
I'm following this as I'm agreeing with a number of you guys.
BUT....let me toss this into the equation.
What if a fella was able to purchase the needed equipment at 50% off?
I fish a lot of clear northern lakes and am wanting to spend more time on Sturgeon Bay as I now have a place to stay there.
I do not have it, but somehow, I still manage to catch enough quality fish to make me smile. Caught my PB smallmouth and largemouth this past year, even won my first tournament.
BUT...with that said, I am going to add it to my boat in the near future. I said that I wanted to learn to read and catch fish using traditional sonar, and I feel like I have almost accomplished that. I feel like that skill is needed to find the fish in order to use the FFS effectively.
I fun fish and I want it.
Just haven't pulled the trigger yet.
The short answer is yes you can live without it although I wish that I had gotten it before I retired.
Originally Posted by karol
That’s the great thing about this country. You have a choice and no one will make you buy it. At age 72 I can’t justify it either but I am not going to resent people who do buy it. When I was younger and in my full earning peak I used to buy nice bass boats and the latest electronics. I have never let pros decide what I can afford and can’t afford. I am just happy I can get out there occasionally.
You can and I’d say do what you love, not what others tell you. most people here are venturing offshore and I used to as well, but realized its not that fun to fish that way. I just prefer junk fishing much more. I don’t think I could justify spending 3k on a setup to keep up with the jones’. But I also don’t fish anything more than 6-8 boat club tournaments as a boater.
Now in this area if you’re fishing say BFLs, you’re at a significant disadvantage without it. Nearly every regional or larger tournament is won with FFS in NY
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I got one last year. Do you need it, definitely not. But it has become fun to fish with. Helps you understand how fish actually react to your bait instead of what you thought they did.
I don't have it and like stated above maybe earlier in my career ,would of pulled the trigger for it but financially not an option at this time. I fish tourneys and still do ok finished high enough on my trails to fish the Tournament of Champions on all of them and covered my entry fees and expenses for the season. I have been beat by guys with them and I have beaten guys with it so it is not a magic box .But with that said one of my partners kept saying we need to get it ,we are not competing without it and so on. He got it for his boat and did his research and put time in learning it and so on and it didn't put any more fish in the boat for us in any tourney we fished. But that is just my experience with it and maybe the kind of waters we fish ...
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i have it and last year fished 5 tournies. couple of first place, a second and a 7th. Never even turned FFS on. I use it more for crappie
I don’t have it and I don’t want it. I bought my retirement boat in 2020 and it’s got a 9” graph on the console and none on the bow. I still fish a few club tournaments and a pick up derby or three and don’t want to be distracted fiddling around with a black box. I go fishing mostly to be outside and relax
Same here, obviously the only thing you have to have is food, water, and oxygen. So no, nobody has to have FFS
Some guys like to have the latest and greatest and some of us just want to go enjoy a day one the water.
Both are correct in their minds.
Probably won’t add it at this point in my life know all the lakes I fish in the Upper Midwest well enough don’t think it would be that much of a benefit. I’m not bringing the boat to Texas going to fish with some friends down here in Texas.
However Have nothing against it or upset with those who are having Tournament success with it.
Now if I was still going to Bull Shoals, Table Rock and Kentucky Lake regularly would strongly consider making the investment.
Now that I have had it for a year yeah I wouldn’t be without it
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