Where do you think the line is with electronics?

[Lungdeflator]

That new Garmin video V posted got me thinking...

Is there a point where you won't buy the latest and greatest electronics?

I realize you still have to get fish to bite, still have to be out on the lake, etc... But at what point do these new innovations take some of the adventure, skill, and challenge out of fishing?

My boat is a 12ft alumacraft and I don't have any electronics for it other than navionics on my phone. I also only get out 2-3 times a year so I don't really know where my personal line would be. Just curious....

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Right now my pocket book defines my line. This is a pretty good question though

 

[Allen]

Yes. I don't know what that line is though, but I did just fine the past 12 years fishing with an old Lowrance LMS 480. I upgraded this spring, but mostly because I wanted color so I could see it in the sunlight.

 

[5575]

My friend took this pic off his graph last week.
My friends on the river won't even go out fishing any more if they don't have a boat with mega imagining on it. "why pitch jigs if there is nothing behind that sandbar.."
I agree, where will it end?

 

[LBrandt]

To me there is a limit. If you make it to easy you can just buy some big gold fish and throw them in the bath tub and sit on the crapper with an ice rod. Its called fishing not catching for a reason.

 

[guywhofishes]

My friend took this pic off his graph last week.
My friends on the river won't even go out fishing any more if they don't have a boat with mega imagining on it. "why pitch jigs if there is nothing behind that sandbar.."
I agree, where will it end?

I don't get it... I see the shadow but where's the reflection?

 

[JayKay]

This is why I like wading. To many, it'd be a waste of time. But it never seems to fail. Just when I'm completely not paying attention, slack-jawed and daydreaming.. ping, "there's a fish now..".

I also get immense satisfaction out of a fish that smashes a lure in 3 ft of water, when I'm in the water with it.

Oh, and the line at the ramp isn't bad at all, with my kind of fishing.

 

[Fishmission]

Bunch of good sticks here on NDA that don't need latest and greatest to catch fish galore from a boat or shore. Fun stuff to have though

 

[BGH]

The white line in the circle is the actual fish. The black is the fish's Shadow

My friend took this pic off his graph last week.
My friends on the river won't even go out fishing any more if they don't have a boat with mega imagining on it. "why pitch jigs if there is nothing behind that sandbar.."
I agree, where will it end?

 

[thriller1]

This winter, I said the same thing about buying crankbaits. I bet I have over 700 of them and if you would ask the wife, she would proclaim I have more. I promised myself no more. I told myself the fish are gonna bite on what I got or not at all. Fast forward to late April, and all the store ads are out with "exclusive" store brand colors. All the promises are right out the window and I am back to hiding new cranks in every nook and cranny where I hope the wife wont look. I finally realized I am like a squirrel that forgets where it hides its food. I'll look under the seat of the pickup and see a Scheels bag with about 4 cranks in it that I totally forgot about.

 

[guywhofishes]

The white line in the circle is the actual fish. The black is the fish's Shadow

thnx - I looked for it but missed it

I trust shadows a lot more than reflections some days

 

[camoman]

This is why I like wading. To many, it'd be a waste of time. But it never seems to fail. Just when I'm completely not paying attention, slack-jawed and daydreaming.. ping, "there's a fish now..".

I also get immense satisfaction out of a fish that smashes a lure in 3 ft of water, when I'm in the water with it.

Oh, and the line at the ramp isn't bad at all, with my kind of fishing.

Agreed. One of the many reasons I love fly fishing. I have to find my fish. It means hiking, checking holes, changing rigs, getting out. Catching fish is fun, no doubt, but the adventure for me is finding them.

 

[Sluggo]

At the end of the day, I like to think I used my head to find and catch fish. I'm not so stubborn that I won't turn to technology for a shove in the right direction but my first thought is usually to ignore the technology and use my sniffer to find fish. That approach worked well 20-30 years ago and should still work today. I might not be the first person to the fish and some days I might strike out, but I get as much or more satisfaction out of knowing I figured something out rather than just filling the live well with meat. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

[ccarver80]

Me being part of the younger generation loves the new technology comming out but yea I agree were does end... X-ray sunglasses that eliminate all water and you can see the entire water colum like your floating in midair:;:huh

 

[JayKay]

At the end of the day, I like to think I used my head to find and catch fish. I'm not so stubborn that I won't turn to technology for a shove in the right direction but my first thought is usually to ignore the technology and use my sniffer to find fish. That approach worked well 20-30 years ago and should still work today. I might not be the first person to the fish and some days I might strike out, but I get as much or more satisfaction out of knowing I figured something out rather than just filling the live well with meat. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with the sniffer on this one. Sniffed out the single biggest eye of the big muddy.

 

[dwos03]

Never have used the latest and greatest electronics when fishing. Heck last weekend on my dads boat we were using an old Eagle something or other sonar that must be from the 90's and it worked just great. All it really showed us our depth and water temp. Having said that, I would really love to get a Helix 7 SI. But I do agree, where does the technology get to be too much. How much better can it actually get? Time will tell I guess.

 

[KDM]

When technology starts to replace my "Woodsmanship" for fishing is when it goes to far. For me, I start fishing by looking at the current weather conditions, add the weather conditions from a couple days past, throw in my knowledge of the target species, and then I turn to my technology for verification once I've decided where to fish. When that list is REVERSED and technology starts to take first spot....THAT'S where I draw the line. I never want to lose my ability to find fish WITHOUT technology. Mostly because I don't use any technology when I go muddin'. It's just me against the fish and that's the way I like it.

 

[5575]

What ticks me off most is when you are fishing a spot, in my case pulling lindys allot. Your all by yourself on a lake that is almost 200 miles long and the fish are there because you have been running the trolling motor and all is right in the world.
And all of the sudden a big walleye boat "sparkly most of the time" comes in on you hot. Slows down to about 10 mph with the 300-350 hp outboard and does a complete circle around you within easy bottom bouncer casting distance... As the two ass hat wanna be pro anglers pay no attention what so ever to you and your path as their eyes and flat brim caps are glued in the direction of the massive graphs mounted on the dash. They circle you, look for fish sometimes marking a way point and then blast off on plane as fast as they had stopped. Hell their first wake of waves haven't even gone away yet! That pisses me off..sorry but it makes me want to fire a 1.5 oz bouncer right at the side of their rig.. seriously.

 

[DirtyMike]

*Me imagining what it's like to fish without electronics*

 

[sweeney]

What ticks me off most is when you are fishing a spot, in my case pulling lindys allot. Your all be yourself on a lake that is almost 200 miles long and the fish are there because you have been running the trolling motor and all is right in the world.
And all of the sudden a big walleye boat "sparkly most of the time" comes in on you hot. Slows down to about 10 mph with the 300-350 hp outboard and does a complete circle around you within easy bottom bouncer casting distance... As the two wanna be pro anglers pay no attention what so ever to you and your path as their eyes and flat brim caps are glued in the direction of the massive graphs mounted on the dash. They circle you, look for fish sometimes marking a way point and then blast off on plane as fast as they had stopped. Hell their first wake of waves haven't even gone away yet! That pisses me off..sorry but it makes me want to fire a 1.5 oz bouncer right at the side of their rig!

It's only going to get worse the better electronics are getting and the better people are at reading them, I used to feel like I had a homefield advantage fishing the midsection of the lake knowing what bays had certain structure and so on. That is pretty much gone now with the upgrades in sonar and mapping. The run and gun fishing techniques and multiple angler networking has really made fishing almost as easy as modern inline muzzleloader hunting, these guys are taking technology and using it to enhance their fishing....:;:stirthepot