Forward-facing sonar is starting to draw some opposition from anglers, but that doesn’t apply to many of us who envy those who can afford it.
Pat Neu, president and co-founder of the National Association of Professional Anglers, and respected angling media personality and Angling Hall of Fame inductee Al Lindner recently published an editorial suggesting that the increased efficiency of technology will likely lead to declines in fish populations and/or angling success if state fisheries agencies do not adjust fishing regulations to accommodate the increased catch.
Neu and Lindner are directing their comments toward fisheries that catch and hold fish — fish like crappies and walleye, among others. They are not mentioned, but freshwater stripers and Great Lakes salmon and rainbow trout are likely to be affected.
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Neu believes state agencies may need to adjust fishing levels as scanning sonar becomes more common among anglers.
“We need to help fisheries managers across the country understand how effective this new technology can be, and we need to give them all the help they can as they begin to analyze the effects of increased catches from this new technology,” he said.
While Neu notes that only a petite percentage of anglers currently own FFS equipment, that is likely to change quickly as sonar companies rake in the profits.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next three or four years this technology becomes available for $1,000 or thereabouts,” he said.
Lindner is also concerned.
“The levels of fishing and damage to crappie populations in some very popular waters across the country are staggering because the fish can no longer escape our sight, especially when they are wintering in tight schools,” Lindner said. “It used to be that you had to work a little harder to stay on crappie when they were moving. Now, that’s not the case when you’re using FFS. Some crappie populations have been hit hard.”
Lindner says FFS has also completely changed muskie fishing. While almost no one is catching muskies, these toothy giants are being pursued intensively by anglers fishing catch-and-release. The fish appear like submarines on the forward scan, making it easier to place the bait in front of them and consequently catch them much more often.
While a muskie photographed and released quickly has a good chance of survival, the question arises whether the fatigue and exhaustion caused by being caught, perhaps multiple times during the summer, will not have a negative impact on individual fish as well as the overall muskie population in difficult-to-access waters.
For species that are rarely caught, such as largemouth bass in most areas, while all-seeing sonar may mean increased catches, it may not mean significantly fewer fish because so few anglers keep bass for the frying pan. Loading them into a live bait tank for the mile-a-minute trip to the weigh station and then handling the process has been shown to kill some fish, but most survive and bite again.
But the fish that are repeatedly caught by sonar “attraction” are far less likely to be caught by the random casts of weekend anglers who fish without the benefit of $4,000 worth of technology, so there is sure to be an ever-increasing battle between the haves and the have-nots.
And when it comes to tournaments, anglers who don’t have the ability to forward scan simply won’t invest their money if some in the venue are using FFS, except perhaps for low periods when most fish are shallow, such as in the spring and fall.
There’s no doubt that over the past few years, forward scan anglers have caught thousands of bass that likely never saw a bait before the advent of all-seeing technology. These are mostly open-water fish that travel with schools of bait rather than identifying with bottom structure like most of us expect.
Whatever the case, as Lindner notes, technology never goes backward. We have let the electronic genie out of the lamp, and now it is up to fisheries managers and angler ethics to deal with it.
Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the October 11 online edition External wire.
