COLUMN : BALOG ON BASS FISHING
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For more than 20 years , Joe Balog has made his living in the fishing industry on and off the water . A successful tournament angler from the Great Lakes region , Balog now lives in Florida , where he continues to work in product design , marketing and outdoor media when he ' s not chasing trophy largemouth .
the electronics evolution
The controversy and necessity of keeping up with fishing technology
S onar technology is changing the game of tournament bass fishing . Then again , that ’ s been the case for more than half a century .
Units grabbing signals out in front of the boat – “ video gaming ,” to some – are all the rage these days , and pros are finding it necessary to use these revolutionary systems in order to stay competitive . Events from Florida to the Great Lakes have seen winners credit their electronics as the most important factor in their success .
While it may seem that such a reliance on technology is a relatively new phenomenon , in fact , it ’ s always been that way . Since the beginning of organized competition , the latest and greatest gadgets have been integral to getting a leg up .
Inventing the Wheel
While it ’ s impossible to trace the very beginning of depth-measuring devices , flashers can be considered the primary modern step , beginning in the late 1960s . For the first time , anglers were able to monitor depth while moving the boat and find objects on or near the bottom . Mastering the spinning wheel was the key to getting ahead .
“ At first , I had no earthly idea what I was looking at ,” recalls renowned North Carolina tournament ace David Wright . “ After a couple years , I learned that a flasher showed me more than just depth . I learned to find cover that other people couldn ’ t .”
From there , Wright used the technology to quickly dominate offshore events , plucking larger fish from hidden hideouts far off the bank . When chart recorders came on the scene in the late 1970s , he again found the new technology invaluable .
“ I hate change , so I resisted trading my flasher for a graph ,” he adds . “ But we now had history with the scroll of the screen – rather than just the instant read of a flasher .”
Scroll history prevented missing key objects , as could happen with the flasher . But , like the flasher , scrutiny of the graph was responsible for its tournament popularity .
“ With practice , I could now tell the difference between rocks and stumps and bait – all of this looked the same on a flasher ,” Wright says .
Not surprisingly , nearly every bass tournament angler quickly adopted the new depth-finder technology .
24 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | APRIL-MAY 2021