likely the first place AI is going to provide some fast help to anglers in uncovering key information when visiting popular tournament lakes for the first time . AI , when programmed correctly , will be able to do specific searches on tournament fisheries in a matter of seconds , mining such information as productive areas , lures , cover and techniques from a mountain of tournament coverage from the last 20 years .
The interface will likely come in the form of an app that can pair with modern-day electronics . Data input could be submitted to the app either manually or automatically from an angler ’ s depth finder and GPS . Key variables such as the lake ’ s name , the date , water depth , temperature and clarity would be critical . Other helpful variables , like the weather , dam generation schedules and moon phase could be automatically
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MAHLER taken from online sources . All those data points would then be fed into an AIoptimized search .
AI will work its magic by instantly worming through thousands of hours of bass tournament coverage found across the internet in the form of results , photo galleries , YouTube videos , podcasts , archived tournament shows and archived live streams to highlight the most productive areas , lures , presentations and past results for that lake from previous events . The AI-produced reports would also include key descriptors like shell bars , shad spawn , bream beds , standing timber , clear water , clumps of vegetation , or any other commonly cited themes in the tournament coverage for that lake at that time . The app could be refreshed at any time if inputs change .
Obviously , popular tournament lakes would have far more available information than lakes with very little traffic .
virtual underwater camera view
The next place AI will find a home in fishing is in forward-facing sonar viewing . I believe future versions of forwardfacing sonar over the next decade will become freakishly realistic by mixing immersive technologies such as augmented reality with AI to produce enhanced visual representations of real elements in the underwater environment . Put another way , AI will help turn high-definition sonar returns from the underwater world into real-time imaging that looks more like it came from an underwater camera .
AI can do this by taking the sonar returns from common underwater composition such as sand , mud , rock , gravel , shell , brush , vegetation and timber and rendering them to look much more realistic . Instead of the anglers interpreting what they ’ re seeing from blipping and pulsing sonar returns , artificial intelligence software will recognize these bottom compositions and objects from sonar signatures and fill in the blanks with digital depictions of sand , brush , timber , rock , grass , etc . This “ virtual underwater view ” will also add a true three-dimensional perspective to the submerged lakescape .
Sound hokey ? We ’ re not finished . How about if AI could also provide a fish ID for each species ?
Some pros are already proficient at identifying certain species of fish on forward-facing sonar . If humans can tell bass from crappie from drum from white bass based on sonar blips , imagine what AI can do once it learns each species ’ unique hydrodynamic signature based on size , shape , muscle density , air bladder size , speed of movement and actual “ gait ” of a fish as it moves through the water .
Hold on , the possibilities get even freakier : Once a species is identified , a more animated depiction of that species of fish can be rendered , swimming in real time on the screen , revealing its size , direction and speed of travel . In addition , the lure being used by the angler can also be recognized and represented to scale as well .
Talk about mixed reality fishing ! Imagine a 10- to 20-foot ditch or “ drain ” running out of an 8-foot flat in a Texas lake . Picture how this drain would look if the water was crystal clear and you could use an underwater camera to see everything in front of and around your boat for 80 feet : the scattered hydrilla lining the edges of the drain , the standing timber in the middle of the ditch and the bass or crappie suspended in that timber . Now twitch a jerkbait ( which looks just like a real jerkbait ) right down to the bass ( which looks just like a real bass ) and see exactly how the bass responds to the lure .
I believe that very sort of virtual aquarium view will be available in the future by combining high-definition sonar with artificial intelligence and augmented reality .
So how many more screens will it take to render this kind of view ?
None . It will all be accomplished through immersive technology goggles or glasses , where the underwater world and the fish swimming in it are superimposed right before your eyes . Such goggles are already becoming available to the public , with Apple Vision Pro set to hit the market in early 2024 .
Yes ! Tournament anglers using virtual reality glasses to catch real bass !
Beam me up , Scotty ….
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2023 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 19