FIRST CAST : JOEL SHANGLE
a brave new forward-facing world awaits
Iknow , I know . ANOTHER pundit talking about forward-facing sonar . In my own defense , I ’ ve done a pretty good job of staying out of the verbal mosh pit that has swirled around the subject of live sonar for the past three years . I ’ m going to jump into the pit for a while now , but I ’ ll keep this brief . One statement , a few words of color , and then back to your regularly scheduled chit-chat about baits , tournaments and anglers . First , the statement . Forward-facing sonar is not the devil . Nor is it the greatest thing since the invention of the automobile . It ’ s somewhere in between . As much as this technology has triggered social media feeds and turned the bass tournament world upside down and backwards , FFS very simply is what it is : a powerful tool that can dramatically assist an angler in locating , patterning and catching bass . Granted , it ’ s proven to be perhaps the most powerful tool to come along in 40 years ( tournament results in the Bass Pro Tour , Tackle Warehouse Invitationals , Bassmaster Elite Series , etc . over the past three seasons speak volumes about its efficacy ), but in theory , it ’ s still the hammer , wrench , knife and lasso that a carpenter , plumber , chef and cowboy use to do their jobs . Right ? Well … kinda , but not really . The argument to be made here is that carpenters ’ hammers , cowboys ’ lassos and chefs ’ knives haven ’ t changed significantly in centuries . Sure , better materials and craftsmanship have made for better tools , but when push comes to shove , the cowhide and horsehair lariats that my dad used as a buckaroo in the 1940s are pretty similar to the nylon and hemp ropes that Fred Whitfield used to win eight world titles and over $ 3 million as a professional roper . The 9-inch chef ’ s knife in your kitchen is virtually the same tool that Wolfgang Puck used to create the smoked-salmon pizza that kicked off his restaurant empire in the early 1980s . Same tools for eons , but different results based on the skills and imagination of the users . Live sonar , however , is a tool on a whole different level . If it ’ s a hammer , it ’ s Thor ’ s Mjolnir . If it ’ s a knife , it ’ s
Excalibur . If it ’ s a rope , it ’ s Wonder Woman ’ s “ lasso of truth .”
While FFS is absolutely NOT the automatic fish catcher that anti- ‘ Scopers make it out to be , its development has undeniably altered the course of tournament bass fishing , and at supersonic speed . A percentage of anglers have embraced the technology with gusto as their primary method of competing , and they ’ ve made hay with it . However , live sonar ’ s ability to provide a detailed , virtually instantaneous view of the underwater environment – and the surge of minnow-pinging as the primary technique to win bass tournaments – presents a genuine problem on many fronts for tournament organizations .
Fans just don ’ t want to watch it for hours on end , and a high enough percentage of anglers don ’ t want to compete in FFS-dominated contests that it negatively affects tournament entries .
Major League Fishing CEO Boyd Duckett summed it up pretty succinctly when discussing MLF ’ s new rules for forward-facing sonar , which take effect in 2025 : “ Forward-facing sonar is a powerful tool for catching fish ; however , it ’ s proving to make tournament fishing one-dimensional . Tournament fishing as a business becomes unsuccessful when it ’ s one-dimensional .”
I ’ m in favor of the rules under which the Bass Pro Tour and Tackle Warehouse Invitationals will operate next year re : forward-facing sonar ( see Mitchell Forde ’ s breakdown on page 14 ). All FFS is a non-sustainable business model . No live sonar seems like an overcompensation . Next year ’ s Bass Pro Tour and Invitationals rules , which allow forward-facing sonar but with some governors , seem like the smart compromise .
But what do you think ? Drop me a note at joel . shangle @ majorleaguefishing . com if you see it differently .
joel shangle , editor-in-chief
6 MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2024