Andy Dear | Monday, 2 September 2024
Years ago I used to enjoy watching extreme sports....surfing, BMX, skateboarding, you name it I watched it. I can vividly recall an interview done with BMX rider Chad Kagy, when he was on one of Tony Hawk's mega extreme sports tours. There was a group of athletes in the back of the tour bus playing action sports oriented video games, while Chad sat up in the front of the bus by himself. When asked why it was that he wasn't in the back playing with the rest of the group he replied " BECUASE I RIDE THE BILE FOR REAL"
Over the past several years, forward-facing sonar has become the go-to technology for most serious freshwater anglers using conventional tackle. And, anyone who has spent any time on fishing bulletin boards and Facebook pages will tell you that it is an EXTREMELY hot topic. Never mind the fact that it calls into question the concept of "fair chase", I would argue that it pushes the limits of the very nature of fishing. I have recently heard that at least one state is considering banning FFS, as are many tournament organizations.
However, the genie is out of the bottle, and it is unlikely that we will ever see a complete and total ban on this technology. Aside from the "fair chase" implications of FFS, I would argue that for many of us, it takes the "magic" out of fishing itself. Part of the reason many of us go fishing is to test our skills and match our wits with an adversary that lives in a COMPLETELY different environment than that of our own. Unlike hunting of any type, fishing relies on one's knowledge of an almost completely unknowable world beneath the surface.
I can remember when early "flashers" were first introduced, then of course that evolved into LCD technology. But, back in my day, we used these tools to understand better the topography of the world below the surface, and not to turn fishing into a live-action video game.
I recently saw a quote on a bass fishing forum where when asked "What has FFS taught you", an individual replied; "A ton of fish think my lures are fake, as I can see them turn away after looking at them for a bit, and blind casting is a lot more fun than staring at the the screen all day. Speaking personally.....I don't need to spend thousands of dollars on an underwater video game system to have figured that out.
So, I guess when it comes to forward-facing sonar technology, I'll be sitting up in the front of the bus with Chad Kagy. While everybody else is in the back playing expensive video games, me and Chad will be riding the bike for real.
Hope you all are having a great week
Andy