Getting to see all the salmon that follow and refuse your gear isn't as big of an advantage as it may seem

Overall, I don't' see it having a huge impact in the salmon fisheries. We have 1-2 fish limits. A few boats running another transducer isn't going to tip the scales significantly.

 

Getting to see all the salmon that follow and refuse your gear isn't as big of an advantage as it may seem

The number one reason I refuse to buy into the hype. As a somewhat bitter divorcee, I'm not quite sure I could stomach that kind rejection all over again.

 

I question where the point is at which technological advances end the sporting nature of fishing. Staring at a screen ain't fishing IMHO. I've been following the drama in tournament fishing and lean to the "Ban it" side. It's also expensive - fishing shouldn't be so expensive IMHO. Give me a pair of waders and a spinning or fly rod next to a river with fish in it and I'm happy.

 

My boat landed around 100 fish this long weekend from Ilwaco, about half we're tuna and bottom fish though. Some buddies with better electronics didn't do nearly as well, some with better electronics did better than me. I've fished with friends with live scope, it's kinda neat but I'm in no rush to get it.

Reading what I see on top of the water, and comparing it to the results of what we drag under the water, plays a far bigger role in most of my fishing results than my electronics. It's a cool toy that can help for sure though.

 

It's getting banned in bass tournaments because they use forward facing sonar. For the life of me, I can't understand why that isn't the standard practice here in the PNW? I have a Garmin Livescope sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. I'll be installing it facing FORWARD because it makes no sense to me why I'd want to watch fish I've already driven by?

Can someone help me understand? I've ask multiple guys who have these about this and every one of them says "Oh man, it's so cool to watch the fish hit your gear".....why? I mean, if I'm dropping $5000 on a livescope unit, I want it to noticeably improve my catch rate. Rear facing sonar doesn't seem to do that.

I have seen the back bouncers use it effectively, but they use it as "forward facing"....since they are back bouncing. They pull up to a hole, scan it, if no fish then they move on. When they find one with fish they drop the gear to em. Seems like this will work with trolling as well, but it'll need to be mounted facing forward, so that's what I'm planning to do.

 

We've become a dopamine hit society.
Watching a fish swim up and almost grab your lure all day gives a little dopamine excitement hit over and over all day.

I trolled around all weekend on the Siletz watching guys watch fish TV.....🙄

 

I thought forward facing sonar and live scope are the same thing. I’m so confused 🤔

 

If you have it facing backwards, you can see the fish come into the screen, and then adjust your flashers perfectly to the height of the fish whether it’s up or down. If it’s facing forward, you can see the fish coming, but you can’t adjust your gear accordingly. It works really good, particularly holding on an incoming tide and is super fun to raise up or drop down and then have a rod fold over. I swing it forward when I first come into an area to look around and make sure we’re not fishing dead water but mostly use it to make sure my gear is at perfect height and working well

 

They are the same thing, Orelk is just arguing that the transducer should be facing the bow instead of the stern when trolling. I can see some cases where facing forward in perspective view might be helpful to steer toward fish (eg Kokanee fishing) but in general I use it pointed back toward the gear (“forward mode” pointed astern) when trolling 360s. Aside from the obvious entertainment value of watching your gear get bit, you can see when your gear gets fouled, know exactly how deep it’s running, and see how the fish are reacting to it. It’s not a game changer but it’s super fun and entertaining for the crew.

 

It's getting banned in bass tournaments because they use forward facing sonar.

Not the large ones. If major event sponsors are Garmin and Humminbird they want the competitors using their latest tech.

I'll be installing it facing FORWARD because it makes no sense to me why I'd want to watch fish I've already driven by?

If you're trolling up river at 2mph and the salmon are swimming up river at 3mph, you will see them first behind the boat. The fish in front have already had a go at your gear and are past you.

I mean, if I'm dropping $5000 on a livescope unit,

I think you over paid.

I thought forward facing sonar and live scope are the same thing. I’m so confused 🤔

They are. LiveScope is the trademarked name of Garmins FFS.

 

Not the large ones. If major event sponsors are Garmin and Humminbird they want the competitors using their latest tech.


If you're trolling up river at 2mph and the salmon are swimming up river at 3mph, you will see them first behind the boat. The fish in front have already had a go at your gear and are past you.


I think you over paid.


They are. LiveScope is the trademarked name of Garmins FFS.

 

It’s to the point where DWLs are a safety issue. Driving While Live-scoping is right there with driving while screen scrolling on your phone. Both actions posed more distracting danger to other trollers packed in to the Cow’s mouth than the boats I saw with the occasional pull from a whiskey bottle or herbal supplement this year.

 

I still see way more issues with autopilot guys. Though one running both may be a menace I'm not ready to encounter.

 

I don't have it. It's not on my list....yet. I like the idea of what people seem to be learning about fish that DON'T bite. Plus, there used to be times when a guy (or gal) would be POSITIVE that if we just put out the right lure they'd bite, when the reality is, they weren't there. "Marking fish" on a fish finder doesn't mean they are the target species they could be looking at Pikeminnow, Carp, Shad or ? There are a BAZILLION "fish" out there.

I'm with you CCW, I'd rather someone had beer or two than drive through the crowd staring at their machine.

Don't mind me, I just got back from a SKUNK on SEPT. 2nd!!!!!

 

When you have it facing backward particularly when holding in an incoming tide you have plenty of time to adjust your gear in real time to put it right in front of the fish. If it was forward you’d see the fish coming but not be able to adjust your gear height exactly as needed to hit the fish dead center..super fun to reel up or drop down and then see a rod go down

 

I’ve used mine very little (only from time restrictions) Hoping to get a on the water Star Fish tutorial. What I can say a lot of fish are going to be in trouble. Once a person learns to read the the screen, it will be a game change.
I also don’t really want to be screen staring. Not my idea of being out on the water, I also like to catch fish. So there is gonna be some give and take with me

A couple years ago I was talking to guy that use to bass fish when I did. He’s pretty old school. He had one on his boat. Told me if you want to cash checks it’s needed. Not everyone that cashes a check has one but the majority is getting larger each year.
Belive me when I Say this guy would rather not mess with it. He feels it’s necessary to complete

another old tournament bass guy I know. I see him once in a while. He’s got one. I had not got mine yet told him I was thinking about. He got a big smile and said you know where you took me salmon fishing. Well I just wait for them to swim by and cast to em. You want some eggs I have bags I don’t need em😉

the thing is it’s a great tool and the mechanics will use it to catch fish and hone their craft.

Genie is out of the bottle, the technology is only gonna get better
Like it or not.

Just my observations and thoughts

M

 

The person with whom I fished Saturday believes it doubles his catch rate. There was this exchange: Fisherman says "I'm going to reel up and put on a fresh bait". Guide says "Wait. Don't move it"! Fish on!!

 

CK,

was he a sales associate for Garmin?

 

I just started using it. Extremely powerful in seeing fish that don’t show up on traditional fish finders. Fishing in 20-30’ of water, we could see fish sliding by the side of the boat. It gave us confidence to keep working an area that other fishermen abandoned. When the bite turned on, we were all alone. And seeing the fish come in, sniff and peel off, or come in and hammer it, is a hoot. Reminded me of top water bass fishing in lily pads…”here he comes”

 

I've only had my livescope for about a month and probably only been on the water less than 10 times with it. So far I'm loving it for knowing exactly what depth my gear is trolling at. Now, instead of dropping my gear and feeling for the bottom I drop the gear and stare at my LS and watch it go down to the depth I want it at. I'll also adjust depth as I see fish.

Another thing I like is validating fish marks. Sometimes there are so many marks on the 2D screen that I've found myself questioning if any of them are actually fish or just grass. With the LS I can better understand which are fish (big or small) or which are nothing-burgers.

Last night I was tired of getting skunked on salmon so I pulled out the bass rods and used the LS for targeting smallmouth. Again, I'm new to it, so I didn't have supreme confidence that what I was seeing on the screen were fish or not, but seeing what I thought were fish convinced me to stay in the area and keep working on my presentation. Sure 'nuff they were smallies and we did well on them. It was nice to feel a fish on the line!

My opinion, I don't think Livescope will make a big impact on salmon fishing. I think I'd still fish my gear in the same place, just get it there differently. Seeing a fish bury its nose in my baits is cool, and I like knowing that at least I got a sniff. Personally I prefer that over dragging all day and having no idea if the marks were fish or if any of them even showed interest.

Is it worth the money? I mean, come on, we're fishermen. This is hobby that is as cheap or expensive as we want it to be. Nobody complains about the guys buying a $300k boat or a bank fisherman plunking. To each their own and whatever you want to invest in your hobby is your business.

 

So the vibe I’m getting from those who have it is it’s a great addition to the arsenal but not a complete game changer?

 

I’m new to Livescope and I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about it. I spent four days messing around with it this past weekend and didn’t see one fish I could positively identify as a bass (species I was targeting). I did see some crappie and caught a few, but it’s far from a matter of just dropping your transducer in the water and getting fish to bite.

I also don’t think people realize just how narrow the beam is. 20% is what you get if your transducer and everything else is all properly aligned. I think the biggest benefit for me once I figure it out will be seeing cover and edges of grass lines.

 

@the_admeral

You wanted pictures so I took a couple today

the pole is a bit flimsy for my liking. I have it set to where it will snap into Scotty rod holder brackets.

the unit is in a Summit shuttle it houses the battery the box and the fish finder.

the battery in the shuttle is a 35 amp
Amped battery

soon I’m going to get the release mount makes to hold down the shuttle to the boat. It is a Buick release the will be mounted to my center console and a Johnny Ray so that it will swivel.

 

@the_admeral

You wanted pictures so I took a couple today

the pole is a bit flimsy for my liking. I have it set to where it will snap into Scotty rod holder brackets.

the unit is in a Summit shuttle it houses the battery the box and the fish finder.

the battery in the shuttle is a 35 amp
Amped battery

soon I’m going to get the release mount makes to hold down the shuttle to the boat. It is a Buick release the will be mounted to my center console and a Johnny Ray so that it will swivel.

View attachment 1073159
View attachment 1073159
View attachment 1073160

Thats exactly what I wanted to know. Thats a sick setup. I compared with starfishs setup and i know exactly what to order. Thanks for taking the time to post pics. I cant wait to get setup.

 

I don’t have it in my boat but did learn something about live scope and how fish react on the lower Columbia this morning while in a buddy’s boat.
We were pulling spinners down on the deck when he saw a fish come in and follow the gear. Once he saw it he gassed the boat and the spinner rose about 5’ in the water column. Fish turned and then and left. He then let off the gas and the spinner dropped back down. As soon as that spinner dropped a 30 pounder whacked it.
Learned something about how salmon react to a trolled lure.

 

I don’t have it in my boat but did learn something about live scope and how fish react on the lower Columbia this morning while in a buddy’s boat.
We were pulling spinners down on the deck when he saw a fish come in and follow the gear. Once he saw it he gassed the boat and the spinner rose about 5’ in the water column. Fish turned and then and left. He then let off the gas and the spinner dropped back down. As soon as that spinner dropped a 30 pounder whacked it.
Learned something about how salmon react to a trolled lure.

was that what he thought would happen , or did he think the fish was gonna grab it on the burst of speed and rising?

 

@2slow @pearl
😲 a 30lbs. That’s a lot of stink.

seriously nice fish guys👍🏻

2slow. Thanks for the replay. The guys that have them and use/learn them, I think are going to learn a lot about the fishes behaviors. Like you trying something to get the bite. Do that enough and patterns start to emerge and it will become
Instinctive as to what can be done to intice the strike from the look-e-lew fish. Or time to change presentation all together. It’s gonna help the skilled get more skilled.

good guides/fishermen that are on the water day after day and decide to use them are just going to get better and better at catching fish.

There is no substitution for time on the water

M

 

There BS. If you can't catch fish without one maybe, you should basket weaving!!!!

 

In my buddies boat it's been a game changer for us, mainly knowing exactly where you flasher and lure are running based on current and depth at any point of the tide. Last weekend the fish were in the dirt, 80 feet on the line counter fished the bottom in 45 feet of water on the outgoing tide, we whacked em. Also we could see how the fish responded to a certain color or scent.

 

Interesting, B.A.S.S. has banned FFS use for half it's 2026 events.

 

I've learned a lot about salmon behavior with LS (ocean and bay use, trolling with DR'S and jigging). It makes me more productive and fishing gets (even) more fun with it. I use it more than any other transducer or device on my boat, excluding motors and rods/terminal. It will make a good fisherman better, but probably won't help a lousy fisherman much,
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It will make a good fisherman better, but probably won't help a lousy fisherman much,
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Dam, I was hoping😑

M

 

@Snopro

Do you know who was pushing for that. Must have been some of the Pros? I wouldn’t think its the sponsors. Might be the fans but I doubt that they could make enough noise to change that.

M