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

Your advice is noted. Would you look down on me if I used YouTube to teach me how to basket weave? I currently can’t do it without an aid.
Reading through this thread I don’t see any mention that anyone needs live scope to catch a fish but do see that anglers use it as a tool to benefit their fishing experience.

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

I chalk this up to fishing for money vs. fishing for the dinner plate.

 

I’d love to have 2 - one facing forward and one rearward.

There are other big ticket items I need to add to my boat first, (autopilot for kicker) and I’m just happy/lucky to be able to throw $150 at the tank repeatedly in the fall so I’ll likely never have one.

 

Guide buddy has adamantly told me, "Doc, why so stubborn about LiveScope? It ain't like you don't have the money. But hey... if you insist on intentionally handicapping yourself, that's TOTALLY your choice"

 

Has anyone found a transducer pole that is ultra rigid?

 

Careful what you wish for, Eric. Our encounter with the tribal drift net (in the area closed to netting of course) would have ended badly if the mount and/or pole couldn’t flex.
I’m pretty happy with the summit carbon fiber pole. Much better than their earlier aluminum pole.

 

Still haven’t seen live scope in action but I know some of my salmon fisheries they would help a ton. Not really for trolling so much but for anchor fishing definitely. Just can’t justify another expensive gadget on the boat when we can catch a fish just fine without it.

 

My experience with Livescope so far has been interesting. I mostly fish for bass and Crappie, and over the past couple of weeks since I got Livescope I’ve been hammering rainbows and catfish on jigs and craws. See a fish, cast towards it and get hit, only to find it’s not a bass. The catfish have been in schools of Crappie. They’re fun to catch, just surprising.

 

I’m livescope curious but don’t think I’ll be getting it any time soon. I’m afraid I’d turn into a constant screen watching boat potato. For those that use it, how long/far do salmon follow your presentation? I’m sure this varies wildly, but I’d be interested to hear some anecdotal’s. I know sometimes I’ll troll over fish and then the screen will go blank for quite some time and then I’ll get bit.

 

My mount for livescope. Around $70 brand new and shipped. Look for a dead trolling motor and probably get it for free.

 

A couple more weeks under my belt and I'm really liking my Livescope for salmon fishing. I attribute 2 of the last 3 fish I caught to it, and probably all 3. But specifically 2 of them I watched on the livescope and made decisions that I believe resulted in the hook up.

First one, I was about to reel in to check lines when I saw the fish, so I stopped and not 5 seconds later it took.

The second we watched a fish come in behind a spinner... I've just had no luck with spinners for whatever reason... the fish was just watching it. My other rod on the screen with a stuffer bait was about 5 feet lower. I cranked it up, the fish immediately switched targets and took the stuffer bait.

The down side is definitely seeing fish totally ignore my gear as it travels by them. It doesn't bother me one bit when a fish comes in to investigate and decides not to commit. At least I feel like it's close and maybe I can switch something small up. But when I'm dragging and they look like they are literally avoiding my stuff, that bothers me.

 

A couple more weeks under my belt and I'm really liking my Livescope for salmon fishing. I attribute 2 of the last 3 fish I caught to it, and probably all 3. But specifically 2 of them I watched on the livescope and made decisions that I believe resulted in the hook up.

First one, I was about to reel in to check lines when I saw the fish, so I stopped and not 5 seconds later it took.

The second we watched a fish come in behind a spinner... I've just had no luck with spinners for whatever reason... the fish was just watching it. My other rod on the screen with a stuffer bait was about 5 feet lower. I cranked it up, the fish immediately switched targets and took the stuffer bait.

The down side is definitely seeing fish totally ignore my gear as it travels by them. It doesn't bother me one bit when a fish comes in to investigate and decides not to commit. At least I feel like it's close and maybe I can switch something small up. But when I'm dragging and they look like they are literally avoiding my stuff, that bothers me.

I’m starting to develop a rejection complex after seeing hundreds of fish turn and follow my baits for long minutes at a time and then finally ghost us
It is awesome though when you barely have time to say “fish in the gear” and a rod doubles over.

 

In both of those instances the live scope seemed to have exactly no impact on either eventual outcome. An expensive, entertaining toy? jc

In both of those instances the live scope seemed to have exactly no impact on either eventual outcome. An expensive, entertaining toy? jc

You are correct, in many cases I have had limited success being able to trigger a following fish to bite. In some cases I have been able to trigger them but not consistently enough to accurately say the fish wouldn't have bitten anyway. In my experience the value of the livescope when trolling for salmon has two main components. One is that I KNOW when I am in fish. Many of the marks I have seen for years don't show as fish in the livescope. Secondly, you know exactly where your bait is. Once you positively identify the fish you can see what depth they are in and then accurately get your baits to that depth. Some fish will move up or down 5 feet or more to look at a bait but having your bait at the same level as the fish is definitely more productive. One of the biggest surprises to me is how MUCH your bait changes depth with varying boat speed. Especially with 360s. If you are a guide or someone with 6 people in the boat you can cover all the depths. My wife and I fish by ourselves most of the time so we can only fish two depths at a time. Locating the right depth every time out is time consuming. Looking at the livescope we know rather quickly what depth to be at.

Having said all that, it is more of an expensive toy than a must have tool.

 

2slow nailed it. It’s entertainment for trolling but not a game changer.
However it’s a game changer for anchor fishing imho. Running in perspective mode I was able to adjust boat position to meet fish movement for springers and sockeyes this year. I can definitely attribute many of my sockeye successes this year to the Livescope.

 

Very easy to point out all the reasons not to get it if you don't have it, and the flip side? Very easy to justify having it once you do. I wouldn't go without it now for the reasons listed above. I sold my old boat with my bow mount and then rolled that money into the livescope, instead of another bow mount. I get waaaaay more out of the livescope, no doubt. I would love to have both but I would also love to have an efi kicker and a prop lower unit and a fish fighter rail system. Out of all of those big ticket items, the return on investment on the live is a lot higher IMHO. I use it the entire time I'm fishing. I know if a rod is tangled or weeded up, I know exactly how deep my gear is and am consistantly reaffirmed seeing fish go by and knowing that variable is eliminated (this is huge for confidence). These benefits have been stated and one that was touched on is knowing a 2d mark is an actual salmon is nice but even more important is knowing 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are NO fish in an area you are fishing, or very few fish. I was able to consistently stay in the larger groups every trip down to the estuary this year and it certainly increased my catch. Specifically on incoming tides hover fishing. I knew when it was time to hop scotch to stay on them. I've also had consistency seeing followers reject whatever is on the business end, changed it up an then have that rod get bit. You can experiment and see what's working, or not, and that to me is also putting more fish in the boat and contributing to more multiple hook ups. I can go through a group of fish that several turn and follow, get a bite, tell everyone to stay in for a few seconds while I throttle up and then come off it and get another bite because I know they are there.

 

I was able to use my newly-acquired livescope for the first time yesterday. Pulling skateboards. I don't yet have my Arclab pole setup but I jerry-rigged something out of PVC and an Orca rod holder.

The first thing I learned is what a huge help it is for getting my presentation at the correct depth, to where the fish are. Although I saw several fish that moved up or down more than five feet to take a look at my bait, just knowing exactly where the bait is relative to the bottom and relative to the where fish were hanging out was enormously helpful. It also prompted me to change the size of my lead and gave me a better understanding of the relationship between my presentation depth and the speed I was going and the size of the lead.

Also it showed me clearly whether or not my 360 flasher was turning over. I was able to dial in the speed better than just looking at the heartbeat on the rod. And I could easily tell when stuff was getting weeded up.

Probably the biggest thing though is just knowing whether I was in an area with no fish and therefore wasting my time. I got a much better idea of which places in the fishery were holding fish and which weren't. Far better than arcs on a standard sonar screen, which are really of limited value in relatively shallow depths.

In a nutshell, it gives you a whole new level of understanding of what's actually going on down there.

I'm not good with it yet by any means. In particular I couldn't figure out how to induce bites when a fish is following the bait. Many fish would just come up and take a look and swim away, but some would follow it for awhile.

I'm going to give it a try back-trolling kwiks next. My favorite way to fish for kings.

 

Probably the biggest thing though is just knowing whether I was in an area with no fish and therefore wasting my time. I got a much better idea of which places in the fishery were holding fish and which weren't. Far better than arcs on a standard sonar screen, which are really of limited value in relatively shallow depths.

What I've learned in the last few weeks fishing with my LS is that there are fish that on the move and have no interest in your bait, and then those that will turn, look, follow even charge it. Focus on those fish that show interest. If they are in a defined area that allows it and you can find them, run laps on them and change up speed, lures, bumper length, scents till you get them to commit.

 

@manuka

That’s awesome and the excitement to get that thing in the water👍🏻

Those PVC fittings aren’t cheap anymore. 😂. Nice make do!!!

M

 

Herring Aid, did you have a career in sales? Those are sound reasons, and it is great to hear of their efficacy on anchor.

 

You might just be a red neck with that PVC rigging there... Nicely done btw...

 

Just figured out a way to mount mine with out having to break my neck looking down on it while sitting on the floor. Not going to run with it there but it will fit into any Scotty holder base. It will also snap out and sit flat anywhere.

M

 

Here's my experience after a lot of time with it:

- Almost every biter I watched came straight to attack. Some came up from as far as 20' below the gear straight up to bite.

- Followers rarely commit no matter what. In my experience, dropping the gear or cranking it while they follow immediately sends them off. Never once saw one react positively to trying to do anything.

- There's lots of big schools of salmon moving through. The big schools rarely do anything but pass on by without a look.


- almost every time my gear was at the same level as the fish, the fish moved out of the way. The players always moved up or down, or came into view from the side to attack.

- after they appear to bite on the gear, they seem to swim with it for a few seconds before they turn and you see the rod bury.

- Seems like most of the arches we see on standard sonar are the schools of shad smolts.


Overall: What it boils down to is that it's a useful sonar that tells you if salmon are there.

 

Here's my experience after a lot of time with it:

- Almost every biter I watched came straight to attack. Some came up from as far as 20' below the gear straight up to bite.

- Followers rarely commit no matter what. In my experience, dropping the gear or cranking it while they follow immediately sends them off. Never once saw one react positively to trying to do anything.

- There's lots of big schools of salmon moving through. The big schools rarely do anything but pass on by without a look.


- almost every time my gear was at the same level as the fish, the fish moved out of the way. The players always moved up or down, or came into view from the side to attack.

- after they appear to bite on the gear, they seem to swim with it for a few seconds before they turn and you see the rod bury.

- Seems like most of the arches we see on standard sonar are the schools of shad smolts.


Overall: What it boils down to is that it's a useful sonar that tells you if salmon are there.

Yep I haven’t been using it that long but you are spot on👍no knowledge about the shad

 

All excellent observations. I would like to add the following:

- I have had several fish touching my bait and following it for sometimes over a minute. But they just would not commit. I tried speeding up, slowing down, turning left and right, and stripping a couple feet of line, but could not trigger the bite.

- The ones that bite usually approach the bait pretty fast. I have had a couple of fish that I called "torpedoes" because they would swim fast and straight to the bait. As soon as I saw these fish, I knew the bite was going to happen.

- LiveScope has contributed to a few unsuccessful hookups as I got too excited and lifted the rod from the rod holder as soon as I saw the fish take the bait on the LiveScope. I have learned that being patient and revving up my kicker for a few seconds after the bite leads to a higher chance of hookup. I also learned that revving up my kicker then putting it in neutral results in a higher chance of getting doubles, especially when there is a small pod of 2-5 fish following my bait.

- How important are scent, color, and/or type of bait used? For those fish that followed my bait, I often wondered if I would get these fish to bite if I had a different scent, color or using a different type of bait.

- LiveScope is just another tool in your arsenal. You don't need it to successfully catch fish. Having a LiveScope has enhanced my fishing experience. It also tells me if I am fishing in an area with fish and where my bait are in the water column. I can also tell how big/small the fish are based on the size on the LiveScope screen.

 

Sounds like we're having similar experiences.

Like you say: I don't necessarily think it's putting more fish in the bag for me. But I am learning a lot about their behavior which is just fun and interesting. Other than seeing fish on the screen to corroborate what I see on the traditional sonar, it's not really making me change much about what I do. It might make me make decisions on staying/trying new spots, but very little I do when I see fish on the screen leads to manipulating them into playing.

Is it worth the price of admission for most folks? I'd say definitely not. Is it another thing to play with? Absolutely. I've learned over the years that boats and gadgets are every bit as much a part of my hobby as the actual fishing. So this is just leaning into that side of things for me.

 

I read a comment online not too long ago that goes something like this: The guys without LiveScope can justify not needing it, but the guys with LiveScope swear they cannot fish without it. I agree with this statement as I know fishing is not the same without one for me. Case in point: My lithium "house battery" completely drained after a couple days of fishing, accidentally leaving my electronics on, and not plugging in the charging extension cord. I had to rely on my experience of the fishing area just to keep my gear close to the river bottom. I felt blind not having my LiveScope to keep my gear in the strike zone and letting me know if there are fish in the area. It was a boring and unpleasant outing for me.

My only complaint with LiveScope is I wish they would make the viewing angle wider than 20 degrees so I can see all of my gear.

 

I'll give ya another example I have not done yet (I've used the thing twice and once most the day it was facing backwards) but heard about. You can point over to an adjacent boat to see their depths. 🤔🤔🤔

It doesn't magically put fish in the boat but it does help with certain things. I installed mine on a shuttle purposely in case I decided I don't see value.

 

One add to this post. My gear has been anywhere from 10 to 15 feet above where I thought is was ..for years! But I have been catching fish there for years! The interesting thing is The fish were running where I thought my gear was (it wasn’t there) adjusting the gear hasn’t given me any more fish yet…but I am learning a lot more on currents and speed.

was the cost worth it? Probably not I’m fishing solo. most of the time a guide has 6 people dealing with gear and they can learn a lot . It’s still giving me precious info and fun but I can’t watch that screen and fish at a high level of confidence.But happy to see what hasn’t been seen before and as a past scientist knowledge is good if you read it right.

 

Your first point is the same for me. Gear is way above where I always thought - but it didn't matter. It's better that the biters come to YOU. Trying to get to their level, for me, hasn't worked like I always thought.

 

Teaching point for me: Were the bent hooks from fighting fish or were they from snags? Also, were they bent before then straightened back?

I am a Gamakatsu guy just to keep things simple and because I have had great success with them. I have only had a Gamakatsu Big River Bait 3/0 hook bent on me when I tried to free a snag with 65lb braid main and 50lb Maxima Ultragreen monofilament. I was surprised that my line and/or knot didn't break as I applied easily more than 65lb of pressure.

I also learned that when a hook is bent, I discard it instead of trying to bend it back. My time on the water is too precious to have the bent hook fail on me again.

I notice that you guys are still using a treble with a single hook stinger. I was fishing with a treble and single hook stinger. I then switched to two single Gamakatsu Big River Bait 3/0 hooks. I noticed that I didn't get as many bites with the two singles as with the treble w/ single stinger. But my landing ratio was higher with the two singles compared the the treble w/ single stinger. Contemplating about whether I should go back to a treble w/ single stinger or not.

....and now back to LiveScope

 

Teaching point for me: Were the bent hooks from fighting fish or were they from snags? Also, were they bent before then straightened back?

I am a Gamakatsu guy just to keep things simple and because I have had great success with them. I have only had a Gamakatsu Big River Bait 3/0 hook bent on me when I tried to free a snag with 65lb braid main and 50lb Maxima Ultragreen monofilament. I was surprised that my line and/or knot didn't break as I applied easily more than 65lb of pressure.

I also learned that when a hook is bent, I discard it instead of trying to bend it back. My time on the water is too precious to have the bent hook fail on me again.

I notice that you guys are still using a treble with a single hook stinger. I was fishing with a treble and single hook stinger. I then switched to two single Gamakatsu Big River Bait 3/0 hooks. I noticed that I didn't get as many bites with the two singles as with the treble w/ single stinger. But my landing ratio was higher with the two singles compared the the treble w/ single stinger. Contemplating about whether I should go back to a treble w/ single stinger or not.

....and now back to LiveScope

Singles are A lot easier to get out of the net Especially when the doubles and triples happen.

 

I also had a bent out big river 4/0 at buoy 10, on a coho. Couldn't quite figure it out until I realized Jen had the drag locked down way too tight. Still a first to ever have a big river bend out.

 

For the hook benders...

What are your drag settings like? I use big river bait 3/0 and don't think I've ever bent one. Lowish drag.

Bent a fair number of twitching jigs.

 

Shouldn't really matter should it? Why should I have to weany a fish because of an inferior hook product. If the fish needs drag it's there. Way too many sealions and other boats to mess around. We ascribe to the lay the rod down and crank, lift and scoop. Never had a problem before this year. The big river hooks aren't the problem. The trebles are. jc