Forward facing sonar - fishing tech

[sandbur]

With all that in mind, there should be no limits at all on sunfish under 5", crappie under maybe 7", bass under maybe 10", and northerns/pickerel under 2 lbs in lakes where they're plentiful and stunted. If the bass population was culled hard enough so the remaining can grow, then a predator class would emerge for those larger stunted panfish.

Those lakes should get stocked with channel cats too. Channel cats will fill in that gap and take out that stunted group. Besides, who doesn't love a good catfish fillet? But there would have to be a way to get the cats big enough before they go in so they don't get eaten by the little bass and pickerel.

I am not real sure what the answer is, but all of these different regulations for lakes gets confusing. I prefer KISS.

 

[matinc]

Im curious to you Minnesota Boys why your dnr has reduced panfish levels to 5 per day on some lakes if livescope is not wiping your populations. Michigan dnr is finally figuring it out as well. Livescope is doing real harm to the fishery whether you want to admit or not.

 

[AtomApple]

Im curious to you Minnesota Boys why your dnr has reduced panfish levels to 5 per day on some lakes if livescope is not wiping your populations. Michigan dnr is finally figuring it out as well. Livescope is doing real harm to the fishery whether you want to admit or not.

The quality Of fishing has been in decline for 30+ years. You talk to any “old timer “ and they have stories about how they used to catch 14”+ crappies ot 9”+ bluegills all the time. Those fish are pretty rare now.
SD made a good point about habitat. I’ve actually noticed lakes that have LESS spawning habitat can Have better quality fish, presumably because there is less competition for food.

 

[Mortenson]

Enter the glory days of fishing thread.

Well it looks like my local private lake of which I'm a lot owner is going to a zero crappie policy for the next 3 years. Say it's fished out.

 

[Mtyhunter]

Don't know about up north, but to fish a lake out of crappie would be pretty damn hard to do here in Oklahoma, livescope or not.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Well it looks like my local private lake of which I'm a lot owner is going to a zero crappie policy for the next 3 years. Say it's fished out.

Shocker

 

[matinc]

Mty are you a livescope user and total denier of the destruction it's causing?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Well it looks like my local private lake of which I'm a lot owner is going to a zero crappie policy for the next 3 years. Say it's fished out.

How big is your lake? There are some smaller 100 acre or less lakes in areas we fish that have lowered their panfish limits in an attempt to increase the overall size. I'm fine with lower limits, but I don't think eliminating all harvest is a good plan.

 

[Mortenson]

How big is your lake? There are some smaller 100 acre or less lakes in areas we fish that have lowered their panfish limits in an attempt to increase the overall size. I'm fine with lower limits, but I don't think eliminating all harvest is a good plan.

It's around 225 acres but it's over 60' deep. I'm ok with it assuming it helps. We can fish for bass and bluegill. The crappie size limit had gone from 9 to 10 a few years ago. The lake lets a lot of guests in and I'm sure that's not helping either.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

It's around 225 acres but it's over 60' deep. I'm ok with it assuming it helps. We can fish for bass and bluegill. The crappie size limit had gone from 9 to 10 a few years ago. The lake lets a lot of guests in and I'm sure that's not helping either.

Is there a lot of ice fishing pressure there on crappies? I know they hit them pretty hard in MN and WI during the winter when they are easier to find over the deeper basins. I'm assuming forward facing sonar could also allow guys to target those suspended crappies a lot easier than they did in the past.

 

[Mtyhunter]

Mty are you a livescope user and total denier of the destruction it's causing?

I am not. My boat has Lowrance HDS units, old school. A long time ago, when I got my first boatful of electronics, I found myself effing with those more than I was fishing. Eventually I settled in using electronics for GPS/mapping, water temps, and bottom density only. I'm a techy guy, but I'd rather just fish than mess with electronics when I'm on the water.
I've been back to coaching baseball, so I'm not on the cutting edge of lake fishing for the last few years. I witnessed livescope while in a boat only 1 time. I was only marginally impressed. I've seen all the headlines of the huge fish taken using livescope. Apparently it works pretty well. To me it's disturbing, yes. Makes sense that bigger bass (that wouldn't otherwise be caught without LS), especially during the spawn, could be targeted using LS, then have the normal mortality rate when caught, and upset the balance of the school.
Can you deplete a lake of crappie using LS? Not sure you can blame that on LS, that's gotta be more of an illegal take situation to me.

 

[Telemark]

The lake lets a lot of guests in and I'm sure that's not helping either.

That's a real bummer. It tends to be the ones with no real connection to the place that don't feel bad about taking advantage.

 

[Telemark]

I am not. My boat has Lowrance HDS units, old school. A long time ago, when I got my first boatful of electronics, I found myself effing with those more than I was fishing. Eventually I settled in using electronics for GPS/mapping, water temps, and bottom density only. I'm a techy guy, but I'd rather just fish than mess with electronics when I'm on the water.
I've been back to coaching baseball, so I'm not on the cutting edge of lake fishing for the last few years. I witnessed livescope while in a boat only 1 time. I was only marginally impressed. I've seen all the headlines of the huge fish taken using livescope. Apparently it works pretty well. To me it's disturbing, yes. Makes sense that bigger bass (that wouldn't otherwise be caught without LS), especially during the spawn, could be targeted using LS, then have the normal mortality rate when caught, and upset the balance of the school.
Can you deplete a lake of crappie using LS? Not sure you can blame that on LS, that's gotta be more of an illegal take situation to me.

I quit using sonar when fishing in less than 30 ft of water. In the sunner, when I switch to fishing lake trout and walleye, I use a Lowrance to spot arches at the depth I'm targeting. Simple, fun, and we catch a lot of fish. I don't think a Livescope or GPS would be fun unless I was on a lake or river I've never been to, which I never am.

Ocean fishing, I can see the value of technology. It's a lot of water to cover, and the fish move around a lot. I've gotten into schools of just small fish, and it would have been nice to know they were small before fighting the wind and dropping my line down 150 feet.

The main lake in the neighborhood is 300 feet, and no motors allowed, so it has been a challenge to target trout and char. I got a little Garmin Striker to test with the canoe this summer. So far I haven't had any luck. Only pike and perch, which aren't native to the lake, and not much size to them.

 

[sandbur]

It's around 225 acres but it's over 60' deep. I'm ok with it assuming it helps. We can fish for bass and bluegill. The crappie size limit had gone from 9 to 10 a few years ago. The lake lets a lot of guests in and I'm sure that's not helping either.

I am convinced that quite a few of the smaller lakes in central and northern Minnesota do not have a good crappie spawn every year. A good hatch might only occur once in 3-4 years. Those fish grow up, get caught, and there can be a gap for a few years.

 

[sandbur]

I don’t use any FFS but have read and heard one speaker say they use it to spot fish and immediately turn it off as the fish seem to sense it. Other articles say fish can’t sense it.

I wonder if they have tested different species and sizes of fish or if they have tested at different water temps.

I also read that other sounds or rebounding signals might be sensed by fish. Especially under ice.

The first time I heard of fish sensing it was from a Muskie guide in an area with lots of fishing pressure.

 

[SD51555]

It's around 225 acres but it's over 60' deep. I'm ok with it assuming it helps. We can fish for bass and bluegill. The crappie size limit had gone from 9 to 10 a few years ago. The lake lets a lot of guests in and I'm sure that's not helping either.

If it's a managed lake, I'd do some electrofishing and find out what you've got going on. Bass are a plague in a lake and can eat the hell out of everything. I think @sandbur could be on to something with poor recruitment. If the cover isn't there to protect the crappie when they hatch, the bass can clean them all up quickly.

When Upper Red was netted into a walleye collapse, the crappie population exploded and was something that will never happen again. Giant collapse in predators produced a legendary boom of crappie. I'd keep every bass in that lake and get a 100 yard load of sawdust and make compost out of all of them.

 

[SD51555]

Some adult catfish could also help eat those bass too.

 

[Bill]

Look up Omni sonar. That can see a Marlin 2 miles away in any direction.

It’s the whole reason I won’t enter an off shore Tournement.

 

[Bill]

But I’ve talked to guys they say it’s not as good in the ocean as it is in a lake.

 

[Telemark]

But I’ve talked to guys they say it’s not as good in the ocean as it is in a lake.

I checked the website, and it's two different units. The Livescope gives detail and is meant for freshwateror shallow salt water. Panoptix covers a lot more range and is meant for deeper salt water applications.