Nebraskaland

74 Nebraskaland • December 2024 MIXED BAG Some call it video game fi shing. That it's cheating. They say fi sh don't have a chance, and it will ruin fi shing. Others say it's just another tool in the tacklebox. Whatever the case, most will agree forward-facing or live-imaging sonar is one of the most debated advancements to enter the fi shing world. Forward-facing sonar gives anglers a live, real-time view of the lake bottom, structure and fi sh under and around their boat or ice hole, as well as their bait or lure. Those who really know how to use it can judge the size and species of the fi sh, put their bait right in front of its nose and catch it. All three major marine electronics companies off er their own version of the technology. Garmin was the fi rst, introducing Panoptix 2015. That was followed by Lowrance's Active Target in 2019 and Humminbird's MegaLive in 2021. The technology isn't cheap, with transducers alone running $1,500 and the screen to display it starting at around $750. But each year, more anglers are jumping on board. Anglers using it to locate big walleyes are dominating the leaderboards of most tournaments on the professional circuits. The same was happening on the pro bass circuits, and late this year, one circuit announced a ban on FFS for 2025, and another limited how much of this technology anglers could have on their boat next year. This is a sport where some boats carry $30,000 in electronics and as many screens as your local sports bar. Younger anglers who have been immersed in technology throughout their lives have been quick to adopt FFS. And many believe it is attracting some kids who had preferred to stay home and play video games rather than go fi shing with mom or dad: Now they get to do both. Yet whether this technology really helps anglers catch more fi sh, and whether that additional harvest aff ects fi sh populations, is still in question. Aaron Blank, the southeast district fi sheries manager with Game and Parks, has been using the Garmin system for four years. As an angler, he said it's a game changer, especially when targeting fi sh that suspend in cover or open water. As a fi sheries biologist, he has concerns. With it, he said he has caught more than 1,000 crappies in a year from one of the Salt Valley Lakes near Lincoln, releasing all but a few for the occasional fi sh fry. "It changes the way you present your bait and how you approach diff erent structure," Blank said. Now, instead of ripping his jig through a tree pile blindly, hoping to not get snagged, he can downsize to a 1/32- or 1/64-ounce jig, walk it over the top of a tree he knows is holding fi sh "and hold it right where the fi sh are." One of the top concerns for Blank and fi sheries managers across the country is how the technology will aff ect bluegill and crappie populations. Considering FFS is still in its infancy, only a handful of studies have looked at its eff ectiveness. Kansas conducted one of the fi rst in December 2021, dividing 32 biologists into teams on the 6,800- acre Cedar Bluff Reservoir to fi sh one side of the lake with FFS on one day and the other side without the next. Anglers caught one more crappie, 2 more fi sh and slightly larger crappie while they were using it than when they weren't, a diff erence deemed statistically insignifi cant. Creel surveys in Texas and Arkansas found crappie anglers using FFS caught twice as many fi sh as those who didn't, but didn't harvest twice as many fi sh. Arkansas' study also found the length of crappies harvested similar in both groups, showing anglers weren't using live sonar to "cherry pick" big crappies. The Texas study also surveyed bass anglers and found those using FFS caught only a few more fi sh, and very few anglers harvest bass. Blank said that while some aspects of these studies might apply in Nebraska, one part doesn't. "Down in Texas or Arkansas, where you can grow a 10-inch crappie in a year or two, that's a lot diff erent than in southeastern Nebraska where it takes 4 to 5 years to grow a 10-inch crappie," he said. "If people are more successful in catching them, and if they harvest more of the larger crappies, it just takes longer for us to catch up." Game and Parks fi sheries staff is preparing to launch its FISHING WITH FORWARD-FACING SONAR By Eric Fowler A Garmin LiveScope shows panfi sh suspended in and above a tree pile in Wildwood Lake.

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