Josh Jones on FFS.

[Steve Craig]

Josh talks about FFS, Tournaments, and Conservation.
Very interesting take on what he does.

[beckman44]

No doubt about it's effectiveness. I watched some of the tournament. It was so boring watching them just run a trolling motor looking at a screen. I would think they would loose alot of TV viewers. I actually used to kind of enjoy it before this took over.

[Hal Standish]

Thanks Steve just sat thru the whole thing very interesting. I could draw a lot of comparisons between Competitive dog training during the early 70's with beginnings of the electronics in canine behavior training in both the Retriever world and Pointing dog and Spaniel dog training for Field trials.
There was definite line drawn in the sand between those that were pro and con. The division was so great the British government passed laws outlawing the use of the Electric collar for dog training. As for those of us in the land of the Free and Home of the Brave our Government stayed out of the discussion...thank goodness.

Thanks again Steve

hal

[John Bales]

Here is my opinion on FFS. I have express this before but the more I use it which this is my third season using it, the more knowledge I get from it. I agree with Mr. Perry that knowledge is the key to fishing success. I was lucky from the start to be associated with Denny Coulardot who taught me very early into this that there are many ways to catch a fish. Denny taught me how to fish a jig, one of the tools Mr. Perry recommended we learn how to use. As I also was learning how to troll, it was very plain to see that at times, trolling was best but when that part was not working, the slower speeds on the cast would get some fish and this may change during a fishing day. For pretty much the next 50 years, anything that came up, a seasonal change in the movement of the bass and a new speed control(lure type), I would spend enough time learning how to use that tool and put the most fish in the boat during that time of year and felt like that knowledge could be used at a later date. Knowledge is the key! The more knowledge that can be learned, the better fisherman we can become. That's always been my thought. Let's go back to the beginning. We all had nothing but the flasher. The guy who spent a lot of time on the water doing everything necessary to gain more fishing knowledge was the guy who had the most success. Move on to when the sonar, down scan, side scan came out and nothing changed. The same dude who spent a lot of time on the water and took the time to learn how to use these tools to make him a better fisherman still had the most success. During that time, maps and the gps was available and way points made it easier to run straight to a spot and then you could go to work on it, using standard guidelines. All of these new tools should have made all of us better fishermen and was supposed to make the whole process faster and easier. It did for me. Every single one of these tools when they came to market brought some to say that none of it was fair to the fish and our lakes eventually won't have any fish left. You may not remember this but I do. All of the new tools gave us a chance to gain more knowledge so we should have improved with time on the water. More and bigger fish and it did for me. Made everything easier along with having the guidelines. Now we have FFS. What is different now. The view is different. We no longer are limited to a 5 or ten foot circle directly under the boat and have to interpret and try and put together a picture of what we think is there. We use it to interpret breaklines, breaks, the size and shape of the structures we are fishing but we still have to make a interpretation of what is seen within a 5 ft circle under the boat as we are moving along in many directions. Mr. Perry said we should draw our structures after we fish them(record our findings), mark down the breaklines, any breaks that are found, the shoreline sightings for passes and anchoring positions ect....... Side scan gave us the ability to see out farther and it is a great tool also but after making a pass, we still have to interpret what is seen. Side scan is a great tool for seeing harder objects like rocks, breaks but not the best for seeing fish which Buck said is not important so many never paid attention to any of that. To each their own thoughts on that. Humminbird side scan is better than all the other units for showing fish only if a person used it enough to find the best setting for seeing them. Nuf of that.
So now comes FFS. Its expensive for sure. What is different about it. The view!!!! For the first time we can see a live view for a distance that shows in real time, the breaks, breaklines, the fish, hard and soft bottoms, weedlines, turns in those weedlines, breaks in those weedlines, and what the fish are relating to, and if the fish are there or not, and in a matter of seconds you can view 360 degrees around the boat. What does this do for me. I simply cannot discuss what knowledge has been gained the past couple of years with someone who has not used it. It would be like trying to have a conversation with a non spoonplugger who wouldn't understand what you were talking about anyways so I won't say much on that knowledge I have gotten these last two years. I know Brian is going to read this and I would ask him how much is livescope playing a part of his success with the giant crappies and the bass he is catching? I am sure he doesn't talk about it for the same reasons I have. Buck said you wouldn't understand about how water color plays such a big part of success and you wouldn't believe it till you experience it. Same thing with FFS.
Bill, Watching four guys on a tv set using FFS is a little boring when no one is catching them. What I am seeing is not that picture at all. I am watching where each of these fishermen are located and what tools they are using to get a bite. Its a lot more location rather then the lures for me. Main creek channel bends, intersections of creek channels and side feeder creeks way out in the middle of the lake. Secondary side feeder cuts where they intersect the side feeder cut. Being able to follow these cuts(they call them drains), very quickly with a view that shows the cut, being able to stay right on it till you come to a turn, a brush pile, an intersection till they see the fish. We now have a way to not have to visualize everything in our minds and try to put the puzzle together because for the first time the picture is all on the screen and we don't have to guess on anything. This eliminates hours and hours of running the lures to find out the same view we can now have in a very short period of time. Great catches are being made on structures Mr. Perry has been teaching for years. They figure out what stage the fish are in quickly and may be able to repeat those findings in other sections of the lake. They talk about water color more these days than you have ever heard in the past. They know where the fish start out at in the early season, how they migrate to the shallows to spawn. They know the paths they take to and from and those places are easier to identify and fish with FFS. These guys are gaining more knowledge all the time and this is what I take out of it. If all you see is the fishermans butt from the view they give us and the waiting till they see what they want to see before they make a cast, you are missing some of what you should be looking for. They are not doing this on little ponds like I fish. They are fishing huge reservoirs with all the 17 structures, not the 3 you and I fish. And they have only 3 days to figure things out. Some of these guys have never been to these giant lakes and win . Those who bitch about FFS are those bank beaters who like to flip and thats all they ever did. Just like those same spoonpluggers who wipe the cob webs off the boat once the temperatures get into the 90's because they have never spent the time to find out how to catch a fish any other time of the year. The same guys who have never gotten into a school of bass!!!!!!!!!!! That part is not because they aren't out there but because they just don't follow the guidelines fully. Many are very happy catching a bunch of pike or a few musky and if that makes them happy, then who the hell am I trying to tell them what they are missing. Buck said its all about getting into the school. He said it, not me. It's about knowledge and fish don't stop biting or eating from ice out till the average joe spoonplugger wipes the cob webs off. Deb says I shouldn't care how the other guys fish or what they chose to enjoy the most. Mr. Perry said we should fish in all of the seasons. My group of guys around here have always done that. More knowledge should make a person a better fisherman. Every new tool that's come along should have made all of what we do a little easier and find what we are looking for a bit faster. I think it did. 12 times out so far this year and 4 times we have gotten into a school of bass. One of those days it lasted for a full hour from one spot lock position. Most every cast was a strike and it was in 37 degrees water temps, and a jig was the right depth and speed. One of the tools Buck talks about. Just went fishing , used my past knowledge and the guidelines that are in the book. Livescope never played a part that day. Knowledge is still the key. The old guy got it all right. The things he did not tell us are the things I am learning now. I understand why he didn't tell us everything. He knew that the bass in certain parts of the season may be suspended out in the channel some where, part way into a feeder creek and may be suspended in the middle of that creek. We had no guidelines of structure breaks and breaklines in a lot of open water so he suggested we stick with what we can interpret and wait for the fish to come to us. They may do that sometime during a fishing day. They may not. He said that a thermocline exists and the fish may relate to it but don't go out there because you have no guidelines. Now we not only have tools to see it and at the same time we can see how the fish are related and may be able to control our depth and catch those fish. But by no means go out there and do it because he said that in the book. By God, I'm not going to do it!!!!!!!!!! You might just learn something you can call knowledge and use that knowledge somewhere down the road. There are a lot of big fish including pike and musky that are seemingly out in the middle of no where but let me tell you something. They know where they are and they are related to something. We still may not know what it is but they are not lost. Some are out there because they want to be. There is so much to learn and there are so many variables involved that there is no chance to get it right every day on the water but more knowledge is always better in my eyes.
Buck said that never expect any two days in a row to be alike. Man I see that statement every time i'm out there. So our interpretation is tested every day we are on the water. There is learning to be had every day. For me, it is the learning. Buck didn't tell us all of this because he wanted us to stick with the guidelines he wrote. He knew that if he gave us too much to think about, confusion would get the best of most of us and we would quit. He always said that the best way to measure success is in the catching of the fish. Over the last 50 years of being on the water, I find that Buck did get it all right. He also said that there is so much more to learn!!!! None of what I have just talked about has been directed towards any one person. These are just my thoughts. None of what I am now learning would have been possible without Mr. Perrys guidelines always kept in mind. Not all of what I am now learning is completely understood but most is because of Mr. Perry's teachings. He still gets the credit for every fish I catch. John More: How many times have you made a trolling pass down one side of a bar or finger, run straight off the end like you are supposed to, go to make a turn and hit the biggest fish of the day out in the middle of no where? Maybe the fish was suspended over a deeper breakline or a thermocline. It was not on structure for sure. Last summer I was on a good pike lake fishing some of the flatter and deeper features(summer stuff). I got to the tip of the point and I saw pike at the base of the weedline at 21 feet, a few were half way up the weedline close to the weeds but off the bottom and several more were sitting 40 feet away from the weedline sitting right on top of the thermocline about 20 ft over 30+ feet of water. I asked myself a question. How many fish will a spoonplugger miss if he would only make one half assed pass right at the base of the weedline, just off the bottom and continue moving down the lake? Could see all of this in 5 seconds 360 degrees around the boat. Is it cheating? Is it being a traitor to spoonplugging? Or is it just another tool to gain more fishing knowledge?

[beckman44]

John, You made a lot of good points. I probably should have watched a bit more, and paid more attention to the locations that they were fishing. I also really believe in fishing year round. All of the seasons teach us a bunch. Even icefishing. Now that the ice is off, the boat comes out. Thanks to you I understand better how to go after the Bass during this period. Like you said we have to keep learning by getting out and experiencing it all. Bill.

[Steve Craig]

You are welcome Hal.

Thank you John......I echo every word you just wrote! FFS has made me a better fisherman than I could have ever known possible.
I have been invited by Josh to fish with him this coming April. Again on O.H. Ivie. This time free of charge! He is teaching me a whole lot more than most get to know. We have become very good friends since my trip there last year. He helped me on a couple lakes up north last fall. The kid, (at my age they are all kids these days) is a genius! Josh doesnt use this thing like you and I see the so-called Pros on TV. He is a BIG bass hunter, very similar to Bill Murphy IMO. He just does it a bit differently is all.
Never would I have thought you would catch me throwing an Alabama Rig, but i now see there is a time and place for it, and believe me he doesnt use it like anyone else does!
Structures look TOTALLY different to me now with FFS. You can SEE it all in real time and exactly like it really looks.
I have been told that i am no longer a Spoonplugger by some who dont know, they dont know, because I left the first Love.
I havent left anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I personbally believe I am a BETTER Spoonplugger now than at any time in my life. Why? FFS!
My rant is over.

I appreciate all your comments. I thought the video was quite Eye opening.

[Steve Craig]

[Hal Standish]

ROLOL Thanks Steve Josh has a good sense of humor as well
Thank fully I find watching golf fishing and or bird hunting shows with below standard dog work and absolute bore.

Hal

[John Bales]

I don't think there are any fishing secrets for a guy who fishes all the time. I am pretty sure many of us have used every depth and speed control with every tool that is out there and that would include trolling. The real beauty of what I love to do is the actual catching of the fish at the end of the day. Without the catch, the satisfaction is less. Seeing and knowing what fish do the whole fishing season plus using depth and speed to catch them is pretty high up on the list of what is enjoyable. The knowledge gained can be permanent. Weather and water conditions can change quickly when you think you have it pretty down pat. Then you get your butt kicked and that gives you something to think about that evening of what you may have done wrong or if anything you would have done might have worked. Buck said that conditions can woop the best fishermen. It happens but it's never something I want to accept. We can use days like this to try and get better. And maybe there are really some conditions where no matter what you do, catching a fish is not going to happen.
I'm going to make a statement that will make some people not real understanding. Mr. Perry said there is no short cut to fishing success. Remember this: Most of what has been written by Mr. Perry, that knowledge had been learned without the use of a depth finder of any kind. The flasher, sonar, down scan, side scan and now FFS was supposed to make our fishing easier and these tools should have shortened the amount of time to get into the fish. In a way, these tools are a short cut but not the total answer. For years, many of us , all we did was troll spoonplugs. I used to yell at some of the guys for trolling crankbaits. And they wondered why they had very little success. I would tell them to stick with the spoonplugs till they get some success and if they want to experiment with different lures, then I would no longer yell at them. The name of the game is to put the fish in the boat. If catches are not coming, then figure out why. Those many years of just trolling and never stopping till we found the school were the most important times of my life. The important things like structure, breaks, and breaklines, weather and water, water colors, shoreline sightings for passes and anchoring positions, throwing markers ect........ This effort and learning about the important things that you take with you the rest of your life are the things that guide me to this day. Without good knowledge of all that has been mentioned, the success and knowledge that has come with using all these things as an aid could never put the puzzle together. Nothing is ever in stone in fishing because of all the variables in weather and water but all of Bucks simple guidelines work pretty well. There is one part of it that may take years to figure out and maybe will never live long enough to know why but FFS has shown everyone who uses it that there are fish that are out in the middle of no where, either on the bottom or on the surface or somewhere in between that are sometimes catchable and sometimes not. FFS has shown me a lot of things during a fishing season and some of what is seen is completely understood because it has been written in the study material, but............. in most all of the lakes I fish, there are some fish out in the middle of no where that there is no explanation of why in the hell they are out there. Some you cast to and they run right up and eat your offering, some you can stay out there all day and never get one to bite or they simply run away from what ever you offer them in the way of depth speed size color or action. I'm not sure how many hours a day a person would have to stay out there 100% of the time to get all the answers but about 2 hours of not getting a bite is about all the time I can spend on doing this before I have to go catch a fish I know there is a better chance to catch him.
Here is the greatness of FFS. It is the first time we have had this view that is live, that shows the fish, the part of the structure you are looking at, shows the breaks and breaklines and the bottom line is if you already have good knowledge, you have a good idea of where to look already. If there ever was a short cut to finding out quickly what is going on without having to make any trolling passes at all, this tool will do that. This might keep you from yelling at me...... Without good spoonplugging knowledge and I'm speaking of the whole season from ice out till ice up, the use of FFS would not be as effective as a tool. For me, it has been the best tool for getting knowledge that I did not have before now. Those things that Buck knew that he didn't think we needed to know. He realized that with human nature, if he got a small fraction of fishermen to just follow the guidelines, his efforts were worth it. Some have asked what he might have thought about FFS. I guarantee he would tell us that we don't need it and if you just follow the guidelines, you would run into the fish. I think that's pretty much true. Too much of the wrong thinking or even the right thinking can confuse some fishermen. Buck knew if his teaching were just the basics, everyone could find success. What he didn't realize is he was a genus and most of the rest of us are not in his level of thinking, there for it took all of us that put in the effort a lot of years to get to where we found consistent success. The self motivation or desire to have success had to be there. Everyone is different in that part. But........ success can be had for anyone who is willing to put in the time and effort and those results can be very satisfying. What I am doing now is a lot of the basics but observing in every body of water I fish for those fish that may be doing something different, not the norm. They are there and now I have a new and different view to continue to learn the norm but also to maybe run into that abby normal(Young Frankenstein), fish that is bigger than all the others. Buck always gave this answer to where the biggest fish will be. He said that the biggest bass might be with the same school with the 2 1/2 to 6 pounders but if you want that big one, you might have to go a little deeper. Lots of the FFS guys are finding that to be true but what we didn't realize was that they could be a lot lot deeper but could be on the bottom or very near the surface or somewhere in between. You would never be able to see that like you can see it on FFS and sometimes those fish will bite sometime during a fishing day. The tournament results have shown all of us that this happens and it may happen in all of our waters. The lack of having real guidelines makes many shy away from looking into this and I get it. There doesn't seem to be any. Is it food, is it somewhat to protect the species, remember the old saying that big bass are loners, some seem to be........... Frank Hamill said that there are always some fish not doing what the other are doing and they are normally deeper, bigger and by themselves and those fish are what he fished for. FFS for me has been very enjoyable for many reasons. Seeing this new view, just looking at the structures I know well and realizing that some of the best ones get very little use and the biggest schools of bass in the summer are on some of the flattest features in the lake a long way from any deep water. Seeing some fish out over deep water above the thermocline was an eye opener. Not to realize that it happens because we always knew they related to it but to watch a bass follow a drop shot right through it and eat my offering off the bottom. I wasn't sure they could go down there but they can and they might. Why a group of big bass would be using a spot and suddenly one day they are gone, to be found about 100 yds away suspended above the thermocline over the deepest water in the area. I catch 13 big ones up to 4 3/4 lbs and cant wait to get out there in the morning to repeat that and they are gone and right back on the spot that they have live on for two months. The why of that cannot be answered. Was it the weather or water, food, don't know for sure but it happened and I saw it with a tool that would show it which I never had before but I do now. These are the things I enjoy. Some situations are in the book and are the norm and some are very off the wall. Its the learning that keeps me going. I also think that since most all of our water color lakes are gone, some populations are gone due to weed spraying, that trolling spoonplugs for the bass is way less effective. In some waters now, trolling spoonplugs is just not the way to go to catch the bass. Sorry about that statement too. You do know that Terry and Buck would not even launch the boat if the lake did not have the right color. If both were alive today and traveling, they would drive around my neck of the woods. Windy today, got a funeral at noon so just had some time to BS. John

[JohnScheels]

Mr. Bales:
Certainly not BS! I appreciate your comments very much, as I am confident the others on this Forum do also.
Thanks, John

[Steve Craig]

Again ......right on John!!!
I posted that video as i thought it was very funny!

It amazes me how I can look at places where a bass is " not supposed to be", yet there they are. Never would have given this spot a second look. Why are 3 or 4 , 10 pounders hanging out in the middle of a BIG flat, with no "structure situation", hundreds of yards from deep water, in 10 to 12 feet of water, where they aint supposed to be?????
I dont know the answer. But with FFS, you see this happening all the time.

Or how about watching a 10 pounder+ come from 55 feet down and rise and smack a BIG 9 inch Glide Bait that is 5 feet under the surface? This happens far more than you know.

I am seeing things that I have never seen before. But........thanks to Mr. Perry, and Spoonplugging Knowledge, I have opened my mind, got out of my box, and started seeing things from a different perspective.

Yes FFS is expensive. It might get banned in the future. Wisconsin is trying to do that right now. I am blessed to be able to afford things I couldnt before in my life and I am glad I can go and do it now, even at 72 years old. I am a young 72 with excellent health according to my doctor. I intend to live life to the fullest until my Creator says i need to come Home.

FFS has become a new Tool and an Aid , as Buck would call them, for me to simply learn more. If you get the chance, go with someone that has it and experience it for yourself. You might just learn something you never knew before.

[John Bales]

I took Paul Prorok out last year for a day and a half. He has fished with a ton of the pro's and made a living writing about them, co-wrote the book "In pursuit of giant bass" by Bill Murphy. Fished with Terry O'malley when he was young and just seen it all. He told me he wanted me to show him my lake, including every structure, where the fish are caught the day the ice comes off, pre- spawn, spawn, post spawn into summer and then right before ice out and then wanted to know what I use to catch them through out the whole season. His last statement was he wanted to learn about FFS. After that day and a half, he looked at me and said he has fished with lots of people and seen a lot of things but what I shared with him plus showing him how I use the FFS, he said I might be the best fisherman he has ever fished with. I just laughed. He has not stopped thinking about what he cannot see and has never seen. He recently purchased two new 9 inch Garmin units and plans on adding a FFS transducer to them not too far down the road. He said he just cannot fish the old standard way any longer without knowing if the fish are there or not. There are a lot of fisherman out there who can catch a fish. I'm just happy to be one of them. John PS: I showed Paul all of the best structures in the lake first without FFS. Then I showed him several structures where a spoonplugger would mark on a map and fish first. Maybe where they would spend the whole day while not looking at anything else. Then I showed him where the adult schools of bass took up their summer spots. After showing him the three best spots and the fish he said a spoonplugger would never look in these areas. I said eventually they might.

[Team9nine]

What does this do for me. I simply cannot discuss what knowledge has been gained the past couple of years with someone who has not used it. It would be like trying to have a conversation with a non spoonplugger who wouldn't understand what you were talking about anyways so I won't say much on that knowledge I have gotten these last two years. I know Brian is going to read this and I would ask him how much is livescope playing a part of his success with the giant crappies and the bass he is catching? I am sure he doesn't talk about it for the same reasons I have.

Lol - All the big crappie and most all of the bass so far this year. The epiphany came on Nov. 16 last year. Buck said he'd rather work with someone without any knowledge than someone with years of experience. You have to mentally break that attachment with everything you know to get over the "hump" with FFS. That was incredibly difficult for me to do - I carry a lot of "baggage/experience" - lol. Once you do that and see the light, then everything comes back into play, but you have a whole new outlook on the big picture. Everything you previously knew becomes more valuable. It took me nearly 3 years of using FFS to get there, but it finally happened. I've moved on to the next level (mentally) - lol. FFS is the greatest tool to drive home all of Buck's teachings, IMO: depth and speed control; don't fish where they ain't; the orderly elimination of unproductive water; mapping and interpretation; how the fish react to light conditions/cold fronts; etc. You'll see and understand all these things at a different level. It helps the caster more than the troller, IMO, but you should already be doing both, anyway. It will eventually make its way to trolling (a few have started, but it's still being kept largely quiet), and then you will become even better at that aspect, too.

There are certain things I still really don't like about FFS, things that kept me from jumping on the technology a year or so before I could have, but those are related to tourneys, ethics, conservation, etc. I finally decided it's not going anywhere, but I eventually will - I'm not getting any younger, and you never know when you're time is going to be up. Better take advantage of what you can learn now while you're still above ground and can. It was the right call.

[John Bales]

Brian, Thank you for chiming in. I feel like I have at least one person who I can talk specifics with who will understand how I feel about this tool plus the new knowledge it has provided. The best statement you could have made was that everything you previously knew becomes more valuable. So we both agree that having good spoonplugging knowledge gotten by years of trolling and while doing so were able to learn depth and speed, weather and water, water color, bla bla bla( the important stuff), and already having the basics down made what is seen alarmingly understandable. The hardest thing for me was to do the mechanics and the looking at the same time . I still suck at making the exact cast to get my lure to the fish which is a part of it but getting better. Not sure what part of this way of fishing gives the most satisfaction or knowledge. Its the whole ball of wax. Seasonal movements, how long it takes the bass to make it to their summer spots after the spawn, where they decide to be most of the summer, and when the fall changes take place, where they move to then. This is in my lake. I spent a good part of last season at home so I could keep an eye on seasonal movements. Someone asked me if I could take what was learned on my lake to all the other natural lakes. It appears that you cannot expect anything to be the same. They all seem to be different in what the fish do, what structures produce in the different seasons ect. No two days ever seem to be exactly the same. To me its been a real eye opener. You could say that Buck got it all right. Then add that there are some fish that do not do what we thought and FFS shows us a different group of fish to target. Seeing all of this also makes it more understandable why Buck gave us just enough to find success. The basics are all we needed along with some effort on our part to see success. He also very early in his writings said that there is a lot more to learn. The back page of the old green book had a lake that had no water in it. Buck said that this is how we need to visualize a lake. We now have a tool that we can look around and see these things and also put fish in the picture and see how he did get what we need to know right. Thanks Brian. John

[Steve Craig]

""It will eventually make its way to trolling (a few have started, but it's still being kept largely quiet), and then you will become even better at that aspect, too.""

Brian,
I guess I am one of those that has started. And you are correct, I havent talk to anyone about it until now.

This is one of the tools I have been using now for a while. It is the reason I put a second Active Target on my boat. I have my first one on the Trolling motor and i use it for most all my casting. The second one I tried to install with a Pole Mount, from Brew City, at the Stern, but just didnt like using the Pole and turning it by hand while Trolling. So I got hooked up with a Company in Kentucky that makes a motorized pole with remote control, called Cornfield Crappie. This unit is great, and I adapted it to my Brew City Mount, and now have a fantastic unit for trolling. Both the Brew City Mount and the Cornfield Crappie Pole are tough, well built and take a beating that I have been putting it through.

It has been a real learning experience using this while trolling. Just like using the Active Target for casting, and being frustrated because the fish wont hit your lure, the same thing happens while trolling. It has been an eye opening experience to know just how many fish will follow your Spoonplug and NOT hit the lure! My findings so far say that fully 1/2 of the fish will refuse to strike the lure. Many fish will follow a long way before stopping. Here we go again with me saying something that goes against Bucks teaching. Maybe it does and maybe it doesnt! I just know and can see in live time that many bass and northerns will follow your lure for quite a ways. Other times they come up to it and then smack it hard. Wrong speed?? Probably? Maybe? Yet, I have sped up, slowed down, ripped the lure, dropped it back, and still no reaction. You thought watching a bass come up to your lure and look at it while casting is a rush, wait until you watch a nice Northern or a BIG bass do the same while trolling!!! Or what is better still, ( or worse), is watch a group follow and not take the lure.

Now for some good news that I have found out using this while trolling. The best thing i have found while doing this is that with that Live, Real Time, on screen view, I can see every breakline and Stay exactly perfect on it while watching it all on screen. I have found that using the Scout Mode, ( Perspective Mode for Garmin), allows for perfect control. Those breakline show up great and you can keep a lure right where you need it the entire time. This IMO saves alot of unnecessary extra trolling passes.

Next is that i dont have to put the Trolling motor down while I look at a potential structure. I simply give it a quick check while using the big motor, and if I see something or a group of fish, I then drop the TM and Spot Lock, and go to Forward Facing mode.

Im still learning and there is more to see and come later. Figured I might as well post this and get it over with.