Garmin Live Scope, good or bad?

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cdschoonie

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I was reading some news story on this, and thought it was a cool new technology. Let me preface by saying, I’m just trying to start a friendly debate, and this is my personal opinion at first glance, and would like to see how others feel about it. I brought up this subject in a FB group I was in, I got all kinds of comments, mostly derogatory saying on average, “You are just one of those crybabies that can’t afford it, and probably don’t even own a boat!” I do, by the way have a boat, yes I could afford it, LOL. I’m hoping that in this group, there are better people than that, at the very least I know I’ll get away from the Libtards that were numerous in that group.

Anyway me personally, I’m not a fan. I've yet to see this Live Scope in live action, but have watched many YouTube videos on it, plus my Brother took my Dad on a guided Crappie trip to Eufaula where they used it. Their opinions were basically the same as mine, cool to see, but skeptical. To me it looks as challenging as fishing out of Bass Pro’s aquarium, LOL. The conservationist in me prefers the ‘thrill of the chase’, the satisfaction that comes with the sport of finding the fish, baiting them, and putting them in the boat.

I can see a drop in the Crappie, Perch, and Spoonbill populations, if people start fishing constantly and limiting every time. I don’t know about y’all, but I love how much Crappie and Perch flourish, in virtually every body of water in the state. Now I know, affecting the populations will take some time, it will have to come down in price, and of course it’s only affected by boat owners, so we’re talking a few years down the road.

Thankfully, for folks like me that are not fans, they’re already looking at regulations, probably at least daily limits (from what I’ve seen, they are just in the spitballing stage right now). My initial thought is they should at the very least, put lower limits on the fish caught while using it. It’s going to be interesting to see how it shakes out, as well as how they mandate it.

If it was used like this pro does, that would help…
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wi...for-catch-and-release-in-crappie-fishing/amp/

Again, this is just my take on current events, solely to get your take.
 

chuter

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Went on a guided trip to Eufaula in April and we used it. Our guide taught the Garmin class in crappie university, so he knew what he was doing. He was also a tournament fisherman.
We only targeted large crappie (he could easily tell the big from the small) and we got everyone we targeted, used the same jig all day.

It works well with an experienced user.

It has pros and cons. If you have the transducer on your trolling motor you can't really use spot lock. Or you can mount the transducer on a pole that you turn by hand, but then it's really hard to fish and keep the beam on the target.

It's on my list but probably a few years away for me to afford it.
 

cdschoonie

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Went on a guided trip to Eufaula in April and we used it. Our guide taught the Garmin class in crappie university, so he knew what he was doing. He was also a tournament fisherman.
We only targeted large crappie (he could easily tell the big from the small) and we got everyone we targeted, used the same jig all day.

It works well with an experienced user.

It has pros and cons. If you have the transducer on your trolling motor you can't really use spot lock. Or you can mount the transducer on a pole that you turn by hand, but then it's really hard to fish and keep the beam on the target.

It's on my list but probably a few years away for me to afford it.
I can certainly see where it would take some work to master it.
 

dennishoddy

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I can certainly see where it would take some work to master it.

I’ll tell you what I think Wednesday. Getting the full monte installed at the Bass Tank in Sapulpa Tuesday.
I read the article you posted. Agreed with some parts of it and disagreed with the rest.
For the record I caught close to 50 crappie today keeping 24 and three redear perch big enough to fillet. With zero advantage of electronics.
I’ve fished this body of water since being a small child. I know where they are at winter, fall, summer and for the spawn.
The issue with this lake is that it is full of stunted crappie because of overpopulation.
The ODW stocked saugeye into the lake as they prefer small crappie as a main diet.
It helped. Instead of 6” crappie, they have increased to 10” with a few 12”.
The lake is still full of 6” though with nobody fishing for them for the most part or throwing them back.
Crappie are some of the most prolific breeders of any fish species because they aren’t so sensitive to water depth, temperature, etc like other species.
Every body of water has its own set of circumstances that require different management practices.
How electronics can hurt fish populations is yet to be determined.
There aren’t a lot of them installed outside of guide boats that have customers to please or tournament participants where catch and release is practiced.
I guess we will have to see how this plays out down the road using the ODW shocking programs to determine the health of individual lakes.
View attachment 209489
 

cdschoonie

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I’ll tell you what I think Wednesday. Getting the full monte installed at the Bass Tank in Sapulpa Tuesday.
I read the article you posted. Agreed with some parts of it and disagreed with the rest.
For the record I caught close to 50 crappie today keeping 24 and three redear perch big enough to fillet. With zero advantage of electronics.
I’ve fished this body of water since being a small child. I know where they are at winter, fall, summer and for the spawn.
The issue with this lake is that it is full of stunted crappie because of overpopulation.
The ODW stocked saugeye into the lake as they prefer small crappie as a main diet.
It helped. Instead of 6” crappie, they have increased to 10” with a few 12”.
The lake is still full of 6” though with nobody fishing for them for the most part or throwing them back.
Crappie are some of the most prolific breeders of any fish species because they aren’t so sensitive to water depth, temperature, etc like other species.
Every body of water has its own set of circumstances that require different management practices.
How electronics can hurt fish populations is yet to be determined.
There aren’t a lot of them installed outside of guide boats that have customers to please or tournament participants where catch and release is practiced.
I guess we will have to see how this plays out down the road using the ODW shocking programs to determine the health of individual lakes.
View attachment 209489
Definitely a good point. I know on our yearly trip up there, we used to catch some hogs, averaging 1 3/4# or so. In the last 4-5 years, it’s averaged more in the 1 1/4# range. You’d think there’d be enough bass, blues, and flats to do a little damage to the population.
I just wanna eat em, I miss carrying a basket of crappie up to camp, set it down to switch hands, and the basket stood straight up, fully stretched out. My dang health the last 2 years, I haven’t even wet a hook, let alone get to go on the yearly. :censored::censored::censored::censored:
 

dennishoddy

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Definitely a good point. I know on our yearly trip up there, we used to catch some hogs, averaging 1 3/4# or so. In the last 4-5 years, it’s averaged more in the 1 1/4# range. You’d think there’d be enough bass, blues, and flats to do a little damage to the population.
I just wanna eat em, I miss carrying a basket of crappie up to camp, set it down to switch hands, and the basket stood straight up, fully stretched out. My dang health the last 2 years, I haven’t even wet a hook, let alone get to go on the yearly. :censored::censored::censored::censored:

They still catch the 2 pounders there. My son caught a 3.2 pounder a few years back during the Kaw City one stop crappie contest. He didn’t place in the top three money slots.
If I have enough fish at home for a couple meals, I pitch them back in if not injured. Running out is an excuse to go fishing again.
I live for the fight typically using nothing heavier than 6 lb mono.
Last night was using 2lb fluorocarbon.
Sometimes with that light line a hybrid or big bass will latch on and the fun begins. With patients and moving the boat around occasionally, it’s amazing how large of a fish one can land.
 

DFX

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I see quite a few people adding Live Scope, Down Imaging, Side Imaging etc to their arsenal of equiptment.
They all say it's becoming a necessity for tournament fishing and guide services.
 

TwoForFlinching

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The marketing videos on YouTube are interesting, and I can see both sides of the argument. I've never been a fan of early adoption of new tech, just the nature of real world beta testing. It's bound to get better, easier, and more affordable. Seems like a natural step as the world grows more towards instant gratification, and it sure would be nice to go catching instead of fishing. Crappie seems like the real selling point here. I couldn't see whipping this out for a little bassing. I do like side imaging, makes finding the structure easy. I certainly wouldn't let anyone giving me grief over using any of it a second thought, but as a decade long crocs wearer, I just never gave a dam what anybody else thought. I think, over the next few years, they'll make a jump to high definition live scope and put a higher premium on it. Gotta prove it works first I suppose, can't do that if nobody adopts the current stuff.
 

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