BASS new electronic restrictions

[gimruis]

58 minutes ago, Functional said:

Its not very often spot lock keeps me in an orientation thats best for fishing "shallow" structure I'm targeting like docks or blow downs, etc. 

 

That's where I use mine the most.  I target a lot of shoreline habitat along shallow weeds and docks.

 

Sometimes I'll use it in 8 or 9 feet of water and then cast out deeper to where the deep weedline is too though.  That's not as effecient as spot lock would be though.  Modern spot lock came out in 2016 and I bought my boat in 2015.  Eventually I'll upgrade to a bow mount that has it, but since there's nothing wrong with my current version, I see no reason to get rid of a perfectly good operating bow mount.

 

I like the Motorguide Pro Tour bow mount.  Its the only true cable steer version available with spot lock.

55 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I feel weird when I go to the Midwest and I can see for miles 

 

Head to the plains of the Dakotas and you can see halfway across the state.  lol

[Susky River Rat]

@gimruis I would never have a boat without spot lock

[gimruis]

Just now, Susky River Rat said:

@gimruis I would never have a boat without spot lock

 

So what did you have on your boat before it came out in 2016?

 

We always had a fishing boat when I was growing up and none of them had it because it didn't exist.

[F14A-B]

20 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

He's made a cult out of being grumpy and never pleased about anything...no matter which way it goes.

Between griping about FFS and begging people to watch… then there is his constant plea on Megabass EVERYTHING. Buy buy buy…

He put up a philosophical video about being young and blah blah blah and said I even posed nude in a magazine!!

 

Trying to figure out that one.. 

dude has never had a real job at least GMan was a roofer..

[Susky River Rat]

@gimruis I didn’t have a boat in 2016 lol my last boat when I originally got it didn’t have it either. I eventually got a TM with it. Never again will I be without it.

[Tennessee Boy]

This article goes into detail on the reasons why the committee made the decisions they made.  It’s a good read.  It shoots down a lot of this misinformation thats been floating around.   They address the common concerns and what the data they collected actually shows.   
 

Concerning the number of fish caught with FFS.

Next, we surveyed the Top 10 finishers of every Elite Series event. We asked these anglers the percentage of time they utilized their live units and how many of the fish they weighed in were caught while using live tech. This survey, alongside watching these anglers compete on Bassmaster LIVE, gave us a solid understanding of how live sonar was impacting the leaderboard. What’s interesting, if you listened to the chatter on social media and a couple of knuckleheads out there who have been using this debate as clickbait for personal benefit, you’d think every fish coming across the Elite Series stage was caught using live sonar. This is not even close to true. For three events, Harris Chain, St. Johns River and Wheeler Lake, less than 15% of the fish caught by the Top 10 anglers were landed using live sonar (that’s less than one fish per day). Murray finished at 42%. Champlain ended about 50-50.

 

Concerning fans not wanting to watch anglers watching screens.

At the start of the 2024 season, many Elite Series pros were saying the use of live sonar was making the coverage of our sport unwatchable. So, we kept a keen eye on the numbers this season. If the fans hated it, our recommendation would be simple. However, that was not the case. In fact, the opposite was true, which shocked me. The top two viewership events of the year, by a long shot, were Toledo Bend and Lake Fork, which were dominated by live sonar techniques. The production of the coverage, including showing the screens during live sonar catches, actually enhanced the viewership experience.

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/2025-electronics-rules/news/digging-deep-into-live-sonar-changes-for-2025/

 

[Happybeerbuzz]

Regardless of how you feel about FFS and the future tech that it inspires that has yet to be developed, there is no denying that Randy Blauket is a consequential voice against FFS and contributes to keeping the drama alive.  Pro anglers like Hank Parker have mentioned him directly in their public criticism of FFS.  Advocates of FFS bring up his name as well all be it disparagingly.  His name is brought up consistently in FFS threads on this board.  It is too the point that his name is synonymous with the anti FFS movement.  

[Susky River Rat]

@Tennessee Boythank you. That was a good read. 

[Team9nine]

14 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

This article goes into detail on the reasons why the committee made the decisions they made.  It’s a good read.  It shoots down a lot of this misinformation that been floating around.   They address the common concerns and what the data they collected actually shows.   
 

Concerning the number of fish caught with FFS.

Next, we surveyed the Top 10 finishers of every Elite Series event. We asked these anglers the percentage of time they utilized their live units and how many of the fish they weighed in were caught while using live tech. This survey, alongside watching these anglers compete on Bassmaster LIVE, gave us a solid understanding of how live sonar was impacting the leaderboard. What’s interesting, if you listened to the chatter on social media and a couple of knuckleheads out there who have been using this debate as clickbait for personal benefit, you’d think every fish coming across the Elite Series stage was caught using live sonar. This is not even close to true. For three events, Harris Chain, St. Johns River and Wheeler Lake, less than 15% of the fish caught by the Top 10 anglers were landed using live sonar (that’s less than one fish per day). Murray finished at 42%. Champlain ended about 50-50.

 

Concerning fans not wanting to watch anglers watching screens.

At the start of the 2024 season, many Elite Series pros were saying the use of live sonar was making the coverage of our sport unwatchable. So, we kept a keen eye on the numbers this season. If the fans hated it, our recommendation would be simple. However, that was not the case. In fact, the opposite was true, which shocked me. The top two viewership events of the year, by a long shot, were Toledo Bend and Lake Fork, which were dominated by live sonar techniques. The production of the coverage, including showing the screens during live sonar catches, actually enhanced the viewership experience.

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/2025-electronics-rules/news/digging-deep-into-live-sonar-changes-for-2025/

 

Nice “spin” article by BASS 😉 😆

[Happybeerbuzz]

26 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

The production of the coverage, including showing the screens during live sonar catches, actually enhanced the viewership experience.

 

 

If they would get direct, live feeds of all the sonar screens and setup a split screen of the angler and what he is seeing on all his screens, I think I would go through some lengths to tune into that for at least a while especially if they had a seasoned analyst live commenting on what it is I am seeing on the sonar displays.  I do not have FFS nor do see myself getting it in the foreseeable future.  However, I would like to see what the hubbub is all about.  For example, I would like someone to show me how the big ones can be identified out of a school, and how a fish can be seen reacting to a lure.  

 

Who knows?  Maybe FFS coverage could be bass fishing's equivalent of Catelyn Clark.  

[AlabamaSpothunter]

BTL had an epic show last night with tons of Elite Series hammers.   The gist is they're not happy at all with the new rules.

 

Then if you go around and read all the comments across social media you'll see the vast majority of fans are upset over the new rules and lack of any real meaningful changes.    

 

Good luck staying on top of the pro Bass fishing world not making your product or customer happy.      

 

At the end of the day, many of us just want to see them catch fish without live sonar at least some of the time.   Again the BTL episode is really illuminating.....even the pros talk about how radically different and effective FFS is.  

[Tennessee Boy]

1 minute ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

If they would get direct, live feeds of all the sonar screens and setup a split screen of the angler and what he is seeing on all his screens, I think I would go through some lengths to tune into that for at least a while especially if they had a seasoned analyst live commenting on what it is I am seeing on the sonar displays.

Amen.  I don’t find it that interesting to watch them catch fish.  I would be willing to pay a good bit to watch them actually fish.  By that I mean see what they see on the screen,  know where they are on the lake,  see what baits they are using so that I can see how they are making the decisions they make.   That would be fantastic.

[Functional]

That comment about polling the competitors on how often they use FFS I find suspect. I dont doubt they did it but with all the commotion over FFS it wouldnt surprise me one bit if they lied on the quantity of fish they used FFS to catch to downplay it. At face value it can show FFS isnt important but if they get to use it the product is in consumers faces all the time and regardless of actual useage sells units which is their sponsors goal.

 

In most sports I'm for 2 separate leagues. 1 that has practically zero limitations to push the tech envelope because lets face it, the 2 biggest periods of advancement in most of modern times is during war or in competition. There should be a second league that has reasonable limits (HP, sonar, maybe rig outfit cost cap, etc.) that can act more as a base skill and "unlimited class" feeder series. This should allow more people to get into the sport and will allow companies to still compete in better side/down scan products and get a return on that development. Everyone wins here. 

[Susky River Rat]

@Functionali mean everytime they ever did time studies at work it’s amazing how everyone slowed down 

[Koz]

5 hours ago, Functional said:

I'm kind of with @TnRiver46 on the useage. I have yet to see a boat use a pole of any kind. They dont even have to ban the crappie brake system if they just choose lakes that dont require you to fish deep to have a shot at winning. 

The issue with the brakes - according to BASS and touring pros - is that they make it much easier to control and position the boat when using FFS. 

 

That’s why they are now banned.

[Choporoz]

25 minutes ago, Koz said:

The issue with the brakes - according to BASS and touring pros - is that they make it much easier to control and position the boat when using FFS. 

 

That’s why they are now banned.

And yet, only yesterday their press release about crappie brakes said nothing about ffs:

 

"There has been a rise in the use of electric motors mounted to shallow water anchors, which makes the enforcement of current rules (like long-lining and trolling) very difficult."

 

They must be back-tracking on the "we don't trust our pros not to troll with them"

[AlabamaSpothunter]

It's both equally hilarious and hypocritical that BASS thinks trolling, live bait, and baits like the A-Rig and Donkey Rig are too unsporting or easy to allow their usage, but FFS is perfectly fine.    

 

Poll 100 Elite pros which tool or rig is easier to catch fish with among those things above, and 100 will tell you it's live sonar.   

 

BASS banned Crappie brakes 1000% for optics sake alone.  They had to show they were doing something, and the Crappie brakes were the sacrificial lamb.    Crappie brakes don't pay the bills for BASS, the big electronic companies have no skin in the Crappie brake game.  

 

Meanwhile the rot inside BASS goes unchecked in which live sonar is only a fraction of what the real problems are.    

 

The anglers said 90% of arguments and emotions during the recent 4hr meeting involved topics other than live sonar.   

 

 

[Koz]

46 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

And yet, only yesterday their press release about crappie brakes said nothing about ffs:

 

"There has been a rise in the use of electric motors mounted to shallow water anchors, which makes the enforcement of current rules (like long-lining and trolling) very difficult."

 

They must be back-tracking on the "we don't trust our pros not to troll with them"

One of the guys from BASS who was involved in the ruling was on BTL yesterday and discussed this.

3 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

It's both equally hilarious and hypocritical that BASS thinks trolling, live bait, and baits like the A-Rig and Donkey Rig are too unsporting or easy to allow their usage, but FFS is perfectly fine.    

 

Poll 100 Elite pros which tool or rig is easier to catch fish with among those things above, and 100 will tell you it's live sonar.   

 

BASS banned Crappie brakes 1000% for optics sake alone.  They had to show they were doing something, and the Crappie brakes were the sacrificial lamb.    Crappie brakes don't pay the bills for BASS, the big electronic companies have no skin in the Crappie brake game.  

 

Meanwhile the rot inside BASS goes unchecked in which live sonar is only a fraction of what the real problems are.    

 

The anglers said 90% of arguments and emotions during the recent 4hr meeting involved topics other than live sonar.   

 

 

States have their own rules on A rigs. That’s the issue there.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

5 minutes ago, Koz said:

One of the guys from BASS who was involved in the ruling was on BTL yesterday and discussed this.

States have their own rules on A rigs. That’s the issue there.

So what about a Lake Fork slot limit, or CA's hooked outside the mouth rules for example?

 

BASS has shown they'll amend their 'house rules' to obey individual state laws on numerous occasions.    

[Tennessee Boy]

2 hours ago, Functional said:

I dont doubt they did it but with all the commotion over FFS it wouldnt surprise me one bit if they lied on the quantity of fish they used FFS to catch to downplay it.

The question I have is what makes a fish an FFS fish?   I’ve got a spot that I’ve been catching fish on by making the same cast with the same lures for 30+ years.  I don’t need FFS to catch fish there.   Now when I fish there I can see the fish before I cast and watch them hit the lure.  Does that make it a fish caught with FFS?  FFS just makes it more interesting,  it doesn’t change the way I fish that spot one bit.  At Toledo Bend the scopers out fished the old timers by catching fish that would be extremely hard to catch without FFS.   It was more complicated with 90% of the fish caught in other tournaments.  If an angler uses GPS to get close to a brush pile and then uses FFS to make a pinpoint cast,  how important is FFS in that process?  

[Choporoz]

@Tennessee Boy, my assumption has been "I saw the fish on FFS immediately prior to the cast and/or during the cast/retrieve."

 

but, yes...plenty of room to maneuver around that question. 

 

sort of like "Were you sight fishing that fish?"

 

[Koz]

Listening to the BTL podcast I found it very interesting that BASS does not have a pre-approval process for new technology.

 

That seems dumb.

 

So an angler shows up with new technology, creates a firestorm, and THEN the league reacts.

[TnRiver46]

19 hours ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

Regardless of how you feel about FFS and the future tech that it inspires that has yet to be developed, there is no denying that Randy Blauket is a consequential voice against FFS and contributes to keeping the drama alive.  Pro anglers like Hank Parker have mentioned him directly in their public criticism of FFS.  Advocates of FFS bring up his name as well all be it disparagingly.  His name is brought up consistently in FFS threads on this board.  It is too the point that his name is synonymous with the anti FFS movement.  

Or you could say he created an entire legion/cult of crybabies that are anti positivity. Two tourneys were won by old guys with old school tactics this year and it was radio silence . He is a modern day tabloid at the checkout line in a grocery store 

[gimruis]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

Two tourneys were won by old guys with old school tactics this year and it was radio silence

 

True.  But in order to compete as a whole on a consistent basis, that isn't going to work.

 

7 out of 10 elite events were won with a scope if I remember correctly according to what @AlabamaSpothunter posted in another thread.

 

You might be able to still win an event with "old school" tactics but you aren't going to compete at the top from the beginning of the season to the end anymore doing it.

 

And let's face it, if you wanna compete for the whole season, your best odds are being a scope wizard.  Not being old school.

[TnRiver46]

Oh yes no disagreement there, i wasn’t talking about the whole season, just how the anti voice conveniently leaves such things out