My endless rantings about about the injustices of modern life seem to consume me these days. I’m aware this makes me sound like a particularly mean-spirited curmudgeon but I genuinely feel this society we live in is on the wrong path in so many ways. Until recently my moans have been directed towards those outside this sport but that has now changed. Technology has infiltrated even the gentle arts of the angler and I, the arch Luddite, am struggling with this invasion.
At the outset I have to confess that I am talking about a subject I have virtually zero knowledge about, so I am on shaky ground to start with. My normal approach is if I am not sure about something it is best not to pontificate on it, but I was shown something last week which I found deeply disturbing. So, risking the slings and arrows of my fellow fishers, here are my thoughts on electronic fish finders.
Fishfinders have been around for a long time and are widely used by some sections of the fishing community. I was exposed to them as a kid when my late father brought me on the commercial fishing trawlers he worked on for most of his life. Back then, they were basic but still gave the fishermen a view of any shoals of fish. There was one which boasted series of squiggly lines etched on paper, like you see on till rolls to this day. Interpreting what these lines meant was a black art all of its own. That was back in the 60’s and 70’s and technology has come a long way since then. Has it come too far?
Sport anglers can now buy the latest side scan fishfinders and fit them to their boats. Increasingly I hear the pike angling guys are spending large sums on this equipment and indeed regard it as vital to their fishing. Until last week I did not realise just how effective the latest generation of fish finders have become, but then I was shown some video of one in action on lough Ree. Holy mother of God! This is not angling lads, this is just a sick version of a video game played out on our lakes. In the first clip I could see a fish-like shape moving up and down, this was not a fish, it was the anglers lure. Yes, the fish finder could show the angler the lure being jigged near the bottom of the lake. We moved on to a second clip in which there was an image of a pike swimming. There was no mistaking this fish, it was very clearly a pike, I could make out the shape of the fish and the guy showing me the clip told me the experienced user can figure out roughly how big the fish might be. Within seconds, that lure shape from the first clip was lowered in front of the pike and began to jig up and down. The pike turned and chased the lure. I was watching all this happen on a small screen. That particular fish turned away, but you can see when a fish hits the lure and strike accordingly. I was left speechless.
Call me an old fuddy-duddy but that is not angling to me. A large part of why I go fishing is trying to solve the puzzles of where the fish might be, working out what they might be feeding on, or what else might tempt them to take my fly/bait/lure. Sitting staring at a screen all day would be my idea of hell and for me it raises very real ethical questions. Should we ban fish finders from recreational angling? Here in Ireland there is a big and growing business built around pike fishing on the big loughs. Large aluminium hull boats laden with the latest electronics scour the depths every day of the year (there being no closed season for pike and other coarse fish here). The fish have absolutely no chance and I hear of individual pike which have been caught so often they show damage to their mouths from multiple hookings.
As someone who ghillies of the big loughs I feel a certain responsibility to the creatures who live in, on and around those special places. I fish hard myself and bring out anglers who have come to Ireland to try and catch good fish amid wonderful surroundings. If Irish angling is going to be reduced to boats full of people staring a screens so they can drop a lure right on to a fishes nose I believe we will have lost something very precious. Of course we all want to catch a few fish, but how we catch them needs to be given a higher priority in my view. Am I being overly sensitive?
I am gearing up for the 2024 season. My boat of being re-timbered this month, I have to buy a new petrol tank and the fly boxes are just about topped up. What I wont be buying is a fish finder, instead I will trust to my knowledge and experience. I’ll catch far less than those tooled up with the latest gear but I will happily accept that. For me, it is not a case of catching the most or the biggest.
Claretbumbler 
Couldn’t agree more Colin. The mystery of what might be out there in the depths of our wild lochs is also an important part of the excitement of angling. These devices are being used on one of our bigger lochs, though for members they are against our Club’s rules. Big lochs , declining numbers of fish equals angler frustration, but this is not angling in any sense that I recognise. Remember as a boy eagerly anticipating the summer shoals of mackerel arriving. We would start too early, willing them to arrive. When they showed up the message would travel by word of mouth. This was of course not a guarantee, but that you had a better chance of finding a shoal or two. An electronic report from sensors, even for mackerel would subtract from the joy of fishing for this fish.
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Glad to see it not just me with this mindset. I honestly worry about where angling is going when all that seems to matter to so many fishers is just how many they catch. Anyway, roll on the new season and happy days by the water!
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Like you it is something I have avoided pointcasting about, but I think it is not for me. It slightly reminds me of those 1960s ads in the back of comics for x-rays specs that al lowed you to see though clothed; i.e not quite cricket.
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Me and my typos. Try; “Like you it is something I have avoided pontificating about, but I think it is not for me. It slightly reminds me of those 1960s ads in the back of comics for x-rays specs that a lowed you to see though clothing i.e not quite cricket.”
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I’ve seen plenty of videos of this sort of thing whether pike or zander and it looks to me like lazy angling, fish at all costs. While nobody really likes to blank I’d rather do that than resort to tactics like that. If I can see the fish with my eyes then fair enough, but seeing the invisible isn’t for me. I do however have one of those castable fish finders that I use for depth finding and snag finding. The fish finder part isn’t very good anyway as it just show small medium and large and they look like tench on the screen no matter what they are. Can’t say it’s caught me more fish but it saves casting about for ages and saves a lot of lost tackle.
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Are we simply fishing dinosaurs, the last of a dying breed who value the experiences rather than the catch? Time will tell I guess, but I don’t see how catching at any cost is that different from commercial fishing. Having said that, many of my fly fishing chums view my trolling and maggot-drowning as little better than skulduggery, so maybe I need to be more accommodating of new technology.
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I forget the book in question, but I recently read something, specific to the end of the Pacific War in WWII, where the author argued that once a technology is developed it will be used. So, although, given the naval blockade, the military case for long range ‘conventional’ bombing of Japan was limited, once the B29 was developed bombing inevitably followed. Then we all know what happened next. Now, a fish finder is a whole lot less sinister, but once the technology exists, it will inevitably be used. Same with social media, it has been developed, so it’ll be used. I guess the question is how we use new technology.
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I think there is a lot in that Clive. It also seems to drive so much of western culture in general. For example, every new car that come son the market has some new gizmo in it that we are assured will make our lives immeasurably better, when in fact it is really just that the gizmo has now been developed so the makers need to find a way of selling it to you.
Perhaps the question is is where and when do we apply limits to the technology? Hypothetically, we already have the technology for AI to recognise a fish and how to send a signal to a robot to strike and reel it in. All the angler has to do is sit in his or her boat and count up how many dead fish are in it. I am sure we all agree that is not angling, but where are the limits going to be applied before that happens?
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I primarily fish from a kayak for all species of fish including trout. Years ago I thought I needed a fish finder so I bought one of medium quality. The battery that powered it died at least six years ago and I have yet to replace it. I don’t really miss it and have more fun exploring and blind casting than looking at the screen for fish images. I catch plenty of fish and have plenty of fun. Electronics have invaded too many areas of our lives.
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I find it interesting that you did not go back to the technology. I suspect that many anglers become so used to looking at the screen it is hard to let that go (think of how we are all wedded to our mobile phones). Sounds like you are loving your fishing without the box of electronics anyway!
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Most definitely. The older I get (just turned 74) the more I appreciate the lack of gadgetry in my life. I enjoy keeping it simple.
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I wonder if that is we get wiser with age or just less tolerant!! I struggle with just about made after the turn of the century and I’m a decade younger than you.
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I would like to hope that it is about wisdom.
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I agree with your sentiments,Colin. If all those people who support the use of fish finders because the numbers of fish in general are declining were to get radical and support campaigns to prevent the pollution which is killing the fish, then change could be brought about.
Regards
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Agree with you 100% James.
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I agree with your sentiments 100% on this subject Colin. This is not “fishing” it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. It should be outlawed!
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The thought of the same fish being repeatedly caught, especially pike and the size of the hooks used. That is very upsetting. Perhaps a petition…
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I have been told of pike which are missing teeth and have deformed jaws after being caught so often. It sounds horrendous. Pike angling is now big business in Ireland, so there would be huge resistance to any form of regulation on that sector of the sport. I do feel that something needs to be done Gavin, I am just not sure what that is if it is going to be effective.
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The size of the hooks and the heavy braid used these days mean some anglers just crank the fish in which damages the mouth. Teeth are knocked out by people not taking care when unhooking with damn big pliers.
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I see 70 pound braid being used all the time here by pike anglers. Even allowing for the possibility of very large fish here that still seems excessive. Some sections of the Irish angling community hate pike and so any they do catch are treated very badly. If we redirected that animosity to the government who fail to protect all species and the super trawlers who are systematically emptying the seas we might be a whole lot better off.
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