Change

[Al Agnew]

It struck me on the trip last week to Minnesota how much things have changed in the 50 plus years I've been fishing. The forecast was for severe thunderstorms one day, and some real doozies brewed up to the south of us, within 5 miles or less of where we were at one point. In the old days, we would have listened to the forecast, watched the sky, and listened for thunder, and once the sky darkened we would have headed for the truck. But that day we watched the weather radar on smart phones. We could tell the storms were kicking up to the southwest and moving north/northeast, and could tell their path exactly. We could see that the very northern edge of the rain was going to be right about where we were but the main storm was probably going to miss us. So to be prudent, we stayed fairly close to the truck during the time when the storm was really close, so when it began to rain we shot across to the truck and sat out what little rain there was. As soon as the rain stopped, although the sky was still dark and thunder rumbled in the distance, we knew from radar that the storm was past and went back out fishing.

Not to mention, we had a jet boat, so we could cover a stretch of river quickly and never be but a few minutes from the truck.

As much as I have a love/hate feeling about jet boats, there's no doubt they have revolutionized river fishing. For me, the greatest value in my jet boat is that it allows me to fish effectively in the winter and not have to rely upon somebody to shuttle a canoe. Nearly all the canoe rentals are closed in the winter, and there are plenty of stretches that I'd simply be out of luck trying to fish if not for the jet boat.

Reels have improved exponentially since I first started using casting reels in the 1960s. Back then, many reels were still direct drive; the handle spun backwards on the cast. Almost the only free spool reel was the Ambassadeur 5000, and it was big, heavy, and clunky.

And rods...back then it was fiberglass. My first "favorite" river fishing rod was a 5 ft. solid glass model. Today's rods, like the reels, weigh half or less as much, and are far more sensitive.

As for lures and tackle, hooks are far and away better now, far sharper out of the box. Lures have better finishes, and weight systems that make them easier to cast accurately. Not many lures are completely new designs, but most are vast improvements on old designs, some of which were obsolete many years ago. Soft plastics went from practically nothing in the 1960s to the myriad of forms today, with scents and salt and other additives which may or may not make them more effective in and of themselves.

Monofilament and co-poly lines are far better, fused and braided lines are stronger for their diameter than would have been dreamed of back then, and fluorocarbon is supposed to be less visible to the fish.

But the biggest revolution is in the Information Age. From that weather radar to the unlimited information highway that is the internet to GPS, it has totally changed the way we get fishing information. I used to have to call a canoe rental to find out what river conditions were, now I look at the USGS gauges or even the river flow app on my phone that shows all the real time gauges on every river in the country. I had to guess from often out of date topo maps where would be good places to camp on overnight floats, now I follow the river on Google Earth and pick my gravel bar, put the coordinates on my GPS, and know exactly how far I need to go to get there before dark. Although I'm still old school when it comes to maps...I still rely on my topo maps instead of GPS, I just mark on the topo map where my chosen gravel bar is and keep track of my progress with the map.

There are lots of other changes brought about by smart phones and the internet. Which ones can you think of that most of us take for granted these days? And what about boats, canoes, kayaks, etc.?

[Jerry Rapp]

100 years ago, how many model A's or T's were there? How many miles of concrete roads were there? 50 years ago a trolling motor was mounted on the back of a jon boat if you were very lucky. and it might run for 4 hours before the battery died. Otherwise it was a paddle, or if you were skilled somewhat, a sculling paddle. What will 2100 bring?

[Mitch f]

For reservoirs it would definitely be sophisticated electronics. The old method for finding brush piles, drop offs, old creek beds, was pure luck. Finding huge piles of suspended baitfish is much easier now as well. These new side finding imaging sonars are quite impressive. It's changing the way people fish, and now maybe the newbie angler can somewhat level the playing field in tournaments with his abilities with these new tools.

[hank franklin]

Ah for the good ol days, where the Number 1 source of information for an Ozark river trip was Oz Hawksley. My old 1980's or so edition was dog-eared and worn. Never went on a trip without consulting Oz. Now, sadly, you don't even need him. In fact I'm not even sure where my updated version is.

Information age by far the biggest change IMO.

[Flysmallie]

Yeah all this advancement yet I caught more and bigger fish back then.

I'm about as techie as you get but I don't see most of it as a good thing. Think it's time society started trending back the other direction.

[Seth]

I haven't been fishing nearly as long as most of you so the tackle and baits haven't changed nearly as much in my time. The one thing that has helped me the most is my side imaging Humminbird. This spring while crappie fishing, I wasn't catching anything shallow so I went and scanned some coves for brush piles. It no time at all, I had several brush piles marked on GPS and we turned a bad day of crappie catching to a livewell full of nice slabs within a couple hours. When I am snagging for paddlefish, there is no doubt when you mark them anymore either. It doesn't help me much on the shallow rivers when bass fishing, but having the GPS screen up allows me to mark bad spots to remind me where I need run.

[Riverwhy]

The art of fishing is slowly being displaced by the science of catching. Underwater spear fishing, underwater cameras, multiple sonars and graphs have revolutionized catching fish. The ebb and flow of fishing is fascinating. Our grandfathers and some of our fathers grew up meat fishing and while many of our generation starting out in their footsteps many of us mellowed and began to see fishing as a way to connect with nature and fishing became more important than catching. The trend toward fishing is now being replaced by the need to catch fish by any means available. While our grandfathers used worms, minnows and traps to accomplish their goals our current crop of fishermen are driven to use technology and science to insure a better chance at catching the fish.

I wonder if some day we will fly small drones over our back forty so that we can see where the deer are feeding and we can then hop on to our high speed four wheelers and quickly hop off and shoot the largest buck. I find it very similiar to technology fishermen.

As a point of clarity I do not want to limit my technology driven bretheren. i simply hope that some day they find the peace of mind to become fishermen rather than catchers of fish.

[Seth]

Yeah all this advancement yet I caught more and bigger fish back then.

I'm about as techie as you get but I don't see most of it as a good thing. Think it's time society started trending back the other direction.

I'm sure that technology plays a part in that, but how much more fishing pressure do our waters see now compared to 10, 20 or 30+ years ago? Anytime something get's commercialized like the hunting and fishing industry have, the amount of folks partaking in that hobby is going to sky rocket.

[Seth]

The art of fishing is slowly being displaced by the science of catching. Underwater spear fishing, underwater cameras, multiple sonars and graphs have revolutionized catching fish. The ebb and flow of fishing is fascinating. Our grandfathers and some of our fathers grew up meat fishing and while many of our generation starting out in their footsteps many of us mellowed and began to see fishing as a way to connect with nature and fishing became more important than catching. The trend toward fishing is now being replaced by the need to catch fish by any means available. While our grandfathers used worms, minnows and traps to accomplish their goals our current crop of fishermen are driven to use technology and science to insure a better chance at catching the fish.

I wonder if some day we will fly small drones over our back forty so that we can see where the deer are feeding and we can then hop on to our high speed four wheelers and quickly hop off and shoot the largest buck. I find it very similiar to technology fishermen.

As a point of clarity I do not want to limit my technology driven bretheren. i simply hope that some day they find the peace of mind to become fishermen rather than catchers of fish.

You still have to take the time to learn how to use that technology. Of all of my fishing buddies, very few actually know how to read a side imaging graph or even a 2d unit for that matter. Most people simply don't take the time to figure them out because they manage to catch fish with out them through experience. There are plenty of guys who can read a graph and still not catch fish because they don't know how to put together a pattern to make fish bite. Finding them doesn't mean they are going to bite, even for the good fishermen. There are plenty of days on the water where I know good and well the fish are there, but they just aren't biting very well. Those days drive me crazy, but I welcome the challenge.

Any fisherman that says they are simply out enjoying the experience and doesn't care about catching fish is full of it. Who honestly doesn't watch to catch fish everytime they go fishing? If that is the case, why take any tackle at all? The only poor days of fishing that were better than a good day of catching were days where I caught few fish, but caught a giant. Fishing is fun, but catching is a lot more fun.

[Bird Watcher]

You still have to take the time to learn how to use that technology. Of all of my fishing buddies, very few actually know how to read a side imaging graph or even a 2d unit for that matter. Most people simply don't take the time to figure them out because they manage to catch fish with out them through experience. There are plenty of guys who can read a graph and still not catch fish because they don't know how to put together a pattern to make fish bite. Finding them doesn't mean they are going to bite, even for the good fishermen. There are plenty of days on the water where I know good and well the fish are there, but they just aren't biting very well. Those days drive me crazy, but I welcome the challenge.

Any fisherman that says they are simply out enjoying the experience and doesn't care about catching fish is full of it. Who honestly doesn't watch to catch fish everytime they go fishing? If that is the case, why take any tackle at all? The only poor days of fishing that were better than a good day of catching were days where I caught few fish, but caught a giant. Fishing is fun, but catching is a lot more fun.

Agree. interpreting sonar is as much an art as anything is. Sure it shows you fish, but what kind of fish? and what mood are they in? that's what most guys with 5k worth of electronics still can't put together. So I guess, in a way, the more things change, the more they stay the same? There is more information to digest these days than there ever was, but the ability to make sense of it all still remains a skill learned through experience.