# Have we become too efficient at fishing.



## Micro Thinfisher (Jan 27, 2018)

Do you believe we’ve become too efficient at fishing?
With all the technologies at our disposal including Drones, GPS, FMT, side scan sonar, I-pilots w/ anchor lock, ultra-realistic lures have we become too efficient in our fishing and what are your thoughts concerning the pressure placed on our resources?


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

I don't think we've become too efficient, but we've definitely "grown the sport" too much. The number of people on the water have a bigger impact on the resources than the technology, in my opinion.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Too efficient? Absolutely.
We are capable of harvesting entire species into extinction.
Nets, longlines, trawlers, aerial observation, seabottom mapping,
temperature data, current data, traps, satellite imagery,
all indicators of just how effective we are at over utilizing the resource.
It's not an opinion, it's a fact.
Hence the need for regulation and catch limits.
Closed seasons and closed areas are necessities due to our capabilities.
All of us out there working the same areas and species until the fish population collapses.
Doesn't matter hook and line from a single recreational fishermen
or a fleet of factory harvest ships,
we have the technology and the greed to destroy entire marine food chains.


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## loganlogan (May 8, 2020)

That is one reason that I like my kayak/wading fishing. It seems pure and gives the fish a chance.


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## NativeBone (Aug 16, 2017)

Micro Thinfisher said:


> Do you believe we’ve become too efficient at fishing?
> With all the technologies at our disposal including GPS, FMT, side scan sonar, I-pilots w/ anchor lock, ultra-realistic lures have we become too efficient in our fishing and what are your thoughts concerning the pressure placed on our resources?


Let's not forget drones. I have seen guys using drones to locate fish.


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## Micro Thinfisher (Jan 27, 2018)

Ad


NativeBone said:


> Let's not forget drones. I have seen guys using drones to locate fish.


Added this - excellent point and unethical IMHO.


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## BassFlats (Nov 26, 2018)

The fish humble me constantly.


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## Half Shell (Jul 19, 2016)

BassFlats said:


> The fish humble me constantly.


I would say all of the rest of you have become too efficient, me... I'm just supporting local gas stations and tackel shops


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## cal1320 (Jun 6, 2007)

I'm still fishing like it's 1990.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I'd say no. I know guys out there without even a GPS, tossing spoons and bucktail jigs that load up cause they know how the water works. Then you got guys like me that with all the technology in the world..... I still kinda suck, lol.

Killing off entire species and systems are not a new trend. They have been doing it in various parts of the world (look towards asia) for over 100 years.
If we are talking more along the lines of recreational fishing, our population keeps growing. As it does more guys will be fishing. So we need better regs to maintain stocks. Think of the kayak craze that started a decade or more ago. Many of them were not avid anglers until they found a cheap low tech way to get on the water. 
I think we will see closures for a year or more at a time for many different sport species in the future. I'm ok if it's catch and release for a bit.


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

I throw fly exclusively.

What is this "efficient" you are speaking of?


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

I don't necessarily see drones, fancy lures, and technology as the cause for less fish.

In my opinion its decrease in habitat combined with an increase in anglers that are far more efficient in communicating via cell phones and social media.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Cut the live bait out and 90% couldn’t catch enough fish to justify their meat hauling.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Commercial fishing: Hell yes. 

Recreational fishing: I don’t feel tech fills coolers. With the exception of a few pros, few actually utilize tech to it full potential. For the rest of us, we just like gadgets, but we don’t catch more fish because of it. By and large, I actually feel tech hurts us; if you learn to rely heavily on data, it decreases your patience for tedious observation and also decreases your confidence in your own senses.

Nate


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## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

Who is we?


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

EdK13 said:


> Who is we?


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## commtrd (Aug 1, 2015)

With my demonstrated competency in fly casting, I have seen my catch ratio go to the floor. So any discussion about recreational angler efficiency should likely be divided between artificial lures on bait casters or spinning gear, live bait soakers, and fly fishermen. Put simply, since I switched to fly, my catching vs fishing pretty much evaporated. But I am bound and determined to get passably decent at fly fishing. Efficiency? Ha! None at all.

EDIT: Way too much time spent working and almost zero time spent fishing doesn't help that much... 7-12s for the last two months etc.


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## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

Smackdaddy53 said:


>


Perfect representation.


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## karstopo (Nov 28, 2019)

I voted no. We all have a choice and can use or not use whatever tackle or technology that is available. 

I tend to enjoy using my senses over relying on any of the electronics to locate fish. 

Plus, all that technology can be unreliable, breaking down at just the crucial time. 

I don’t see that ultra realistic lures are an advantage. Give 10 fisherman a gold spoon and another 10 some lifelike Mirrorlure, Rapala or yozuri and I wouldn’t put money on the plugs.


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## EdK13 (Oct 3, 2013)

Efficient at being literally stupid. That is where the shopping mall excels.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

In the beginning 
if it was legal and eatable it was kept and eaten.
Then in 62 I got my first fly rod.
You would be amazed how many blue gills and little bass a kid can catch all summer then live a mere 5 miles from a creek that had trout. Then over the hill near my house the farmer had a beautiful pond, almost a small lake. I still to this day I keep a few to eat and even will use bait under certain conditions but over 95 percent have been released since 62.


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## Steve_Mevers (Feb 8, 2013)

GPS and plotters have had a negative impact on the fisheries, especially the offshore fisheries. To many people, to much technology, the fish don't have a chance anymore. I personally don't see how we can ever go back to the open seasons for inshore species like we had before the last red tide event. I would support much, much shorter seasons, and smaller slots, we simply have to many people competing for a limited resource.


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## southerncannuck (Jun 27, 2016)

We haven’t gotten too efficient. Rather “we the people” elect politicians who are 100% in the pocket of developers. 21,000,000 Floridians using our natural resources and the welcome mat is still out.


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## Drifter (Dec 13, 2018)

EdK13 said:


> Who is we?


I think the economics of "growing the sport" is worse. Flyfisherman are mostly catching and releasing. In Montana you can't bait fish in many areas, that's how it should be.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

EdK13 said:


> Who is we?


“We” is the human species in general, but, specifically in the context of this conversation, fishermen. We love “new hotness” even when it doesn’t get us more fish than the gear we were using before. Bass Pro wouldn’t exist if I were wrong.

If you are still fishing your first Zebco/Ugly Stik combo out of a Jon boat, I will concede that you are an bonafide exception to the rule.

Nate


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## BassFlats (Nov 26, 2018)

I probably caught more with that zebco-ugly stick combo than I do now. I didn't know that outfit couldn't catch fish.


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## Micro Thinfisher (Jan 27, 2018)

People certainly have an impact; just look up the raw sewage release recently by the town of Longboat Key into a prime fishing area.


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

I primarily bass fish, but I've noticed a big increase the last few years in the numbers of fish with hook holes in their mouth. I've caught some that had 3-4 holes in their lips. Occasionally one with a lure attached or a plastic worm hanging out their anus. But this is primarily in the smaller fish. I guess the larger ones either get smart and harder to catch, or hauled off to a weigh in 50 miles away.


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## K3anderson (Jan 23, 2013)

OP does not flyfish.


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## SomaliPirate (Feb 5, 2016)

If you ever get the chance to observe me with a fly rod in my hand for more than 30 seconds, you will see that the answer, at least in my case, is a resounding no.


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## jay.bush1434 (Dec 27, 2014)

I don't see the advancements in the technology we use fishing as having a negative impact on the fisheries. Where we are decades behind and having the most negative impact is educating ourselves and the public in conservation and taking care of the environment. The still prevalent idea of too many fisherman that they have to keep a limit every time they go out, the fact that people don't understand that if it doesn't come out of that water, it shouldn't go back into that water (trash, pollution, non-native species) are having the most negative impact on the fisheries way more so than some fisherman pinging waypoints on a gps. Well that and people that blast music from over powered stereos on their boats on the flats. Yeah, they suck too. "You kids, get off my lawn!" Lol!!


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## csnaspuck (Apr 2, 2013)

I said No because as human we evolve in everything we do but the problem is that the environment preservation has not evolved or caught up. For example cars got bigger and faster so we had to evolve safety and roads. In sports equipment\training got better so we had to do things like make things safer or other hobbies like golf where clubs and balls got better so we had to make golf courses longer.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Take only memories,
leave only footprints
.
.
.
.
And a snook once in awhile


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

commtrd said:


> With my demonstrated competency in fly casting, I have seen my catch ratio go to the floor. So any discussion about recreational angler efficiency should likely be divided between artificial lures on bait casters or spinning gear, live bait soakers, and fly fishermen. Put simply, since I switched to fly, my catching vs fishing pretty much evaporated. But I am bound and determined to get passably decent at fly fishing. Efficiency? Ha! None at all.
> 
> EDIT: Way too much time spent working and almost zero time spent fishing doesn't help that much... 7-12s for the last two months etc.


Cant be the richest guy in the graveyard for god sakes go fishing. After I hit 50 my priotities changed work less fish more is my moto now doesnt always work out but I try my hardest.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Backcountry 16 said:


> After I hit 50 my priotities changed work less fish more


think I was about 6 or 7 years old when I did that


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## rummya87 (Jun 24, 2016)

People keep complaining about too many people on the water. The real death of the fishery won't be the "pressure" - it will be habitat loss. Look at all of the responses here. 

The overwhelming sentiment is that we all catch and release, use fly gear, find ways for us to make it more challenging on ourselves, denounce the use of technology that would inarguably make it easier to find and catch fish. Why? Because fulfillment doesn't come from someone dropping a huge redfish in your hands, it comes from the building of knowledge through sweat equity, blood, and tears to understand the water enough to be able to catch it. 

Winning a marathon means nothing unless you built your body through training to accomplish it. 

Even though technology seeks to make it "easier" on us, there is no amount of technology that will replace the old way, because pulling up to a spot and throwing on the GPS trolling motor and sending out the nicest lure on the nicest tackle means nothing unless you know that you have to approach the flat from X channel to avoid spooking the fish that come out of Y channel on the opposite side, up-current, on Z tide as it comes in when the water temperature is 69.8 degrees or higher, and you have to put the lure just to the left of that current outflow because the fish use it to ambush bait. Its that understanding that keeps us coming time and time again, year after year. 

I've caught umpteen redfish on fly on a flood tide, and you bet your ass I still get the butterflies when a client steps on board my boat and we send off to go fish, because deep down, I know fish have fins and there are days where they don't go up to feed on the top of the tide. No amount of technology, or fishing pressure will ever change that. The only thing that can take it all away is if it ceases to exist.

I'm not much an offshore fisherman, but I imagine its the same. You can pull up to a bottom number and see your sounder lit up, but unless you tie the bait they want, in the presentation you know to work, and hit your drift just the way you've done it when you found success before, just having marks on a screen means nothing. The only thing that will take those fish away is if we trawl the ocean floor to extinction, or worse, put so much carbon in the atmosphere that the water is too acidic to support life.


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## pointblank (Nov 9, 2017)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Cut the live bait out and 90% couldn’t catch enough fish to justify their meat hauling.


Amen...


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## Rollbar (Oct 20, 2016)

Get rid of all the technology and see who can catch fish.
A lot of these YouTube channels would not exist in that case, and people can just go fish and learn how to read the water and learn the areas etc.
Some of these so called great fisherman/shows would be gone w/out their technology, and that wouldn't be a bad idea in some cases.
Now, is it Garmin, or SimRad that I need for this West Coast habitat that I know very little about, East Coast, yes. 
P.S. Plywood boats still float and work-LoL


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## Rollbar (Oct 20, 2016)

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## redchaser (Aug 24, 2015)

The piece of "tech" that has probably contributed more to my efficiency than any other is Google Earth. The majority of my fishing is sight fishing for redfish with a fly rod. In many locations, the imagery on Google Earth is good enough to see where the oysters are, where there are sloughs through a narrow flat and more. Plus using the clock function on Google Earth, looking at older imagery vs newer I can see areas that were recently solid marsh that have opened up. These spots are redfish magnets, so yes I can spend a little time looking over an area on Google Earth and accurately pick out the specific spots that are going to regularly hold fish. Of course now when a lot of individual anglers uses tech to improve, it has an exponential effect because they post on social media and often aren't very discreet about where they were.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

redchaser said:


> an exponential effect because they post on social media and often aren't very discreet about where they were.


Ya...
kinda like posting about google too 

Bait?
Is king, but not what I do very often,
I do have one thing I like to do with newbies (especially kids) is to drift along certain levies in the Delta. Live minnow under an ole wooden float. If they don't hook up within 5 minuets or so I move to another spot. Generally 2 dozen minnows lasts a couple hours and I won't fish but tend to who's in the boat. 
Some times that includes just sitting back and watching.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

If you teach kids early on to fish lures and not use corks they will be outfishing your adult buddies in a short time. I understand using bait in certain situations but people have leaned on it too much and a lot of folks won’t fish if they can’t get bait. If you Florida boys knew what happens here in Texas during the summer croaker bite...these dudes go full retard.


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## Rollbar (Oct 20, 2016)

I don't use bait. In the last 5yrs I used one small box of frozen squid from WalMart. LoL
This was July 5th.


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## mro (Jan 24, 2018)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> teach kids early on to fish lures


My daughters (oldest slings a fly rod pretty good) don't use bait.
Anyone I take fishing can fish at their own "level" of experience.
I seldom invite adults who want to bait fish...

Except for rock fish and sometimes salmon out in the pacific.
I normally use jigs and swim baits for rock fish (fishing 30 to 80 feet deep)
Don't fish for either unless the freezer is getting low.

For all my other fishing it's with a fly rod.


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