05/23/2026
Rainy tent thoughts about livescope and muskie fishing.
I may as well not even offer guided trips anymore unless I buy a livescope, I can't compete, I can't snipe fish for clients and tell them exactly where to cast at a suspended fish and how the fish is reacting to their lure and about to hit, to work it hard and trigger them as they are on it.
And let me tell ya, that's OK with me and that's not how I personally want to fish for them, ever.
The challenge, the excitement, the thrill, the mystery is all lost with livescope, it's literally shooting suspended fish in a barrel.
I've been watching a few livescope videos on muskie after playing with the one on Vinces boat when we fished for walleye on lake erie. At this point, most guides and a huge portion of anglers are fully adopting forward facing sonar as the catch rates with this technology is....... GREATLY improved, I'm talking extreme improved hook up numbers.
Now I don't knock anyone that uses this technology because that's what it is, the newest and most advanced piece of technology that is an extremely deadly tool in the hands of an experienced and accomplished fishermen and quite frankly, even a noob can now just scan around open water and cast baits at a fish they see until it hits, infact that's what I'm seeing about half the muskie anglers in my region doing over the last few years.
If that's what these people want to do, we'll I guess more power to them, I ain't nobody to tell you how you should be fishing.
But...... let me tell ya.
At this point I have no interest in fish caught with livescope, not impressed and not interested in seeing livescope caught fish content as it's just...... Well I guess I'm now on the "It's cheating" side.
No offense to people that use it, you do you and you hammer the fish with it but I believe I'm now on the side of the line thinking it needs banned on public water.
Don't ever book me as a musky guide, I can't compete with a guide that uses one and who will scan fish for you.
The knowledge I've accumulated over the years on the water is now obsolete compared to forward facing sonar and I refuse to get one, I don't want to lose the challenge, the mystery, the thrill I love so much about fishing, especially for muskie.
