Ron Schara: Angler education is the key regarding forward-facing sonar

It looks like there are no easy answers for the latest anglers’ dilemma: huge advances in fishing electronics now found in an increasing number of boats.

How will that impact the sport of angling? What’s it mean for the fish resource? Is this just a new age of electronics in angling? Find fish, cast to fish, watch fish bite hook?

The most recent dilemma is forward-facing sonar.

Forward what? Some anglers have no clue what it is or what it does. Meanwhile, a growing number of anglers have added FFS to their fishing war chest.

They’ve learned how and when to use it, and they love how the technology has improved their success and their knowledge of fish behavior. How? Because they can watch their fishy targets, say, 70 feet to the right. Or left. It means fish can’t hide.

Now the big question: Will the increasing use of FFS in Minnesota lead to declines in fish populations, especially muskies and crappies? And possibly walleyes, too?

Those concerns about the advance of fishing electronics recently were aired at the MN-FISH summit held in Grand Rapids. Upwards of 200 fishing folks – anglers, guides, resort owners, angling clubs, DNR officials and others – discussed the issue.

RELATED COVERAGE FROM OUTDOOR NEWS:

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Bemidji State University to study muskie survival, movement in Minnesota’s Leech Lake

A big concern is the impact and possible threat to muskie populations presented by anglers using FFS to basically ‘’hunt’’ post-spawn muskies that have retreated to deep water in one of Minnesota’s top muskie lakes, Leech. Using the electronics, muskie anglers are now finding and catching Leech’s muskies in numbers unheard of.

The problem: Dozens of those muskies reportedly are mishandled or are severely injured or stressed. The result? Dead muskies – and not just a few – floating on the surface of Leech. Another problem: Replacing those large fish is a 20-year wait.

The potential impact on crappie populations also was discussed, as the use of electronics has made it easier to find and catch crappies in their deep-water winter haunts. The problem? Rather than catch and keep a crappie limit, anglers are busy catching and releasing perhaps dozens of crappies. It’s fun, right?

However, most of those released fish are dying under the ice because of barotrauma, a fatal condition experienced when fish are rushed to the surface from deep water. (It also impacts walleyes, by the way.)

Some MN-FISH summit speakers wondered aloud about the ethics of using forward-facing sonar. Is it fair pursuit to throw hooks at fish that cannot hide? Would we use similar technology with drones to find where deer are moving?

What became clear as the discussion went on about the impact of FFS – both positive and negative – was this:

There is no simple solution to protecting the fish resource from the potential of over-fishing with today’s electronics.

Others also spoke about the benefits of using FFS and how the technology enriches their angling experience. Can’t debate that.

DNR fisheries managers at the summit did not comment but listened. To protect the post-spawn muskies in Leech, a suggestion was made to delay the muskie-fishing season to early July, when muskies return to more shallow haunts.

One of the most common suggestions was that the DNR as well as all angling groups need to launch a massive educational effort about the potential effects of FFS on, say, muskies and crappies, the thought being that anglers who understand their impacts on deep-water fishing and the unseen fish they’re killing will change their ways.

Educating the angling masses is a slow process. However, as we look ahead, it might be the only solution as the advances in fishing electronics undoubtedly will continue.

That horse is already out of the barn.