I’ve struggled with this decision.
At what point is the cost of technology too much?
For me, fishing on the Kenai River has not been about technology. It’s been about reading water and timing the salmon runs.
It’s not that I don’t use technology. I’ve always had a basic sonar/graph in my boat that lets me know depth, water temperature, and fish that pass underneath.
What I use works fine, and I really haven’t had a reason to upgrade the unit. That is, until now.
Garmin Marine recently introduced a new feature in electronics called Panoptix Livescope. Not only can you read fish underneath the boat, you can now pan 360 degrees and up to 80 feet away from it.
Several of my fishing friends in the lower 48 have been using the Garmin Panoptix Livescope. When I asked what they thought about it, the phrase “game changer” was used over and over again.
After much research and countless YouTube videos, I finally concluded it was time to take the technological leap. The cost for me not to upgrade would be too much.
Here are my reasons.
- It will reduce time fishing in areas where there are no fish. When I’m on the clock, time is money.
- Finding “a spot within the spot”. The river is always changing and holding spots can change. I will be able to see what is all around the boat.
- While back trolling for king salmon, having the ability to scan towards the bank will help monitor traveling schools of red salmon. When they’re in, they’re in and it’s time to get out of the boat and on to the bank.
- While anchoring for silver salmon, I’ll have the ability to read a wider swath of the river to find traveling lanes. I’m not restricted to just where my lures are fishing.
- When fish are holding in known casting areas, the Panoptix Livescope feature will be able to tell me the exact spot to cast to. No more blind, blanket casting to cover an area.
- The underwater footage of seals swimming will be awesome!
All of this technology is great, and I know it will help, but just because it’s in my boat you shouldn’t think we’ll be catching fish all the time.
Fishing is fishing and it still comes down to run timing and whether or not a fish wants to bite.
No amount of technology will be able to change that.
