DULUTH — They have been flying off the shelves at Marine General sporting goods store for a couple of years, and the breakneck pace at which anglers are getting into forward-facing sonar units hasn’t slowed a bit.

That’s the report from Russ Francisco, owner of Marine General and an expert on fishing electronics, one of the store’s specialties. Francisco will be selling lots of them at this weekend’s Duluth Sport Show — if he has some left.

“I bought a whole bunch of Garmins last fall, last year’s models, expecting them to last all winter. But I had them on special and they were all sold out before Christmas,’’ Francisco said. “It’s not just the hard-core guys now. Everybody wants one.”

Forward-facing sonar offers a video-like image even in dark, deep or murky water. That’s because it uses high-definition sonar pings to create an image rather than a camera, something like ultrasound.

With forward-facing sonar, an angler can boat to a promising spot, scan the underwater area around the boat for structures and fish. Then they can cast to a specific fish they see on the screen, watch their bait on the retrieve and maybe watch a fish strike. Or, if the fish doesn’t bite, the angler can try another lure and watch the reaction.

Live-image sonar doesn’t make the fish bite, but it takes the guesswork out of where they are.

“The only picture that could be better is if you dive into the water with goggles, and I’m not sure that’s really even better,” said Jason Christie, a professional bass angler and Garmin staff member, after winning the 2022 Bassmaster Classic tournament.

While the generic name for the technology is “forward-facing,” that’s only one of the options.

The “scout-view” option offers a live-image wide view from the front of the transducer that shows what is in the area and which direction anglers should be casting.

“Down view” shows the depth and what is directly below the boat so anglers can drop a lure right to the fish.

“Forward view” allows anglers to see structures and fish in front of the transducer. You can even point them backward to see what’s following your bait while you troll.

For some people, forward-facing sonar has taken technology too far, removing fair chase from the sport of fishing, and threatening entire fish populations if people keep the additional fish they are catching. The technology is so good that at least one major fishing circuit, the Professional Muskie Team Tour, has banned its use in competition.

For others, live-image sonar is just another tool that allows them to catch more fish faster, a technological advancement that may help keep more people, especially young people, in the fishing game.

Experts agree there’s little chance natural resource agencies or governments will move to limit or regulate the technology, so anglers must decide whether to use it and, if they do, take ownership of how many fish they catch.

Dig deep, then don’t fill freezer

Marine General sells all three models now on the market: Garmin LiveScope, Humminbird MEGA Live Imaging and Lowrance ActiveTarget. Anglers are spending $2,000-$5,000 to add forward-facing sonar to their arsenal, including the mounting hardware and brackets.

“They’re all good now. Humminbird has really caught up, and Lowrance. But Garmin is still the leader of the pack,’’ Francisco said. “Their ultrasound image, or whatever they call it, you can see the tail wagging on the fish. The definition is incredible.”

Forward-facing sonar units are now the store’s No.1 electronic item, Francisco said.

“We are ordering more every week. I’m shipping them out all over the country,’’ he said.

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Francisco said anglers are catching more fish much faster with the technology so they need to change their fishing behavior to protect the resource. “You just cut your hours of fishing down,’’ he said.

Francisco says winter panfish under the ice may be the most vulnerable. You can drop the unit’s transducer through a hole and see where the schools of fish are for hundreds of feet in any direction.

“In winter, when they are schooled up like that, you can really put a hurt on the fish with these,” Francisco said. “The key is to only take what you can eat for a meal. Most people are doing that. The hope is everybody will understand what could happen if they don’t.”

How far will fishing technology go?

“Berkley is now selling lures, crankbaits, designed specifically to be used with these live-imaging sonars. You cast them out and they sink, then you can watch them come in as you reel up to the level of the fish. You can see it all happen on the screen,” Francisco said.

As computers get smaller and more powerful, Francisco said even more technology is likely coming down the pike in fishing, including artificial intelligence.

“The guides and charter captains already are keeping track of which lures and which colors are catching fish under what light conditions on what day at what time of year at what depth,’’ Francisco said. “Could we have a computer that does all of that for them rather than writing it down manually? Probably at some point, we will.”

Some anglers are saying new, live-image sonar technology is so good that it takes fair chase out of fishing. Others say that if used responsibly, it’s just another tool for them to catch more fish. (Courtesy of Humminbird via Forum News Service)

A love/hate relationship

Timmon Lund, a Duluth-area fishing guide and founder of the Catch Your Moment Foundation that offers fishing trips for cancer patients, has been using forward-facing sonar since 2019.

Lund really studied the new technology in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. Lund had to isolate himself from everyone, even his family, due to health issues, so “living on a lake, I fished all day, almost every day, for months,” he said. “And I used that time to learn what was then pretty new technology.”

Now, Lund says he has a “love/hate relationship” with that technology. He knows what it can do to help anglers catch more fish, and that’s what scares him.

“It takes much less time to find what you’re looking for,” he said. “The better you are at using it, the faster you can be. It also takes much less time to cycle through what fish are willing to bite and get on a pattern.

“As a guide, it’s a wonderful teaching tool,” Lund said. “For kids, it’s a real-life video game that when they trick a fish to bite, they then get the thrill of reeling in. It has the potential to bring in whole new generations of anglers and advance the sport we love.”

Lund worries, however, that not everyone will use the technology responsibly. He fears too many released fish will be mishandled for photos and measuring and later die, especially big muskies, and that too many eating-size fish will be kept for freezers, especially crappies.

“If everyone who had this technology practiced good stewardship, we wouldn’t even have the conversation about impacts on fisheries and regulations. I think regulations are for those who can’t/won’t regulate themselves,’’ Lund said.

“As for crappies, entire schools and year classes can potentially be wiped out in days, not weeks,’’ Lund said, concluding that “the technology isn’t the problem — self-regulation is.”

“My take on the answer is a combination of the DNR cutting down on daily limits, but also (reducing) family limits,” he said. “A family of five doesn’t need to have the ability to keep 50 crappies in the freezer to show off to friends and family.”

Ted Takasaki, a professional fisherman who has won multiple walleye tournaments over the past 30 years and who has fished across the U.S. and Canada, said the way to protect against too many fish being caught using new technology is to limit the harvest, not the technology.

He expects natural resource agencies to make adjustments, if needed, to how many fish, and what size fish, anglers can keep to account for more fish being caught.

I have great faith in the DNR and their fisheries people. I trust them to do what’s right, what they need to do with their regulations, to protect the fishery,’’ Takasaki said.

With great power comes great responsibility

Jarrid Houston, a Twin Ports-area fishing guide and the News Tribune’s weekly fishing columnist, said he had to add live-image technology to his boat or risk losing customers to other guides who use it. He said he’s catching more fish now — more fish per hour and per trip — than before he used his Garmin.

“I had to get one because, if I didn’t, I’d be lost in the dust,’’ Houston said, noting that live imaging is not just another, incremental upgrade in fishing technology as some people have suggested, but a sea-change in understanding what’s underwater.

“Absolutely, 100%, I can catch more fish with it. Our fish-catching percentages have gone up since we started using it,” Houston said.

Last year was the first full season Houston used the Garmin. His customers liked it so much he’s planning to add a second unit for the back of the boat so two clients can each watch as they fish.

“There are a couple big advantages,” Houston said. “One is it lets you see how the fish react to your bait. … Do they react if you slow down, speed up, start to zig-zag? The other is it lets us find fish in areas where we may never have looked before.”

Houston said he believes live-image technology will ultimately make fishing harder once the majority of anglers are using it. More people will be catching more fish, and catching them in new places, and fish will get harder to catch because they will be pressured more and more weary. And there will be fewer of them in the lake.

Houston, who is a fanatic about releasing fish, even convincing his customers to release most of the fish they catch, said he’s concerned about technological advances in fishing if most fish aren’t released.

“I’m always saying that with great power comes great responsibility,’’ Houston said, quoting the French author Voltaire. “Technology is great until it isn’t. I honestly don’t know how much farther we can take it and still have fish in the lakes.”

DNR weighs in: Some of your released fish die

Brad Parsons, fisheries section manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said it’s nearly impossible to try to legislate or regulate types of technology, noting similar calls to ban new gadgets arose when the first depth finders came out and when GPS satellite navigation systems became commonplace.

“It’s also very difficult to regulate ethics or morality,” he said.

Technology advances in fishing and hunting were one session during the DNR’s annual roundtable public discussion event in January, with questions raised on forward-facing sonar. There was no conclusion and no unanimous path for moving forward.

Parsons said the DNR has no plans at this point to adjust bag limits or size limits because of new technology. But he said the agency is closely watching their annual creel surveys to keep track of not only the number of fish anglers keep, but also angler catch rates — fish caught per hour or trip — and how many fish they catch and release.

“I don’t doubt at all that catch rates are increasing because of this technology. And what worries me, more than people keeping more fish (to eat) is that people don’t understand that a certain percentage of their released fish are dying, too,’’ Parsons said.

More fish caught and released means more dead fish, including from barotrauma, a condition seen in many fish caught in deep water caused by pressure changes leading to an expansion of gases in the swim bladder when they are reeled up quickly.

“A big part of this is angler education,” Parsons said. “People need to know that if they are catching fish in 40 feet of water and trying to release them, there’s a strong likelihood they aren’t going to survive. … Or if they’re catching them in 80-degree water in summer and trying to release them, the mortality rate is going to be high.”

But Parsons says that more anglers catching more fish is a good thing if done right.

“It means we have happy anglers, and it means the fish are there, that we have a healthy fishery in that location,’’ Parsons said. “But people need to know the impact of when and where they are catching fish, and how they release them. That’s going to make the difference in this, how people change their behavior in the wake of this new technology.”

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