Thread: Hate Livescope??

Originally Posted by KHNC

Do you get above the brush and drop, or do you cast and retrieve with a 10-12' rod? If neither, what is your favorite technique when you find them with LS under a dock or over brush? Jig or minnows?

Not the OP but personally I'll stop about 40ft from the brush pile. I fish 11 and 13ft ACC rods. I pitch to the pile and catch all I can or want to catch until they turn off, and then ease up and vertical jig them often times dissecting the pile fora bigger fish I may see buried in it. Jigs. I've caught 2 fish out of the last 600-700, on jigs. I dont have minnows in the boat unless Im in a tourny and I see a fish I can't get to hit a jig. One of the two I caught on a minnow I missed twice on a jig and lip hooked a minnow on the jig and pitched back at it and caught. Funny thing with a Livescope, it's absolutely unreal at how many fish come up to a minnow and turn around and swim off, but you can pester with a jig and get them to bite.

don't hate or love it cause don't have one, but sure enjoy your reports about using it. Living the life man

Originally Posted by TreednNC

Not the OP but personally I'll stop about 40ft from the brush pile. I fish 11 and 13ft ACC rods. I pitch to the pile and catch all I can or want to catch until they turn off, and then ease up and vertical jig them often times dissecting the pile fora bigger fish I may see buried in it. Jigs. I've caught 2 fish out of the last 600-700, on jigs. I dont have minnows in the boat unless Im in a tourny and I see a fish I can't get to hit a jig. One of the two I caught on a minnow I missed twice on a jig and lip hooked a minnow on the jig and pitched back at it and caught. Funny thing with a Livescope, it's absolutely unreal at how many fish come up to a minnow and turn around and swim off, but you can pester with a jig and get them to bite.

I fish exactly like that only I use a 7 foot rod. Sometimes I’ll use a 10 but the 7 is so light the 10 feel funny. Always use jigs. Today the fish were 25-35 deep. I used a 1/8 with a split shot. Most were in open water. Caught 51 but only had 14 over 10 inches. Fished Norman today.


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I have a love/hate feeling with livescope. I don't personally own one, but I fish with friends that have it on their boats. It's an unbelievable tool and it definitely gives an angler an advantage (if they know how to use it) over traditional fishing methods. It doesn't make them bite, but day in and day out an angler that knows what they are doing will catch more fish with a livescope. I've seen it time and time again where someone livescoping will catch fish in an area that folks tightlining or trolling won't catch. I can't explain why in some cases, but I have been amazed at how spooky and finicky crappie are. I've caught thousands upon thousands of fish tightlining and now I wonder how I've ever caught one LOL

It's fun to catch them with livescope, but to me it does take some of the fun of "fishing" away. It's a different kind of fun with livescope. To see a fish react to your bait and run it down is a rush. But, the uncertainty of fishing without a livescope is what I've enjoyed about fishing for years. You never know what's on the end of your line when you get bit and you never know when the next bite will come. The anticipation of that next bite or that next big fish is exciting. You lose a lot of that with livescope IMO. You know when you're going to get bit and you can normally tell how big the fish is. In many cases you can distinguish between species. The educational value that livescope provides is unbelievable though. If you haven't fished with one I'd recommend everyone give it a try before knocking it. Get in the boat with a friend or even book a guide trip just to see it first hand. It's not for everyone and I get that 100%. There's still plenty of fish to be caught "old timey" fishing as I call it now.

I will probably own one before it's all said and done. Just to add that tool to my toolbox. Initially, I was borderline anti-livescope and I'm still unsure whether it should be allowed in competition. I understand everyone can get one, but the reality is not everyone can afford to buy it. As people figure out how to use it, the days of winning a tournament without livescope are becoming few and far between. With livescope in the mix I firmly believe the "best" fisherman doesn't necessarily win these days. It has leveled the playing field in that regard IMO. Technology is a crazy thing and most either love or hate it. Livescope has turned the fishing world upside down and especially the crappie world. But, its not been too long ago that Side Imaging did the same. If you don't believe it makes a huge difference, take a look at tournament weights these days in comparison to pre-livescope days. Not necessarily the winning weights in all cases, but the numbers of big weights throughout the year. More people are figuring out how to catch BIG fish 12 months out of the year and a lot of times those big fish can't be effectively targeted without livescope.

Love it or hate it, its here to stay. I'm still somewhere in the middle with my feelings, but like I said, I will probably own one before long. It's fun and it's extremely effective, but old timey fishing still has a place in my boat and always will.

Originally Posted by Crappie Buster

I have a love/hate feeling with livescope. You lose a lot of that with livescope IMO.

Love it or hate it, its here to stay. I'm still somewhere in the middle with my feelings

Kinda where I am but I'm perhaps a bit more negative toward it, though I've never used one. Admittedly, some days I wish I could have one if only to figure out why the crappie were kicking my butt! If I had one I'd have to use it constantly just to justify the cost. I'm sure I'd think it was great at the start but I believe in time, it would take something out of it for me.
Yesterday, I saw a YouTube of some guy at probably 700-1000 yards looking at a feral goat through his rifle scope. His buddy was next to him with an iPhone app, plugging in bullet weight, muzzle velocity, distance, angle, wind speed and direction, etc, etc. and the app was telling what adjustments to make with the scope settings to insure point of aim impact. The whole time I'm thinking, if it's hunting, what happened to fair chase and stalking?
You know, I'm not judging. If that's your thing go for it.
Bottom line for me, I think eventually I'd feel I had lost something.

What kind of surprised me was that I thought the bait had to be in pretty close proximity to get bit( especially in the dark tannin rivers in the eastern part of the state). This is not the case, those fish either see it or feel the bait long before it gets to them. I went with a very experineced LS fisherman to Kerr, and he would shoot that jig to the brush and those fish would come several feet up to get it, when it began to fall.

I enjoy all the myths being busted, like jack said about how far a bait cant be detected, or a crappie feeding DOWN, or that some days colors are for us and not them. Here's one I witnessed saturday and not the first time, fish turning, and seemingly spooking from a minnow on a plain aberdeen hook.

Tackleboat …. Where do you fish tourneys ? We always looking for some to fish ! I have livescope but still spider rig and use LS to get depth right on jigs


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