Second LiveScope Walleye Esperience: More unreal than the first

I don’t know what other people call it but I coined this phrase after my fishing outing on Mille Lacs yesterday, Live Corkin’.

I was riggin’ a flat with a leech in an area where I marked several fish. After several passes with only one fish, I spot locked, fired up the LiveScope and started panning to find fish and then casted to them with a slip bobber and a leech. Game on!!

I caught 4 fish in in ~30 minutes. In total I caught 8 fish this way, 5 from 18-20, a 22, a 23 and a 24.5. The fish I marked were up to 80 feet away but I only caught ones in the 20-50 foot distance except one that was right below the boat. I saw that one swimming under the boat on the LiveScope, dropped the leech and it hit it within 10 seconds. I only had a couple fish come up and look at the leech and not take it.

I tracked the 24-incher from the base of the flat to up on top. It stayed 30 to 40 feet away as it moved from one side of the boat, crossed in front and stopped on the other side. I casted to it and caught it. It moved over 100 feet before it stopped. I guess it was time for it to feed.

The pic is the 23. It was 50 feet from the boat and once the leech got down to it took 30 seconds to bite. Right below the fish’s tail is the bag that holds the LiveScope (I have the ice fishing bundle) and then you can see the pole (Brew City Trolling Motor) that holds the transducer attached to the gunwale with a Cisco mount.

I’ve had two outings now where the LiveScope has significantly increased the number of walleyes I caught. I’m pretty jacked about it.

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Good report. Power corking is another term I’ve heard.

That is great! Thanks for posting.

I have my livescope mounted on the transom and I think that’s a mistake. It’s pretty worthless since you can’t really pan side to side like yours.

This might have to change!

If your boat has rails you can get a simple RAM Claw/Arm/Claw setup for like $60

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JoeMX1825 wrote:

If your boat has rails you can get a simple RAM Claw/Arm/Claw setup for like $60

Take any sweet jumps with that scooter Joe?

lindyrig79 wrote:

Power corking is another term I’ve heard.

I power cork also but that’s when you drive around, mark a fish and flip the slip bobber out the back of the boat.

With Live Corkin’, I’m on Spot Lock and looking around the boat for fish and then casting to them. I think it may be more effective.

We’ll see how it plays out this summer.

Disclaimer: just my opinion and point of view. Are you guys that are incorporating this just “buying” fish?

I’ve had two outings now where the LiveScope has significantly increased the number of walleyes I caught. I’m pretty jacked about it.

I’m sure it’s generational but is money trumping talent? Guys complain about slots, DNR mismanagement, Yada Yada but will spend thousands to save time finding fish.

Are you fishing or invading Poland?

If they are who am I to judge what they spend their money on.

I’m buying all the fish I possibly can with my Livescope…and my mapping chips, waypoints, side imager, mega 360, down imaging, and my boat.

Netguy wrote:

I power cork also but that’s when you drive around, mark a fish and flip the slip bobber out the back of the boat.

With Live Corkin’, I’m on Spot Lock and looking around the boat for fish and then casting to them. I think it may be more effective.

We’ll see how it plays out this summer.

Do you think you could get a reactionary bite out of them with an artificial lure like a jigging rap? I mean if you know they are there, seems like that might work too.

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
If your boat has rails you can get a simple RAM Claw/Arm/Claw setup for like $60

Take any sweet jumps with that scooter Joe?

Ha! Thankfully I’ve only bandaged a few skinned knees

This technology and what’s surely to come is going to be hard on the resources. And really only affordable to some. Seems like a potential imbalance that will require stricter laws if good fishing is to remain in most lakes. The term “fish in a barrel” comes to mind.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

If your boat has rails you can get a simple RAM Claw/Arm/Claw setup for like $60

Nice rails Joe!!

suzuki wrote:

This technology and what’s surely to come is going to be hard on the resources. And really only affordable to some. Seems like a potential imbalance that will require stricter laws if good fishing is to remain in most lakes. The term “fish in a barrel” comes to mind.

I agree with you, it’s great technology, but it could be easily abused. The other thing i’ll say is that it helps you find them, but they still need to bite…Sometimes using the technology can be very frustrating as you can see the fish, but they just won’t bite…it would be easier just to not know they are there sometimes…

mxskeeter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
If your boat has rails you can get a simple RAM Claw/Arm/Claw setup for like $60

Nice rails Joe!!

Thanks! I got great installation advice!

belletaine wrote:

Are you guys that are incorporating this just “buying” fish?

Nope I buy fish at the market. I suppose you would complain about the new boat I bought last year and the other bells and whistles on it too. I worked hard in my career, saved my money and this rig is my retirement gift to myself.

quote=2040389]I’m sure it’s generational but is money trumping talent?[/quote]

belletaine, how old do you think I am? We could be in the same generation. I have a lot of experience and acquired plenty of talent in my 55 years of fishing plus subscribing to various fishing magazines and watching various fishing shows to learn about locations, presentations, etc. I already found the fish with my traditional down looking sonar and used the LiveScope to cast to them. I think with the clear water on Mille Lacs and how flat it was yesterday they were somewhat boat shy. Notice how I said all but one fish were 20 or more feet away? That kind of proves my point of boat shyness especially after the poor success I had rigging in the same location I caught them using the LiveScope.

belletaine wrote:

Guys complain about slots, DNR mismanagement, Yada Yada but will spend thousands to save time finding fish.

I’ve never complained about slots, DNR mismanagement or Yada Yada. If I don’t like the slot on a lake I could still fish it or I’ll go to a different lake. The number of walleye I harvest in a year could be counted on my hands and toes.

belletaine wrote:

Are you fishing or invading Poland?

I’m fishing. Who wants to invade Poland?

gimruis wrote:

Do you think you could get a reactionary bite out of them with an artificial lure like a jigging rap?

Maybe. I might go back to Mille Lacs tomorrow before the heat gets here. If I do and I can find the fish, I’ll try this presentation. Thanks gimruis.

Just sharing real results about a new fishing tool. Some guys I know are on the fence about getting one because of the price. The more they know about what it can do, the better.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Netguy wrote:</div>
I power cork also but that’s when you drive around, mark a fish and flip the slip bobber out the back of the boat.

With Live Corkin’, I’m on Spot Lock and looking around the boat for fish and then casting to them. I think it may be more effective.

We’ll see how it plays out this summer.

Do you think you could get a reactionary bite out of them with an artificial lure like a jigging rap? I mean if you know they are there, seems like that might work too.

Watch the Head two Head walleye tournament starting Monday. I can almost guarantee they will be doing this exact scenario.

Oh and thanks for the review and report Netguy. I for one appreciate a fishing report on this site.

Netguy wrote:

I’ve never complained about slots, DNR mismanagement or Yada Yada. If I don’t like the slot on a lake I could still fish it or I’ll go to a different lake. The number of walleye I harvest in a year could be counted on my hands and toes.

Your attitude is pretty good on this subject but I think Suzuki may be right. A lot of people will be transitioning to this technology in the future and there is going to be an uptick in harvest that accompanies it. Ice fishing will only add to the pressure too. I can foresee more restrictive limits in the future, especially for walleye situations like this and crappies in the winter.

Netguy,
You runnin the Garmin si/di ducer with your livescope setup or just runnin in perspective til you find em?

Hey Netguy, thanks for the clear and concise report. I’m definitely in the market for this technology. I have also worked and saved hard and am approaching retirement. Just got my first new boat with as many bells and whistles that were available. It took 6 months to get my last piece of gear.
I ordered a Helix 12 and it’s still back ordered. Finally got a Helix from Scheel’s online. Not what I wanted but it was available. The new boat was sitting at the dealership since November! Waiting for Humminbird to get “chips” for the next gen. (Read supply could not keep up with demand).
If others can afford it and afford to wait then that’s fair-play. The best advice I ever got was to get the best electronics that I could afford.
I grew up using a sinker to find bottom and then slowly reeling up to find suspended fish! Now I can watch them on my camera as they refuse to bite.
It’s not technology that’s the “problem”. It’s people. We all have the choice to keep our limit or not. We can get a reduced limit license in Minnesota. We can catch and release. We can set a personal “too big” size limit. We can support the efforts of biologists and the DNR. We can blame others. Yada yada!

This is the Land of 10,000 Opinions, and I applaud that. If you are not breaking the law then fish on! When limits are altered (read panfish), we can choose whether we fish, and where and when.

I plan to buy and use the best technology out there as long as it is legal. If it gets outlawed then poor me. If the laws change to improve fishing for everyone then we all win.
Especially the fish!

Gregg Gunter wrote:

Hey Netguy, thanks for the clear and concise report. I’m definitely in the market for this technology. I have also worked and saved hard and am approaching retirement. Just got my first new boat with as many bells and whistles that were available. It took 6 months to get my last piece of gear.
I ordered a Helix 12 and it’s still back ordered. Finally got a Helix from Scheel’s online. Not what I wanted but it was available. The new boat was sitting at the dealership since November! Waiting for Humminbird to get “chips” for the next gen. (Read supply could not keep up with demand).
If others can afford it and afford to wait then that’s fair-play. The best advice I ever got was to get the best electronics that I could afford.
I grew up using a sinker to find bottom and then slowly reeling up to find suspended fish! Now I can watch them on my camera as they refuse to bite.
It’s not technology that’s the “problem”. It’s people. We all have the choice to keep our limit or not. We can get a reduced limit license in Minnesota. We can catch and release. We can set a personal “too big” size limit. We can support the efforts of biologists and the DNR. We can blame others. Yada yada!

This is the Land of 10,000 Opinions, and I applaud that. If you are not breaking the law then fish on! When limits are altered (read panfish), we can choose whether we fish, and where and when.

I plan to buy and use the best technology out there as long as it is legal. If it gets outlawed then poor me. If the laws change to improve fishing for everyone then we all win.
Especially the fish!

Netguy wrote:

I don’t know what other people call it but I coined this phrase after my fishing outing on Mille Lacs yesterday, Live Corkin’.

I was riggin’ a flat with a leech in an area where I marked several fish. After several passes with only one fish, I spot locked, fired up the LiveScope and started panning to find fish and then casted to them with a slip bobber and a leech. Game on!!

I caught 4 fish in in ~30 minutes. In total I caught 8 fish this way, 5 from 18-20, a 22, a 23 and a 24.5. The fish I marked were up to 80 feet away but I only caught ones in the 20-50 foot distance except one that was right below the boat. I saw that one swimming under the boat on the LiveScope, dropped the leech and it hit it within 10 seconds. I only had a couple fish come up and look at the leech and not take it.

I tracked the 24-incher from the base of the flat to up on top. It stayed 30 to 40 feet away as it moved from one side of the boat, crossed in front and stopped on the other side. I casted to it and caught it. It moved over 100 feet before it stopped. I guess it was time for it to feed.

The pic is the 23. It was 50 feet from the boat and once the leech got down to it took 30 seconds to bite. Right below the fish’s tail is the bag that holds the LiveScope (I have the ice fishing bundle) and then you can see the pole (Brew City Trolling Motor) that holds the transducer attached to the gunwale with a Cisco mount.

I’ve had two outings now where the LiveScope has significantly increased the number of walleyes I caught. I’m pretty jacked about it.

Nice.

I think Toddrun (Mille lacs June-1 report thread) must have been fishing by you! Lol.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

If your boat has rails you can get a simple RAM Claw/Arm/Claw setup for like $60

Joe, what brand is your setup and does it convert to ice?

Netguy, same question – does your’s convert to ice?

I’m using my 73 for ice and I’d like to have one setup for both. I have rails so mounting should be easy.

I was on the flats yesterday using my new Active Target. All I can say is WOW!

It was dead calm and sunny and I fished from 12-3 in the afternoon, tough conditions. Casting to fish I saw on the Active Target got the job done. Caught 13 fish in 3 hours 3 over 25 (none over 26).

In the evening I went out to one of normal spots (caught a bunch), but the interesting part is how may fish swam around my boat. Could see many fish in any direction I pointed the transducer, and saw many groups of 5 or more fish swim right through the cone.

The number one thing I learned is 80-90% of the fish that looked at my leach passed on it.

I believe I actually caught less in the evening than I would normally because I was so busy watching them swim around. Crazy cool.

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
If your boat has rails you can get a simple RAM Claw/Arm/Claw setup for like $60

Joe, what brand is your setup and does it convert to ice?

Netguy, same question – does your’s convert to ice?

I’m using my 73 for ice and I’d like to have one setup for both. I have rails so mounting should be easy.

I use the Summit 60” retractable pole for open water and ice use, its the best bang for the buck option imo. I also mounted a RAM ball on the front of my dock to use the pole setup, it works great!

BrianF wrote:

I’m buying all the fish I possibly can with my Livescope…and my mapping chips, waypoints, side imager, mega 360, down imaging, and my boat.

I appreciate the honest answer, but do you think the long term affect on the fisheries will be impacted by it?

belletaine wrote:

I appreciate the honest answer, but do you think the long term affect on the fisheries will be impacted by it?

It’s a very good question and will become more ‘top of the mind’ as the tech continues to evolve and becomes more mainstream.

Personally, I don’t keep/eat fish, which is probably an exception rather than the rule. All go back immediately. But even 100% catch & release anglers like me create some low level of inadvertent delayed mortality based on the many studies that are out there. So, if improved technology increases a catch & release angler’s efficiency, then it stands to reason that the technology also increases inadvertent delayed mortality.

On the other end of the spectrum, a much greater percentage of the fishing population seems to desire to eat their catch. As improved technology gets into the hands of more and more catch & eat anglers, there is going to be greater harvest, no doubt. This is on top of greater inadvertent delayed mortality on the fish they release.

In my opinion, the DNR generally manages fisheries from behind the curve. They would do well to get ahead of the curve as the technology is rolled out to the masses rather than play catch-up after a fishery gets damaged. What seems to make sense is to manage bag/length/slot limits taking into effect the greater angler efficiency from improved technology.

With that said, it seems we are far from any tipping point as relatively few have the technology today. Certainly, in the next 5-10 years something will need to change to preserve the quality of our fisheries. The impact overall has just not been great enough yet to get the DNR to defensively make bag/length limit changes.

One last thought: what Livescope has opened my eyes to is the fact that there are far more fish in the water than we ever realized. Many, if not most, won’t/don’t bite. Seeing this gives me hope that we still have plenty of time to make the necessary changes, but I’d like to see the DNR get proactive with regard to the potential tech threat.

I plan to stay on the cutting edge of fishing technology because I enjoy it and the increased knowledge, productivity, and ‘fun factor’ it brings. With the increased efficiency though comes a greater sense of – and need for – conservation. Now more than ever it’s up to guys like me to take care of our fish for the sake of the resource.

Back in the late 60s I paid over $300.00 for a Lowrance “green box” flasher. Comments back then were similar to what I’m seeing here today about the LiveScope. That money then was harder for me to come up with than what I spent on the LiveScope this spring. For me the LiveScope is a toy but also a tool. As mentioned above I’ve learned the boat scares fish away more than I ever realized and they can be in reach but not feeding. I fish the river and think it mAy be harder to use than in cleaner water without strong current. It can be work to get settings just right and the distance I can see fish is less than some experience. So far I have only caught a couple fish attributed to LiveScope but I’ll keep playing with it.

Pretty sweet tech!

DNR will manage the same way they always manage.
Lake booms.
Lake busts.
Stock lake……
Lake booms.
Lake busts.
Stock Lake…..

It is only recently where they cater to the fisherman to reduce limits based on their complaining. Once they reduce limits. The trend is as follows:

Lake booms.
Lake busts.
Stock lake……
Lake booms.
Lake busts.
Stock Lake…..

Go catch fish.