Riding the Wave of Sportfishing Technology: Embracing the Digital Future

The Rapid Tide of Technological Progress: A Reflection

Reading the great features and columns sent in by our contributors in a recent issue of InTheBite Sportfishing Magazine got me thinking about the subject of technology in general versus sportfishing technology. Technological advances in our daily lives occur so fast that we often miss them, or simply take them for granted. Maybe we only notice them when they significantly affect us, either in a positive or a negative way.

Boating and Fishing Innovations: A Leap Forward

Most advancements in the boating and fishing world bring us positive change, making our equipment more reliable, easier to use and much more effective. The sophistication of today’s engines, electronics and related systems boggles the mind, especially when you think back to the gear we had even as recently as 10 years ago. Go back 30 years (I’m dating myself again), and the changes become even more dramatic.

The Balance Between Tradition and Modernity in Fishing

Now, I know some of you still chug around out there in boats powered by Detroit 6-71Ns, or something similar, with a paper chart recorder, or no sounder at all. Many of us resist technology, either to protest too much change too fast, or more often, because we’re cheap. I sometimes fall into that latter category. Technology costs money and you can go fishing without it, although you may not do as well as those with the latest and greatest advancements.

But resistance won’t work forever, because as time marches on, the older technologies become more and more obsolete and as things inevitably break, you can’t find anybody to fix the stuff anymore. So, the few of us who may have resisted in the past will have to embrace the newer technologies eventually if we still want to fish. And we do.

Personal Journey: Embracing Sportfishing Technology Autopilots and Beyond

Here’s an example of how I adopted technology in the past after resisting it for years. A buddy of mine and I were discussing autopilots the other day, and I told him that I had never owned one until I got talked into adding one to a new build in the early 2000s. “Why does anyone need an autopilot?” I used to say. I never understood the need for one, but once that new boat arrived, I had the proverbial epiphany. “How can anyone live without an autopilot?” I now say. These days, if my boat goes more than 50 yards in a straight line, it’s probably on autopilot.

I’ve never owned a Seakeeper or an Omni sonar either, but I bet I’d like them if I had them. I do worry about the proliferation of universal, blanket internet availability. It’s hard enough to get my grandkids to put down the phone or the iPad at home, and the last thing I need is to deal with that on the boat as well. And then there’s Artificial Intelligence.

The Digital Wave: Internet and AI in Sportfishing

Depending on who you listen to, AI will either be the salvation of humanity, or the death of it. It has already affected us in ways we barely notice: Try to find a cashier in Home Depot these days, for example. Technology will take over many jobs now done by humans, and hopefully we will all adapt comfortably and move forward with these changes. But I’ll bet AI will never replace people on boats.

It’s hard enough to teach people how to properly tie knots, drive boats, read water conditions and set an effective trolling spread without worrying about getting machines to do that stuff for us. That’s the fun part, anyway. But if we could somehow create the self-washing boat, then we’d be getting somewhere.

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