All I know is there is absolutely nothing like that magical moment of getting absolutely SMASHED out of nowhere by your PB, or any fish for that matter, and not having a clue it’s coming. That’s fishing to me and that feeling is why I’ve been addicted to it since I was a little kid. I understand having to compete for money and doing what you gotta do to survive in that world, but personally as someone who fishes for the passion and pride of it… I’d never want to know that hit is coming. ❤️🎣😎🤙🏽
They have used electro fishing for decades too but we don't use them in tournaments. The Alabama rig was banned. It's a lure right? Just because we use similar tools doesn't make every tool appropriate for the sport. We don't use spotlights to hunt deer. Pro baseball doesn't use aluminum bats. The point is that not every technology is good for a sport or the environment.
@@MillikenFishing Those studies on crappie are encouraging. I would love to see some more studies on bass though. My friend is a fisheries biologist for the state GFP. He said there have not been any studies done on FFS in the state. He mentioned, as you also know, as an environmental study grad, that 1 or 2 studies is not sufficient to draw definite conclusions and that those studies will take years to complete. It is also important to compare apples to apples when comparing data sets. Data on crappie dose not necessarily correlate to bass.
@@MillikenFishinghey Mike what blows me away is that no talks about what should be #1 like every other graph is SAFETY, in my Massachusetts, Rhode Island area, mostof the ponds are 8 to 10 feet deep and full of rocks,I’ve gone swimming twice before having Active Target 🤷🤷
@@DIYAlliedCrappie are probably the worst species to use if they want to extrapolate to bass. Their fecundity dictates that they need to be culled and harvested much more rigorously than bass. The baseline harvest rate vs C&R is also much higher.
Ben would absolutely smoke Randy it wouldn’t be competitive. Randy doesn’t fish near the amount of time Ben does. Can’t replace time on the water. Randy knows he wouldn’t out fish Ben.
@@The_Bass_Stunters No doubt about it! But a small part of me would be rooting for Randy. I think he’s taken enough punishment, one little victory would be ok lol
@@dtffishingmi yeah, I believe it’s been about 20 years since Randy had a top 10 finish. Think about all the technology developed since then. From braided line and flouro, to powerful quiet trolling motors, power poles, rods, reels, and Randy’s GPS maps for sale. To allow for him to make a comeback, they need to go back to using Ugly Sticks and ABU 5500C reels with a Manns jelly worm
I've seen the same thing on the water. No one teaches the unwritten rules of on the water courtesy either. I think it is due to the increase in fatherless families.
It is sad how young people no longer learn the importance of manners and respect. Some of it could be have no dads in the home, I believe it’s more likely because they have no Hod in their home. As a Boomer, I have to admit that many of my peers have forgotten their manners as well. Just because you did it first or been doing it a long time doesn’t mean you deserve special treatment. I see too many old men rolll up on other fishermen and try to take a spit because it is “theirs”.
Avid angler and overall bass fishing fan. Why can’t everyone admit FFS is not comparable to 2D. Also, Milliken is arrogant and disrespectful. Randy is a class act regardless of his stance.
There is nothing classy about Randy. He throws shade at all fisherman on a daily basis. That’s the definition of not having class. This is his come upon
Was able to watch about half of this. Enjoyed some very interesting data and good dialogue, but I think something everyone can take away from this, is you don’t have to necessarily respect someone to show respect. As both a viewer and a professional in this industry, character is everything, even in this ever evolving modern society. I can “feel” Ben’s anger towards Randy, and I assume this is from Randy’s video or the “attack” as Ben perceived it from Randy. Regardless if it was a blatant attack, I’ve always respected, listened and applauded those who are able to calmly and respectfully debate their opponents, with intellect and patience, rather than throw bows at every opportunity. I see several other comments in agreement with this. I think Ben’s a hammer, he’s from my home state, but I think there’s a lesson in deliverance and humility that could help him reach more people , and not turn folks off of him. He has a ton of knowledge, everyone on the show did. Just my observation!
I watch a lot of bad fishing videos. I don’t use spot lock, ffs, power pulls, fluorocarbon line. I don’t have a 250hp outboard. It’s amazing that I ever caught a fish at all. I fished with a guy with ffs once, if I was fishing pro events right now I’d have to have it, it’s definitely spot lighting, it’s not fishing, I like to fish.
I’m sure someone here will correct me if I’m wrong but I feel like a really simple answer to a lot of this forward facing sonar talk would be to just start a no electronics or minimal electronics fishing trail. There’s gotta be a group of people out there that would happily fish them, and I find it hard to believe that, there isn’t companies out there that would support that too.
Fun idea but you would still need mapping if you did this on a larger scale then ur Tuesday nighters. No one is running down a lake that's full of obstructions without mapping lol
@@hunterjarnigan7220 it’s all theoretical ofc but I’m sure that there would be enough in it for sponsors with live coverage of weigh in and on the water coverage… just because electronics/fish finders would be restricted doesn’t mean coverage would have to be!
I'm a no body. But I've worked acrossed many bass pros now sense I started at tracker in Knoxville back in 2008. The biggest issue in BASS. Is weigh in/over fishing lakes/ just catching them period. I've talked DNR. Fish and Game. University researchers. Pros you name it. In the pro setting, not doing weigh ins could really help. But even at that. A larger percent then most don't know, die after they themselves catch them... I'm nothing more then a boat yard guy. But we aren't talking about the right issue if we want to "help" bass.
That is a point I've been beating the drum for as well. I'm a kayak angler and if a bunch of plastic boat guys can learn catch, photo and release, I don't know why the bass boat guys should have such a hard time adopting it- they are electronic geniuses, after all, aren't they? TourneyX isn't a hard app to learn, and the regulated Ketch measuring boards only cost about $20. Everyone has a cell phone now days.
I can understand both Ben and Randy's point, but tend to lean more towards Randy. There needs to be a middle ground and there is something to be said about the difference between fishing and catching. Ben wants to push his data, while disregarding others and was clearly disrespectful in this forum, regardless of any videos before it. Ben acts like his voice is the only one that matters. He kept saying he doesn't care whether or not FFS continued to be used but everything about him said otherwise. It just seemed like he wanted to be right more than anything else.
The fishing started to (suck) to randys point when high school and college tournaments started happeneing every weekend and they had 2-300 boats in them every weekend
I enjoyed the debate between Randy and Ben and I subscribe to both of them, but I thought it was kind of childish that Ben did not respond to Randy at the end when Randy had to leave.
I think many of the younger generation think his demeanor was normal and okay- they can't differentiate a professional debate (which this tried to be) versus an on-line troll fest.
Randy has been the childish one with his comments about “spot lighters”, and “scopers that can’t fish without cheating”. Randy having a hard time accepting that the fishing world has left him behind
@@Steve13lb12oz Did he REALLY call those people "cheaters"? Literally? I think the livescope sonar beam and directionality is entirely analogous to a beam of light. That isn't that great of a leap to see the similarities.
@@cuivre2004 yes, on multiple occasions he used those terms. He also said that any tournament win using FFS was illegitimate and should have an asterisk on it. No, spot lighting deer at night, when the beam of light hits them, they freeze. If you don’t hunt, think about deer in the highways that sees a car’s headlights. They freeze. A frozen deer is very easy to shoot. It’s illegal. Using the same basic technology of sending a sonar beam out and seeing a blip on a screen to know the general area of a fish is very different and also not illegal.
He mentioned earlier that he respected Randy’s accomplishment’s. I doubt he was trying to be a dick. Though I guess you never know. Probably didn’t want to speak over other guys . Or maybe he was muted . The host said they were going to mute him when he wasn’t speaking because of an echo problem.
There's no doubt Ben Milliken is good fisherman. There's no doubt that he's pretty smart. Had friends that watch his channel. They tried to get me to watch his channel. But I couldn't stand the ego. The dominion language about whoever. people on the Lake around him. people on social media. I just. Couldn't take the Ego. its one thing To be good And be humble about it. it's another thing to be good and tell everybody how good you are. Back when I Tried to watch his videos he went to the Omaha. Tackle show. I've never been But the The Belittling and talking down about the people that were there. I think that was probably the last one I watcand it p***** me off. It still comes up on my feed once in a while. I scroll past as fast as I can. the reason I watched this video. It's because it's not his channel. This whole video could have been Ben and Randy. I feel sorry for the other 2 sitting there. Listening to all the B s coming out of milliken's mouth And milliken's Vendetta against randy Obviously Randy does live inside Ben's head rent free.
@@JMFishing It's just funny that ben had all that Stuff Researched and pretty much just jumped randy with it. And Randy answered all those questions with Fishing knowledge and Common sense
its funny too because he talks about how his placings were bad but Randys point isnt that he would still be winning or placing good if fss wasnt around in fact hes openly mentioned hes not as good as he once was, Ben just missed the point entirely
In a way I agree with both guys. I think technology is a tool that should be utilized to improve your chances of success but I also lean towards the sentiment that Randy has that we should limit the use of technology during competition. He brought up the rangefinder in golf. I think there are lots of parallels between the two sports. Equipment and technology have evolved in both, giving us better clubs, rods and reels, balls and lures. We also have range finders, gps course mapping, and AI that tracks our shots and can suggest what clubs and shots we should hit based off our past performance as well as environmental factors. The pros can utilize any and all of that technology to prepare but once the tournament starts they are limited in what they can use and are made to rely on their knowledge, experience and intuition to execute. I think the same thing applied to tournament fishing would be the best way to go.
you are 100% correct. the tech is going to continue to advance, and anglers will continue to buy it, even if only to use in practice...that is where this tech belongs. it allows anglers to continue to use it to learn more about bass and their reactions, which is one of Bens arguments.
You can gauge character by how the 2 guests signed off - the one wished the other luck, and the other took the opportunity to dis the other when not around (real class - what you see is what you will get). This sport has a way to humble people........
I think sponsors have a way of humbling people as well. I don't think Ben has the amount of "F@ck You Money" as he thinks he does. He did his brand damage in that interaction.
Did randy try to get Ben disqualified in one of the opens this year? If true I wouldn’t have shown any respect towards him either. But I don’t know the details. So who knows. 🤷♂️
Abracadabra! Randy can say to the world that you would never qualify for a tournament without livescope but not trash you at the same time. That’s some good magic!
I would say Ben won this debate . He brought facts and data . Randy uses his subscribers to prove his point. His subscribers flock to him because they share his opinions. It is getting old seeing every tournament won with FFS. It would be nice to ban it for at least a few tournaments.
@@timg185 The "facts" Ben brought was "we don't know". Some facts, eh? The only thing Ben brought to the table was the big chip on his shoulder, and anonymous uncited studies by some anonymous "gentlemen" he basically said "trust me" about. Scientific studies mention "P-values" (probabilities)- not "facts". Lay people are wrong when they use these two terms interchangeably.
@@cuivre2004 he had a couple studies written down and said he would send them to Randy. I referred back on one point to find out what the study was based on. So it wasn’t just made up. He also used the opinions of professionals that use data every day to do their jobs managing fisheries. You seem kind of butt hurt because your beliefs are challenged . I kind of feel like the truth is some where in the middle . As usual the people whining the most are probably people that couldn’t catch fish to begin with.
@@timg185 Please, don't get your own bowels in an uproar over this debate. When you start to use ad hominem attacks against the person you are discussing an issue with, you look like as much of an amateur as Ben did. Most people who have had any higher education at all knows how to keep a level head and maintain a degree of being dispassionate about it-and they stay on the subject and don't devolve into personal attacks. Doing that makes you look like your tank has run empty.
Paul Elias is a prime example. In 2008 caught 132 lbs in a four day tournament fishing offshore, throwing in the middle of the lake. It was awesome to watch and he wasn't flipping a bunch of laydowns or bushes on the bank.
At least Randy had the decency to acknowledge Milliken as a good fisherman, who Randy respected. On the other hand, Milliken didn’t have a single word to say about Randy. Goes to show whose head is so ego infested & full of it that they have no room for anything else!
I think a lot of people who didn't know Ben already came away from that video knowing a lot more about his true self. I think Randy and Ben are competing to be the "heel" in this industry-but at opposite ends of the Bell Curve.
Randy has been dissing Ben before Ben even came at him the way he did. I’m pretty sure he tried to even disqualify him in an event . Randy has been coming at guys for a while now . Don’t bring any one into it if you don’t want anything said back to you 💯
@@cuivre2004 he did use his name a good while back. You do the search if you want it so bad. But you don’t need to say a persons name to talk about them. Statements like: these spotlighters that are qualifying for the Elite couldn’t catch a fish without their ffs.
Izzy's comments about A.I. are spot on. Everyone is anxious about FFS, but it's much more insidious. Pros are unknowingly surrendering their expertise and intellectual property to these data harvesting corporations. Garmin owns every waypoint Milliken has dropped, along with time/data stamps. When A.I. starts analyzing fish and fisherman behavior, expertise will come from machines, not men.
One of the greatest insights I’ve seen. You should think more on this issue and pursue your intellectual capabilities. We are selling ourselves to these companies.
I believe that live scope should be used only in practice and all the anglers should have the exact same set up provided by the electronics companies so it remains a level playing field, the days of tournaments all the monitors should be left off the boats
Decent idea about practice! But how would the sponsorship thing work when pros have so many different sponsors supporting them. They can’t all use one said product. At the end of the day money drives the sport and the sponsors are what give it. It’ll be up to them, to then work with the organizations, then the anglers. My 2 cents lol.
The problem I see with this is that it’s not easy just to take it off. This stuff is hardwired into every boat. I know when I’m swapping graphs and gear around or trying different stuff I have to take my whole boat apart. You can say well your not aloud to use it, someone is going to cheat and use it anyways.
At the end of the day its not the new lures or technology thats hurting bass fisheries. Lets be honest its the thousands and thousands of tournements on all these lakes. Most guys in this sport are in it for the wrong reason. Its became a look at me show not just something to do for fun or to put food on table.
Ben did NOT present any scientific data. He referenced catch rate studies that are not relevant to the discussion. He also continually insulted Randy. And, it was very unprofessional and immature to make personal comments about Randy. It did nothing but decrease his own credibility. If FFS anglers are dominating leaderboards, that's a fact that's not disputable. Just because everyone in a tournament has access to FFS, doesn't mean it's a level playing field. This discussion was allowed to go down rabbit trails that have nothing to do with the main discussion. Advances in technology have influenced fishing and fish are adapting to these changes. The discussion here is about a small advance in technology that is having a major impact on tournament leaderboard results. At the professional level, small advances can make a huge impact on results. That's why every professional sport has restrictions on equipment and gear - to keep the playing as level as possible.
Kinda expected more out of Ben here. Maybe he let the emotions get the best of him. He usually seems to portray a higher level of professionalism than he did here, even when he strongly disagrees w someone. Ben is going to elevate this sport to a level its never imagined, but you have to respect the perspective of the players that came before and built the foundation even when you disagree
Hes been getting shit on for years...Professionals were bashing him for targeting giants with FfS before he started professionally fiahing...hes probably tired of it lol
He showed his true colors. He is not changing the sport it’s been on an incline since before dumpy diapers Ben. The truth is people like one rod and Mikey ballz and Jon b made it popular again with social media and TH-cam. Most everyone else are riding coat tails. Ben has always had a crap attitude and a bit immature. It’s the whole reason he gets crapped on. That’s life. You all must be 12 and spoiled brats too. Womp womp to yo mommy, not social media
I think Blaukat and Milliken need to have a 3 lake old school fish off, no electronics, for the fate of FFS. If Ben wins it stays, if Randy wins it’s banned.
Randy should start his own tournament trail where ffs isn't allowed in the boat. If there's a desire to follow that style of fishing, it will become a success, and we will know that he was right.
A that's too much pressure on everyone in the sport to leave it on the shoulders of two people and b either adapt with new technology or get out of the sport.
@@marshalllaw4116 Randy will never do this. He has bit off more than he can chew now. Running a cookie jar tournament is a thankless job. Running a circuit is a full time job only a few can master. There are few Ray Scott's in this world.
Might as well go ahead and start letting guys chuck dynamite in the lake on the trails...it is not fishing and has no place in competitive tournaments, period. Randy is right on, and if you think you can prove him wrong turn off your FFS units and do so....oh listen to the crickets! Seriously, the dynamite would probably be a lot more interesting.
I was really surprised no one mentioned that all of this technology has been available to anglers since the late 70s, and side imaging was late 80s. The first foreward sonar was called "Pro model Bass hunter" and was made by B.E.F. Manufacturing in 1979. Roland Martin and Rick Pierce along with others ran these units. In the late 80s "side finder" by Bottom Line were the rage. Infisherman promoted Bottom line units because of the side imaging capabilities.
4k videos of fish actually swimming around like the ones on you tube- If that tech is integrated into fishing the fish won't have a chance - The big females need some R and R out in the deep water before they move on to their summer spots- A lake I fish in Maine shuts down fishing after Memorial day till the middle off June to give the females a chance to spawn and then move out to deeper water-- Keeps everyone from taking the Big Ladies and putting them on their cabin walls!!
Interesting debate. Definitely felt some tension between Ben and Randy. Time is the only thing that will truly show a clearer picture with more complete data.
Ben was showing tension- Randy was pretty calm in comparison. Seems like this is the first time Ben ever had an intellectual debate-he couldn't maintain a professional demeanor and let his emotions get the better of him. Randy is trained in martial arts and competed in the ring- he can maintain his emotions much better due to that training.
@@Davo2233 I watched it objectively. Ben was gesticulating and disrespecting people throughout the entire debate- even the other guys who tried to get a word in edgewise. They were even making fun of him for not letting them speak.
@@Benwtradarchery I actually have MegaLive- so I don't totally agree with Randy on this subject. I do look at how each of them tried to debate the issue. Regardless of the subject- Ben came across as douchey.
Average individual salary in 1982 was $11k. I found an article where Elias remembers seeing a brand new "tricked out" Ranger for $20k. Average income now is $60k and it's about $120k for a fully maxed out to the teeth bass boat. Nothing has changed, people laughed at you then if you were a broke kid and told them you want to be a pro. It was possibly even harder back then. I like Ben and I like Randy. They both represent one thing, changing times. If Ben is still around in 30-40 years I bet he'll be bitching about $3.2 million bass boats and the automatic lake strainer that kids are using to grab the fish straight out the lake.
I went to my first BassMaster BP Top 100 weigh in the summer of 1994 and the local Ranger dealer had some boats displayed there, brand new 363 with a 150 Johnson fast strike on it and 2 lowrance graphs for $21,900
Every time Randy gives an example of someone Ben automatically thinks it’s just one person. Mean damn Ben lol. We are giving EXAMPLES lol. Ben….I just can’t stand him. Disrespectful and the problem in todays sport. He is the face of the problem sometimes that we have with the younger generation of fisherman. Hate it…
@@kenduke6631 I enjoyed it. One of the best back and forth entertainment we have seen on this topic in a while from both points of view. Keep the great videos coming with you and BTC!!!
I like the discussion around the issue. I think many good points were made and good view point shared. I will always hold to the belief that if you fish professionally and are a “pro” you should be a leader and show how it can be done minus the spot lightning. Randy did a great job explaining his position Ben did not.
I would think that to if I was a blauket fan boy. But Ben is well within his right to blast Randy. Randy has sat around blasting everyone for years. Ben said what the silent majority has been thinking and it’s long overdue.
I don’t understand why banning the technology of jet drives and tunnel hulls never comes up? I have a problem with that! Keep your silly spot light those fish are going to get over exploited soon enough. Those fish are still going to live up the river and the guy with a jet drive’s going to catch them!
I’d like to see FFS allowed the first 2 days of a tournament then the last 2 not allowed. I think that would really shake up the way guys fish a tournament
The 2020 elite series schedule was fished in the fall…. Naturally catch rate’s probably wouldn’t be as good… so some of this “data” could be off a bit.
A rig was brought to a vote by the elite level anglers at BASS and agreed to not use it at that level. Was never "banned" by the organization but anglers that compete at that level to agree not to use it in thar level of competition
Ben is quoting data on general lake fishing. I say general fishing is okay for forward sonar. In my opinion, to level the playing field in pro tournaments, it should be outlawed.
I went to the Fred Robinson bridge on the Missouri river from 1979 to 1996 looking for paddlefish. I would think forward facing sonar would be deadly on paddlers.
Insightful. But this podcast begged for more guidance and leading from the host/s or moderators. Guests should not be allowed to engage in isolated and untethered debate for extended periods.
To your point earlier, if a young guy is able to fish that often, then obviously they're going to have the best of the electronics. Fishing 340 days a year, even for 2 or 3 years, probably means they have more time on the water than 95% of anglers. Statistically speaking, they're going to be much more productive with their time on the water. Couple that with the fact that FFS lets you roll up to a point or lake structure, scan for fish, and decide if it's worth your time. FFS is clearly giving anglers an advantage. @@MillikenFishing
Really?? Not 340 but I fished 300+/- days from age 16 to about 21. Minimum wage jobs, borrowed boats, or from shore! The young man fishes 340 days a year because he is a hard worker, trying succeed at his career! Are we really going to hate on someone putting the work in?? Jealousy, looks bad man!
@@lamebritishman1 ffs not an advantage at the top level when everyone has that technology. Ben has never said it doesn't aid a fisherman, but the unit doesn't present the lure to the fish. Often time knowing the fish are on a certain piece of structure is a hindrance because your ego tells you, you can make them bite. Wasted time on specific fish can be a big hamper in a tournament.
It’s like growing up watching dunks and layups in the nba now it’s all about that 3 ball. Everyone growing up beating the bank catching many and now anglers off shore shooting 3s the game changes
Great episode I think Milliken is wrong about Randy. Yes, he does click bait stuff, butI'm pretty sure he really doesn't like FFS. I agree he posts too much about it, but I don't think it's strictly for clicks
All you tubers do click bait recent from Ben I got hit by lightning but he didn't, one of many click baits but they all use click bait gotta get the views !!!!!!!
@@joewinkler2168 You tell a lie every time you tell a truth? It’s absolutely for clicks. Hell Randy said it himself 5 times on this podcast. If I title videos truthfully yall don’t watch. WTF else would’ve convinced you? The Blaukat minions who comment are in a trance. They act like they would go full out Jim Johnson or Heavens Gate if Randy said it was time to leave earth and win a Darwin Award
@@davejolly582 I think he cares about his opinion on FFS, but he's also figured out that FFS videos are his most watched and commented videos. Whether he likes it or not, he knows that the money is in FFS videos (and Randy is self admitently on TH-cam to make money). I've been around his channel long enough to remember a video titled "my final epic rant on video game fishing with livescope/active target". that video was 2 years ago and easily 100+ livescope videos ago.
Do a “cost cap” like in Formula 1 racing. Say $100k as an arbitrary number. Anglers can do whatever they want, just the total cost of boat/ motor/ technology and accessories can’t exceed whatever the determined max budget allowance is… Could also drive some potential content if the budget is set lower with anglers having to choose which elements to equip and what they have to leave off the boat for any particular tourney/ lake.
Randy is from the school of thought that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. It was hammered in everybody's head for years. Turns out theres just as many out deep and they were an untouched group of fish. People have had to realize this and adjust, FFS opened this up for everyone. Randy still wants to beat the bank one stretch at a time.
Thats the point. Anglers had to target those untouched fish with livescope specifically because they'd fail to cash a cheque if they didnt. Half of the events now are "must livescope" to have a chance at a cheque. in 20 years, when those untouched fish are "fished out" just like the humps and community holes are at this point in those "must livescope" events, then what? Then you see catch rates go down. If you had specific data for 2021-2023 for shallow fish, offshore point and hump fish etc, in events that a livescoper won, the catch rate would show a decrease, because the winning anglers are catching solo fish swimming on random flats or structure. Ben should enter one of those events that are a must to have live scope, and then NOT use it, and see if he catches the same rate or fails to cash a cheque. Standardized country wide catch data will have not shown a difference because recreational dude who fishes 6 weekends a year (and makes up the majority of fisherman) still is running his 2d graph from 2005. in 20 years, when the barrier to entry is $350 to fish with live sonar off a lowrance hook unit, thats when you see the real damage to the fisheries
Couldn't even say one word. Even if he had made a good point it would be negated by his snarky disrespect. His response to using those thumbnails was "I only used it twice" wtf. He tried to gaslight everybody that it never happened at first though. Not to mention the podcast trash.
Eventually they headed toward inferred cameras built into trolling motor heads that can see 50ft in front of them and 50 ft below them with clear sky image..
Ben talked fish catch numbers, not weights. It's a stretch to say that the younger generation is simply better. Fishing 340 days a year? Sounds like daddy got some money.
Sooooo should we look at how much money someone has in their bank account as a pre-requisite to enter a tournament? Or limit the amount of days someone can spend on the water? Also, I talked numbers, weights, number of quality fish etc.
I would love for a pro fisherman on either trail post the analytics or viewership numbers on each place they fish. If livescope plays show me the numbers after each tx
Thank you so much Ben! I have wanted to say what you said to Blaukat’s idiotic ass! You ripped him a new asshole! Your right as well about his minions. If you read his comments they sound like cult members!
So because a parent has sacrificed and worked to make a great life for their children that is some problem? As parent it’s one of my responsibilities to ensure my children are equipped for life in the best possible way. Daddy’s money doesn’t make a kid want to spend time on the water or work hard at becoming a great angler.
@@rustyscopano2667 You have parenting all wrong if you think it is your job to grease the skids for your children to skate through life. Hard times and needing to show some of their own grit makes the steel tempered. Otherwise kids will be soft as lead. Easy times make for soft men.
I don't like the 9EQ set up. It's fine what bassmaster wants to do but for me the entire idea of an open tournament schedule is to give guys a shot at the dream of being an elite angler without a $100k cost to do it. 3 divisions and 3 anglers from each was better from my personal point of view. To me it solidifies the Toyota Series being the #1 open series.
The flipping era has been done for a long time. Most tournaments have been won off shore the last 20 years. With the exception of spring. Most of the bigger fish are off shore.
@@billfrisk111 mostly referring to stuff 10 ft deep or more . But technically anything not near the bank is off shore. But wouldn’t consider flipping shallow grass out in the middle of the lake offshore either.
There is a much bigger problem than forward facing sonar. That is over development, decrease in EPA regulations, which all contribute to ecological depletion within our fisheries. This explains why the catch rates in the past years were much greater than the past 5yrs.
I also think the reason that you are seeing the young guys succeed is the work that they are putting in. They have no spouses, kids or other responsibilities and are able to get better using the technology as well as spending countless hours on TH-cam and the web, gathering information that used to have to happen on the water.
I would bet the bank. You take any under 25 anglers. Take away all electronics. Put them on a lake they haven’t been on with no cell phone. No prior major tournaments have been there. They couldn’t catch a limit of fish. Then put them head to head on several different types of lakes with someone that doesn’t use ffs and they will lose.
Why in hell do you Blaukat cult members just spew the same garbage he says on 14+ pitifully amateur videos weekly. You are probably the one that watches him play a shrink every Monday.
Even the best livescopers (Josh Jones, Chris Johnston, etc) agree that watching someone stare at a screen all day and only make a cast when they see a fish on the screen is like watching paint dry. You know whats gonna happen before it happens. Much more enjoyable watching pros flipping, punching mats, frogging, etc. Facts
I thank how deep fish are being caught and not knowing how to take care of them is causing more problems then the graph. I use ffs and that's my opinion
Yep I don't like spotted bass in my area. Their not native & have been stocked illegally in the past & now they dominate the some of the lakes. Like lake Russell, Clark's Hill. I'm not sure about Hartwell but it's probably the same. But lakes Murray, Santee Cooper don't have them to bad thankfully. For those 2 lakes if you catch spots your supposed to keep them all, no limits on spots in lake Murray. I'd much rather catch largmouth, smallmouth or striper!
Clearly you have never fished the Coosa River or Smith Lake in Alabama. Like I have heard many pro anglers say, “ If you took a length of rope and somehow tied or connected a 5 lb. Coosa River Spotted bass and a 5 lb. smallmouth by the tails the spot would drag the smallmouth all over the lake. Also heard several tourney pros say Coosa spots were the hardest fighting bass in the world other than peacock bass .
I think spotted bass are harming largemouth populations. Texas lakes have very few spots in their lakes where as Oklahoma lakes with large populations of spots seem to have “stunted” largemouth growth.
Just have Randy and Ben settle the score on a lake they have never fish, let them have 3 days practice, Zero electronics and only a Topo map and see how is the best fisherman.
Randy said fishing use to be better and now it sucks in his state. Well news for ya we use to have big bucks all over my land but now they have all gotten smaller and I believe it's weather related. Honestly I have live scope and I can assure you it's not as easy as Ben makes it look he's really good at it. I have probably caught 4-5 on live scope and I've tried and tried it some people have it and some don't!!!!!!
There are two sides to every coin and this episode showed both. As far as FFS causing an issue with ‘over harvesting’ from my humble and uneducated opinion, its not as big of threat as… and I’m gonna say it… catching spawning fish. That’s where real damage is done to fish populations but ain’t nobody wanna speak on that. I’ll see myself out 🚪 👋
I always said CPR should become the standard for tournaments- boat tournaments should follow kayak tournaments lead. Less trauma to the fish, less relocation stress and less harm to them spawning. Let the fish distribute themselves in a lake naturally instead of making them play musical marinas dumps every damn weekend tournament.
Agreed. I hate watching those spawn time events aswell. I'd rather watch a guy scanning offshore then a guy running down the bank and standing on his trolling motor mount flipping at a fish spawning.
Ben has always been cocky but that’s neither here nor there. Just something I noticed but he started trying to catch double digits in a few of his TH-cam videos and was successful doing so. In fact he was so successful that now when he catches a 3, 4 or even a 5lb bass it’s just a “little guy” and his enthusiasm and excitement isn’t there anymore for the “little guys” bc he has LS to help him hunt for those giants. Most fisherman spend their entire lives in hopes of hooking into a 10lb bass bc that’s considered a fish of a lifetime. I’m guessing the majority of fishermen never even get close. But I see both sides of the argument and just my opinion is to either have certain tournaments that allow LS or only allow it during your 2 or 3 day practices before the tournament. During the tournaments you have to go off what you learned during practice while using your LS and now you have to put your head down and just fish.
I think Randy’s argument about viewing experience is unwarranted. Watching people fish shallow vs watching people off shore has more to do with the tournament location than livescope. Taking livescope away isn’t going to stop people from fishing offshore. Like Ben said, people have been fishing offshore for over 20 years.
I think Ben is a pretty shitty of him to wait till Randy gets off to start bad mouthing his career. What a low class move. I find Ben to be an arrogant ass. the whole time Randy was talking he was respectful.
Milliken with complete disregard for Blaukat (me2) with the premeditated walk off on Randy’s first answer. Next time bring in a ball bat Ben and add in a bat flip!
@@Theburningseason you’re a brainwashed fool. Get out of the Blaukat echo chamber or something. You’re just not worth the time or energy to argue with. Maybe check out some special needs institutions.
This issue is simply. You can draw the line in the sand at FFS, and I do atm, but it’s only gonna move forward. There’s money in it. It’s not going away. What will need to happen is taking the tech and changing water management strategies to protect the waters we love.
After watching footage of recent 2023 tourneys, I seen contestants locked to a screen at the bow casting and pitching. Then an older contestant was spot fishing and offering content to conditions and activity of the fish. Much more interesting than fisherman playing video games and having little much to say about what was happening. The old head down cell phone position is not very appealing.
I find FFS interesting to watch. I think it has more to do with the personality of the pro. The new guys don’t’ know how to engage an audience, this is why Ben is fun to watch (in my opinion). Ike put a video out last week catching fish on FFS - it was super entertaining.
Anglers were locked in their screen just the same before ffs. You only think this because Randy said it. And why does anyone care where an angler is looking. It makes absolutely no sense. Just an excuse.
@@muthafukajones1513 No, not cuz of Randy. He was not on the clip I saw this sit on, it was one of the 2023 BMC series from early year. I have LS so I know how crazy it gets piloting a boat, pole in and managing LS. Just saying but I invested in LS.
@@joeybagofdonuts7164 Point being that anglers have been doing the same thing for a long time. Now all of a sudden it’s huge problem and only one person talks about Steiner the backs of anglers. It’s not a coincidence
Randy did prove a good point about old baits. And live scope has put a hurting on my local lakes around here. They should have got Josh Jones in on this. He has the facts and probably the best to ever use FFS
So Randy sells seasonal maps which shows your where to fish and gives his secrets that he’s held he’s whole career but FFS is killing the fish population
@@BradHagler how so? The tournament that I fish it’s about the same between the winners. Some days it’s an advantage some days it’s a disadvantage. But I’m not seeing more livescopers win more than the non scopers
@@thebasswicker6294 lazier i feel is a better word. Im 38, middle of both groups. Younger guys find spots on social media, think you gotta spend $80 on a glide bait to catch a giant. FSS fishing is lazy fishing. Simple as that
@@BradHagler I guess but I use all three I’m just not a Randy Blauket fan he’s an ass and all about the money just like all the pros.. Randy puts down the locals here where I live so he doesn’t have to many fans locally.
I'm not even a M'Fer but really happy that Ben was able to provide the truth compared to his hearsay and opinions. Every lake is cyclical and the fish adapt. If Milliken was a lawyer, he would tear some people up. Hearing Randy just spew hearsay and reading comments is so frustrating lol. He can't cite a single credible fact but just still goes back to spewing hearsay. It drives me crazy hearing the man talk. Funny thing is Milliken drags a carolina rig around and dropshot most the time. Idk how he throws the ball and chain. I can't stand Randy talking about financial barriers when he drives a skeeter, throwing MB 110s, on Orochi rods, and $10 jigs. BTC is back there sipping his drink and probably snacking. 😂
This comment is to Ben let me please say I have been fishing bass tournament s seance the mid. 8o.s I'm a sheet metal worker for 43 years now with 22 months to go..when I retire I want to win all the money back I spent on entries ..so forward facing sonar is definitely going to be a part of that..i enjoy your video s and learn by watching hope some day to fish with you ...good luck in the up coming season your friend Frank...god bless...
Being 62 years old and have never used any kind of sonar in any of my angling, I have always felt that tournaments should be sonar free. Do tournaments without sonar then see who swings the most sausage. ALL sonar basically takes the sport out of sport fishing.
Newsflash - money influences everything in life everywhere around the world at all times always has and always will. Fishing is the least of it. And those who benefit from something support it, those who don’t don’t. Pretty entertaining to watch and just remember..there are actually important things going on out there in the world 😂
I for one, am actually glad to see that bass anglers are being perceived in the way that they actually are, and not in the manner they were portrayed to be, for so long. In my experience most of them aren't these super nice, friendly, and courteous people. The so called professionals and semi professionals are more often than not a bunch of impatient, rude, careless, and entirely self centered assholes, who only care about how the general public perceive them to be, and not at all about how individuals do. At least now some of them are actually being open and up front with their genuine personalities. Even if you're an asshole, i think it's much better to just be that.. When it comes to the debate, we have, and have had actual deep water camera systems, that will allow you to literally look at whatever is under the water, and nobody cares about that. Sidescan, downscan, and GPS/Mapping technology are a more effective and efficient tool than FFS is today. If we are going to ban FFS from tournaments, you need to ban all technology. Just make tournaments be a guy, with fishing rods, baits, and at most, a paper topographical map of the lake. No 2D sonar, no sidescan, no downscan, no GPS Mapping, absolutely zero technology. Because that is the logical conclusion of that side of this debate. If youre against the advancement, because you are worried about something, with no solid concrete evidence of that happening. That is a you problem, not a real problem. AI is being integrated into everything. You use it every day. I know, big concept, tiny brain, hard to grasp. Cool story. Doesnt change reality.
Doesnt matter what side you are on. Personally i like ffs. But Milliken lost this argument based on his actions and his emotions getting the best of him. Bad look for him
under water Electronics shouldn't be used in tournaments if they are "Pro's", they should be able to catch fish anywhere, anytime in any lake. Randy would jack Ben anyday of the week and twice on Sunday...
All I know is there is absolutely nothing like that magical moment of getting absolutely SMASHED out of nowhere by your PB, or any fish for that matter, and not having a clue it’s coming. That’s fishing to me and that feeling is why I’ve been addicted to it since I was a little kid. I understand having to compete for money and doing what you gotta do to survive in that world, but personally as someone who fishes for the passion and pride of it… I’d never want to know that hit is coming. ❤️🎣😎🤙🏽
You guys were the first to get Randy and Ben together Bravo 👏 we needed this dialogue !
They have used electro fishing for decades too but we don't use them in tournaments. The Alabama rig was banned. It's a lure right? Just because we use similar tools doesn't make every tool appropriate for the sport. We don't use spotlights to hunt deer. Pro baseball doesn't use aluminum bats. The point is that not every technology is good for a sport or the environment.
Yeah I don't understand the whole "it's too late to stop it now" argument. You just tell the guys they can't use it. Easy.
Agreed. Luckily the data supports that there has been zero positive or negative harm to our fisheries from FFS. Hoping it stays that way 👍🏻
@@MillikenFishing Those studies on crappie are encouraging. I would love to see some more studies on bass though. My friend is a fisheries biologist for the state GFP. He said there have not been any studies done on FFS in the state. He mentioned, as you also know, as an environmental study grad, that 1 or 2 studies is not sufficient to draw definite conclusions and that those studies will take years to complete. It is also important to compare apples to apples when comparing data sets. Data on crappie dose not necessarily correlate to bass.
@@MillikenFishinghey Mike what blows me away is that no talks about what should be #1 like every other graph is SAFETY, in my Massachusetts, Rhode Island area, mostof the ponds are 8 to 10 feet deep and full of rocks,I’ve gone swimming twice before having Active Target 🤷🤷
@@DIYAlliedCrappie are probably the worst species to use if they want to extrapolate to bass. Their fecundity dictates that they need to be culled and harvested much more rigorously than bass. The baseline harvest rate vs C&R is also much higher.
Ben Milliken vs. Randy Blaukat, 1 vs. 1, no livescope, streamed live for all the marbles on a neutral lake. How can we make this happen!?
Ben would absolutely smoke Randy it wouldn’t be competitive. Randy doesn’t fish near the amount of time Ben does. Can’t replace time on the water. Randy knows he wouldn’t out fish Ben.
@@The_Bass_Stunters No doubt about it! But a small part of me would be rooting for Randy. I think he’s taken enough punishment, one little victory would be ok lol
@@dtffishingmi Randy hasn’t been beating many people since well before FFS hit the scene.
@@Steve13lb12oz I'm sure he will make a comeback when they ban FFS 😏
@@dtffishingmi yeah, I believe it’s been about 20 years since Randy had a top 10 finish. Think about all the technology developed since then. From braided line and flouro, to powerful quiet trolling motors, power poles, rods, reels, and Randy’s GPS maps for sale. To allow for him to make a comeback, they need to go back to using Ugly Sticks and ABU 5500C reels with a Manns jelly worm
Remember when top bass pros were also impeccable gentlemen in public? Times change
I've seen the same thing on the water. No one teaches the unwritten rules of on the water courtesy either. I think it is due to the increase in fatherless families.
Pepperidge farms remembers
Not a fan of Randy either but Ben is a d-bag
Lol, gtfo....listen to stories the older fisherman tell....
It is sad how young people no longer learn the importance of manners and respect. Some of it could be have no dads in the home, I believe it’s more likely because they have no Hod in their home.
As a Boomer, I have to admit that many of my peers have forgotten their manners as well. Just because you did it first or been doing it a long time doesn’t mean you deserve special treatment. I see too many old men rolll up on other fishermen and try to take a spit because it is “theirs”.
Avid angler and overall bass fishing fan. Why can’t everyone admit FFS is not comparable to 2D. Also, Milliken is arrogant and disrespectful. Randy is a class act regardless of his stance.
There is nothing classy about Randy. He throws shade at all fisherman on a daily basis. That’s the definition of not having class. This is his come upon
Was able to watch about half of this. Enjoyed some very interesting data and good dialogue, but I think something everyone can take away from this, is you don’t have to necessarily respect someone to show respect. As both a viewer and a professional in this industry, character is everything, even in this ever evolving modern society. I can “feel” Ben’s anger towards Randy, and I assume this is from Randy’s video or the “attack” as Ben perceived it from
Randy. Regardless if it was a blatant attack, I’ve always respected, listened and applauded those who are able to calmly and respectfully debate their opponents, with intellect and patience, rather than throw bows at every opportunity. I see several other comments in agreement with this. I think Ben’s a hammer, he’s from my home state, but I think there’s a lesson in deliverance and humility that could help him reach more people , and not turn folks off of him. He has a ton of knowledge, everyone on the show did. Just my observation!
Great take 👊
I watch a lot of bad fishing videos. I don’t use spot lock, ffs, power pulls, fluorocarbon line. I don’t have a 250hp outboard. It’s amazing that I ever caught a fish at all. I fished with a guy with ffs once, if I was fishing pro events right now I’d have to have it, it’s definitely spot lighting, it’s not fishing, I like to fish.
👍👍
Ignorance is bliss
@@muthafukajones1513 and greed is a deadly sin.
I’m sure someone here will correct me if I’m wrong but I feel like a really simple answer to a lot of this forward facing sonar talk would be to just start a no electronics or minimal electronics fishing trail. There’s gotta be a group of people out there that would happily fish them, and I find it hard to believe that, there isn’t companies out there that would support that too.
Smaller tournaments would work but the BASS and NPFL and MLF level of tournaments wouldn’t work because not enough money in it from sponsors
Fun idea but you would still need mapping if you did this on a larger scale then ur Tuesday nighters. No one is running down a lake that's full of obstructions without mapping lol
No one would watch it.
@@hunterjarnigan7220 it’s all theoretical ofc but I’m sure that there would be enough in it for sponsors with live coverage of weigh in and on the water coverage… just because electronics/fish finders would be restricted doesn’t mean coverage would have to be!
@@timothyverdine6431 definitely agree lol
I'm a no body. But I've worked acrossed many bass pros now sense I started at tracker in Knoxville back in 2008. The biggest issue in BASS. Is weigh in/over fishing lakes/ just catching them period. I've talked DNR. Fish and Game. University researchers. Pros you name it. In the pro setting, not doing weigh ins could really help. But even at that. A larger percent then most don't know, die after they themselves catch them... I'm nothing more then a boat yard guy. But we aren't talking about the right issue if we want to "help" bass.
Would really like to see it dimished to simply biggest fish for the top 5 guys or just the biggest 1 from each competitor
That is a point I've been beating the drum for as well. I'm a kayak angler and if a bunch of plastic boat guys can learn catch, photo and release, I don't know why the bass boat guys should have such a hard time adopting it- they are electronic geniuses, after all, aren't they? TourneyX isn't a hard app to learn, and the regulated Ketch measuring boards only cost about $20. Everyone has a cell phone now days.
Too many tournaments and weigh ins are ridiculous
I can understand both Ben and Randy's point, but tend to lean more towards Randy. There needs to be a middle ground and there is something to be said about the difference between fishing and catching. Ben wants to push his data, while disregarding others and was clearly disrespectful in this forum, regardless of any videos before it. Ben acts like his voice is the only one that matters. He kept saying he doesn't care whether or not FFS continued to be used but everything about him said otherwise. It just seemed like he wanted to be right more than anything else.
The fishing started to (suck) to randys point when high school and college tournaments started happeneing every weekend and they had 2-300 boats in them every weekend
Ding ding ding! You nailed it.
Randy's point about not wanting to know whats out there and the mystery of fishing is a great point.
But Randy will sell you a personalized breakdown combining GPS and down imaging so that you can easily find fish with no mystery.
@@Steve13lb12oz i listen to both of these dudes I am taking no sides i like both of them for what they do and the experience the give
@@slliks67 I was a Randy subscriber but got tired of his whining and then the hypocrisy was too much and had to unsubscribe.
@@Steve13lb12oz 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@Steve13lb12oz he is stuck in the past
I enjoyed the debate between Randy and Ben and I subscribe to both of them, but I thought it was kind of childish that Ben did not respond to Randy at the end when Randy had to leave.
I think many of the younger generation think his demeanor was normal and okay- they can't differentiate a professional debate (which this tried to be) versus an on-line troll fest.
That wasn't genuine and Ben knew it he was saying FU under his breath hope u finish last in my opinion
Randy has been the childish one with his comments about “spot lighters”, and “scopers that can’t fish without cheating”.
Randy having a hard time accepting that the fishing world has left him behind
@@Steve13lb12oz Did he REALLY call those people "cheaters"? Literally? I think the livescope sonar beam and directionality is entirely analogous to a beam of light. That isn't that great of a leap to see the similarities.
@@cuivre2004 yes, on multiple occasions he used those terms. He also said that any tournament win using FFS was illegitimate and should have an asterisk on it.
No, spot lighting deer at night, when the beam of light hits them, they freeze. If you don’t hunt, think about deer in the highways that sees a car’s headlights. They freeze. A frozen deer is very easy to shoot. It’s illegal.
Using the same basic technology of sending a sonar beam out and seeing a blip on a screen to know the general area of a fish is very different and also not illegal.
Wow. The way Ben ended this was a real dick move. Shoes his true character.
He mentioned earlier that he respected Randy’s accomplishment’s. I doubt he was trying to be a dick. Though I guess you never know. Probably didn’t want to speak over other guys . Or maybe he was muted . The host said they were going to mute him when he wasn’t speaking because of an echo problem.
Yeah, he is trash. Not a surprise. I think he has trouble with Randy's obvious higher IQ and ability to debate.
There's no doubt Ben Milliken is good fisherman.
There's no doubt that he's pretty smart.
Had friends that watch his channel. They tried to get me to watch his channel. But I couldn't stand the ego. The dominion language about whoever. people on the Lake around him. people
on social media. I just. Couldn't take the Ego. its one thing To be good And be humble about it. it's another thing to be good and tell everybody how good you are. Back when I Tried to watch his videos he went to the Omaha.
Tackle show. I've never been But the The Belittling and talking down about the people that were there. I think that was probably the last one I watcand it p***** me off. It still comes up on my feed once in a while. I scroll past as fast as I can. the reason I watched this video. It's because it's not his channel. This whole video could have been Ben and Randy. I feel sorry for the other 2 sitting there. Listening to all the B s coming out of milliken's mouth And milliken's Vendetta against randy Obviously Randy does live inside Ben's head rent free.
Randy won this debate
@@JMFishing It's just funny that ben had all that Stuff Researched and pretty much just jumped randy with it. And Randy answered all those questions with Fishing knowledge and Common sense
Milliken doesnt have an ego lmao
He felt bad about.
About talking about Randy while he wasn't there. But yet he still did it that shows character.
its funny too because he talks about how his placings were bad but Randys point isnt that he would still be winning or placing good if fss wasnt around in fact hes openly mentioned hes not as good as he once was, Ben just missed the point entirely
Randy fan boys looking for something to hold on to 😂
Miliken fanboys can’t get balls off their chins
@@muthafukajones1513. Randy’s senior citizen fluffer crew.
Says a guy with muthafuckn in his name and another guy with a joke of bag limit. Fucking douchebags.
In a way I agree with both guys. I think technology is a tool that should be utilized to improve your chances of success but I also lean towards the sentiment that Randy has that we should limit the use of technology during competition. He brought up the rangefinder in golf. I think there are lots of parallels between the two sports. Equipment and technology have evolved in both, giving us better clubs, rods and reels, balls and lures. We also have range finders, gps course mapping, and AI that tracks our shots and can suggest what clubs and shots we should hit based off our past performance as well as environmental factors. The pros can utilize any and all of that technology to prepare but once the tournament starts they are limited in what they can use and are made to rely on their knowledge, experience and intuition to execute. I think the same thing applied to tournament fishing would be the best way to go.
you are 100% correct. the tech is going to continue to advance, and anglers will continue to buy it, even if only to use in practice...that is where this tech belongs. it allows anglers to continue to use it to learn more about bass and their reactions, which is one of Bens arguments.
You are spot on with what you’ve stated, make it so number one!
You can gauge character by how the 2 guests signed off - the one wished the other luck, and the other took the opportunity to dis the other when not around (real class - what you see is what you will get). This sport has a way to humble people........
I think sponsors have a way of humbling people as well. I don't think Ben has the amount of "F@ck You Money" as he thinks he does. He did his brand damage in that interaction.
Agreed
Did randy try to get Ben disqualified in one of the opens this year? If true I wouldn’t have shown any respect towards him either. But I don’t know the details. So who knows. 🤷♂️
Milken is a 🤡
Randy has been very disrespectful to Ben and several other fishing winner’s because of Livescope. Randy is just a grumpy old jealous has-been.
Abracadabra! Randy can say to the world that you would never qualify for a tournament without livescope but not trash you at the same time. That’s some good magic!
Randy is so innocent.
I don't often agree with Randy. Hell, I disagree with him openly on his own channel. BUT...he is 100% right on the LiveScope/FFS issue.
I would say Ben won this debate . He brought facts and data . Randy uses his subscribers to prove his point. His subscribers flock to him because they share his opinions. It is getting old seeing every tournament won with FFS. It would be nice to ban it for at least a few tournaments.
@@timg185 The "facts" Ben brought was "we don't know". Some facts, eh? The only thing Ben brought to the table was the big chip on his shoulder, and anonymous uncited studies by some anonymous "gentlemen" he basically said "trust me" about. Scientific studies mention "P-values" (probabilities)- not "facts". Lay people are wrong when they use these two terms interchangeably.
@@cuivre2004 he had a couple studies written down and said he would send them to Randy. I referred back on one point to find out what the study was based on. So it wasn’t just made up. He also used the opinions of professionals that use data every day to do their jobs managing fisheries.
You seem kind of butt hurt because your beliefs are challenged . I kind of feel like the truth is some where in the middle . As usual the people whining the most are probably people that couldn’t catch fish to begin with.
@@timg185 Please, don't get your own bowels in an uproar over this debate. When you start to use ad hominem attacks against the person you are discussing an issue with, you look like as much of an amateur as Ben did. Most people who have had any higher education at all knows how to keep a level head and maintain a degree of being dispassionate about it-and they stay on the subject and don't devolve into personal attacks. Doing that makes you look like your tank has run empty.
Ben brought the results of observable differences found before and after Livescope
Paul Elias is a prime example. In 2008 caught 132 lbs in a four day tournament fishing offshore, throwing in the middle of the lake. It was awesome to watch and he wasn't flipping a bunch of laydowns or bushes on the bank.
Falcon?
@@Woefman911 yes Falcon.
@@petejablowski2123 I corrected it. Hit thr wrong key. Thanks.
Ben is such a gentleman. We need more people like him in bass fishing.
I hope you're kidding.
At least Randy had the decency to acknowledge Milliken as a good fisherman, who Randy respected. On the other hand, Milliken didn’t have a single word to say about Randy. Goes to show whose head is so ego infested & full of it that they have no room for anything else!
I think a lot of people who didn't know Ben already came away from that video knowing a lot more about his true self. I think Randy and Ben are competing to be the "heel" in this industry-but at opposite ends of the Bell Curve.
Randy had already taken his nasty shots at Ben. Ben owed Randy zero respect
Randy has been dissing Ben before Ben even came at him the way he did. I’m pretty sure he tried to even disqualify him in an event . Randy has been coming at guys for a while now . Don’t bring any one into it if you don’t want anything said back to you 💯
@@KyleB3434 Got any proof of your allegation, or video of when Randy mentioned Ben, by name?
@@cuivre2004 he did use his name a good while back. You do the search if you want it so bad. But you don’t need to say a persons name to talk about them. Statements like: these spotlighters that are qualifying for the Elite couldn’t catch a fish without their ffs.
Izzy's comments about A.I. are spot on. Everyone is anxious about FFS, but it's much more insidious. Pros are unknowingly surrendering their expertise and intellectual property to these data harvesting corporations. Garmin owns every waypoint Milliken has dropped, along with time/data stamps. When A.I. starts analyzing fish and fisherman behavior, expertise will come from machines, not men.
Excellent point. Fisheries are under attack. If you people don't think this will cause harm to our fisheries then you know nothing John Snow.
💯
One of the greatest insights I’ve seen. You should think more on this issue and pursue your intellectual capabilities. We are selling ourselves to these companies.
I believe that live scope should be used only in practice and all the anglers should have the exact same set up provided by the electronics companies so it remains a level playing field, the days of tournaments all the monitors should be left off the boats
Decent idea about practice! But how would the sponsorship thing work when pros have so many different sponsors supporting them. They can’t all use one said product. At the end of the day money drives the sport and the sponsors are what give it. It’ll be up to them, to then work with the organizations, then the anglers. My 2 cents lol.
And all get the same boat, same trolling motor, same rods and reels, and same lures.
The problem I see with this is that it’s not easy just to take it off. This stuff is hardwired into every boat. I know when I’m swapping graphs and gear around or trying different stuff I have to take my whole boat apart. You can say well your not aloud to use it, someone is going to cheat and use it anyways.
Everyone catches 24 pds at the st lawrence except ben, maybe cause the smallies dont use brush piles? Dude bombed out at the river
Can you have more of spiteful, jealous comment. Makes sense why you’re a blanket fan.
93rd out of 212 isn’t a bomb in the opens. Also his lowest finish of the year.
@@lukewyle8854 at the river that's a bomb
At the end of the day its not the new lures or technology thats hurting bass fisheries. Lets be honest its the thousands and thousands of tournements on all these lakes. Most guys in this sport are in it for the wrong reason. Its became a look at me show not just something to do for fun or to put food on table.
Boom!
It’s interesting to me that no one considers the weekend bass fisherman in all of this. It’s about how FFS and tournaments interact.
@1:01:42, Ben literally proves the point that fishing is become elite. Who's the "we" we can afford $90,000 boats? Not the poors like me, lol.
Ben did NOT present any scientific data. He referenced catch rate studies that are not relevant to the discussion. He also continually insulted Randy. And, it was very unprofessional and immature to make personal comments about Randy. It did nothing but decrease his own credibility.
If FFS anglers are dominating leaderboards, that's a fact that's not disputable. Just because everyone in a tournament has access to FFS, doesn't mean it's a level playing field. This discussion was allowed to go down rabbit trails that have nothing to do with the main discussion.
Advances in technology have influenced fishing and fish are adapting to these changes. The discussion here is about a small advance in technology that is having a major impact on tournament leaderboard results. At the professional level, small advances can make a huge impact on results. That's why every professional sport has restrictions on equipment and gear - to keep the playing as level as possible.
Kinda expected more out of Ben here. Maybe he let the emotions get the best of him. He usually seems to portray a higher level of professionalism than he did here, even when he strongly disagrees w someone. Ben is going to elevate this sport to a level its never imagined, but you have to respect the perspective of the players that came before and built the foundation even when you disagree
Maybe he is tired of the bullshit
Hes been getting shit on for years...Professionals were bashing him for targeting giants with FfS before he started professionally fiahing...hes probably tired of it lol
He showed his true colors. He is not changing the sport it’s been on an incline since before dumpy diapers Ben.
The truth is people like one rod and Mikey ballz and Jon b made it popular again with social media and TH-cam. Most everyone else are riding coat tails. Ben has always had a crap attitude and a bit immature. It’s the whole reason he gets crapped on. That’s life. You all must be 12 and spoiled brats too.
Womp womp to yo mommy, not social media
This was a great podcast, some great points made. Looking forward to the next one
I just saw the top 10 list, way too funny
LOOKING FORWARD too the next one? No pun intended right? 😂😂
I think Blaukat and Milliken need to have a 3 lake old school fish off, no electronics, for the fate of FFS. If Ben wins it stays, if Randy wins it’s banned.
Randy should start his own tournament trail where ffs isn't allowed in the boat.
If there's a desire to follow that style of fishing, it will become a success, and we will know that he was right.
Randy got his butt kicked in the BFL's this year. He wouldn't stand a chance against an Elite angler without FFS..
A that's too much pressure on everyone in the sport to leave it on the shoulders of two people and b either adapt with new technology or get out of the sport.
@@marshalllaw4116 Randy will never do this. He has bit off more than he can chew now. Running a cookie jar tournament is a thankless job. Running a circuit is a full time job only a few can master. There are few Ray Scott's in this world.
@@TheFishdoctor1952
Randy is in his 60s
Might as well go ahead and start letting guys chuck dynamite in the lake on the trails...it is not fishing and has no place in competitive tournaments, period. Randy is right on, and if you think you can prove him wrong turn off your FFS units and do so....oh listen to the crickets! Seriously, the dynamite would probably be a lot more interesting.
I was really surprised no one mentioned that all of this technology has been available to anglers since the late 70s, and side imaging was late 80s.
The first foreward sonar was called "Pro model Bass hunter" and was made by B.E.F. Manufacturing in 1979. Roland Martin and Rick Pierce along with others ran these units. In the late 80s "side finder" by Bottom Line were the rage. Infisherman promoted Bottom line units because of the side imaging capabilities.
The fidelity of forward facing sonar is much better then 30-40 years ago. There is now a huge difference.
4k videos of fish actually swimming around like the ones on you tube- If that tech is integrated into fishing the fish won't have a chance - The big females need some R and R out in the deep water before they move on to their summer spots- A lake I fish in Maine shuts down fishing after Memorial day till the middle off June to give the females a chance to spawn and then move out to deeper water-- Keeps everyone from taking the Big Ladies and putting them on their cabin walls!!
Interesting debate. Definitely felt some tension between Ben and Randy. Time is the only thing that will truly show a clearer picture with more complete data.
Ben was showing tension- Randy was pretty calm in comparison. Seems like this is the first time Ben ever had an intellectual debate-he couldn't maintain a professional demeanor and let his emotions get the better of him. Randy is trained in martial arts and competed in the ring- he can maintain his emotions much better due to that training.
@@cuivre2004 You need to rewatch the video and attempt to not be biased
@@Davo2233 I watched it objectively. Ben was gesticulating and disrespecting people throughout the entire debate- even the other guys who tried to get a word in edgewise. They were even making fun of him for not letting them speak.
@@cuivre2004 talk about a Randy fanboy!! Wow, lol!
@@Benwtradarchery I actually have MegaLive- so I don't totally agree with Randy on this subject. I do look at how each of them tried to debate the issue. Regardless of the subject- Ben came across as douchey.
Let’s split tournaments to the ffs side and those without. Saltwater tournaments do it. Noodling tournaments have natural and scuba divisions.
Average individual salary in 1982 was $11k. I found an article where Elias remembers seeing a brand new "tricked out" Ranger for $20k. Average income now is $60k and it's about $120k for a fully maxed out to the teeth bass boat. Nothing has changed, people laughed at you then if you were a broke kid and told them you want to be a pro. It was possibly even harder back then. I like Ben and I like Randy. They both represent one thing, changing times. If Ben is still around in 30-40 years I bet he'll be bitching about $3.2 million bass boats and the automatic lake strainer that kids are using to grab the fish straight out the lake.
I went to my first BassMaster BP Top 100 weigh in the summer of 1994 and the local Ranger dealer had some boats displayed there, brand new 363 with a 150 Johnson fast strike on it and 2 lowrance graphs for $21,900
Every time Randy gives an example of someone Ben automatically thinks it’s just one person. Mean damn Ben lol. We are giving EXAMPLES lol. Ben….I just can’t stand him. Disrespectful and the problem in todays sport. He is the face of the problem sometimes that we have with the younger generation of fisherman. Hate it…
Love BTC toasting the back and forth between Ben & Randy with a beer, and Ken kicking back looks like Frasier doing an intervention 😆
LoadedForBass, in this episode we just kicked things off and got out of the way. We felt that's what the audience wanted. -- Ken
@@kenduke6631 I enjoyed it. One of the best back and forth entertainment we have seen on this topic in a while from both points of view. Keep the great videos coming with you and BTC!!!
I like the discussion around the issue. I think many good points were made and good view point shared. I will always hold to the belief that if you fish professionally and are a “pro” you should be a leader and show how it can be done minus the spot lightning. Randy did a great job explaining his position Ben did not.
Blaukat was trying to debate...milliken was trying to fight and be confrontational amd make it personal
Thats what narcissists do when cornered.
I would think that to if I was a blauket fan boy. But Ben is well within his right to blast Randy. Randy has sat around blasting everyone for years. Ben said what the silent majority has been thinking and it’s long overdue.
@@muthafukajones1513false.
Keep in mind your not a narcissist if you can back it up.
@@High-techRedneckFishing LOL! Who told you that? I think you are confusing "bragging" with "narcissism". They aren't one in the same.
I don’t understand why banning the technology of jet drives and tunnel hulls never comes up? I have a problem with that! Keep your silly spot light those fish are going to get over exploited soon enough. Those fish are still going to live up the river and the guy with a jet drive’s going to catch them!
I’d like to see FFS allowed the first 2 days of a tournament then the last 2 not allowed. I think that would really shake up the way guys fish a tournament
The 2020 elite series schedule was fished in the fall…. Naturally catch rate’s probably wouldn’t be as good… so some of this “data” could be off a bit.
So alabama rigs are illegal in tournaments but live sonar isnt? Makes literally no sense
A rig was brought to a vote by the elite level anglers at BASS and agreed to not use it at that level. Was never "banned" by the organization but anglers that compete at that level to agree not to use it in thar level of competition
Ben is quoting data on general lake fishing. I say general fishing is okay for forward sonar. In my opinion, to level the playing field in pro tournaments, it should be outlawed.
I went to the Fred Robinson bridge on the Missouri river from 1979 to 1996 looking for paddlefish. I would think forward facing sonar would be deadly on paddlers.
Insightful. But this podcast begged for more guidance and leading from the host/s or moderators. Guests should not be allowed to engage in isolated and untethered debate for extended periods.
They knew what this was going to turn into when they invited the two of them on a podcast together. I assume this is what they wanted.
If an 18 or 21 year old is able to fish 340 days a year then they are obviously a rich kid.
Right. And?
Great point investigator needed your phd to figure that out.
To your point earlier, if a young guy is able to fish that often, then obviously they're going to have the best of the electronics. Fishing 340 days a year, even for 2 or 3 years, probably means they have more time on the water than 95% of anglers. Statistically speaking, they're going to be much more productive with their time on the water.
Couple that with the fact that FFS lets you roll up to a point or lake structure, scan for fish, and decide if it's worth your time.
FFS is clearly giving anglers an advantage.
@@MillikenFishing
Really??
Not 340 but I fished 300+/- days from age 16 to about 21. Minimum wage jobs, borrowed boats, or from shore!
The young man fishes 340 days a year because he is a hard worker, trying succeed at his career!
Are we really going to hate on someone putting the work in??
Jealousy, looks bad man!
@@lamebritishman1 ffs not an advantage at the top level when everyone has that technology. Ben has never said it doesn't aid a fisherman, but the unit doesn't present the lure to the fish. Often time knowing the fish are on a certain piece of structure is a hindrance because your ego tells you, you can make them bite. Wasted time on specific fish can be a big hamper in a tournament.
It’s like growing up watching dunks and layups in the nba now it’s all about that 3 ball. Everyone growing up beating the bank catching many and now anglers off shore shooting 3s the game changes
They both made good points... great video...
Great episode I think Milliken is wrong about Randy. Yes, he does click bait stuff, butI'm pretty sure he really doesn't like FFS. I agree he posts too much about it, but I don't think it's strictly for clicks
Yeah right or wrong Randy clearly cares about the issue. The "hes only doing it for clicks" argument doesnt make any sense.
All you tubers do click bait recent from Ben I got hit by lightning but he didn't, one of many click baits but they all use click bait gotta get the views !!!!!!!
Just so you know, Randy has currently FFS and 3 transducers on his boat. It's all about clicks for Randy's businesses
@@joewinkler2168 You tell a lie every time you tell a truth? It’s absolutely for clicks. Hell Randy said it himself 5 times on this podcast. If I title videos truthfully yall don’t watch. WTF else would’ve convinced you? The Blaukat minions who comment are in a trance. They act like they would go full out Jim Johnson or Heavens Gate if Randy said it was time to leave earth and win a Darwin Award
@@davejolly582 I think he cares about his opinion on FFS, but he's also figured out that FFS videos are his most watched and commented videos. Whether he likes it or not, he knows that the money is in FFS videos (and Randy is self admitently on TH-cam to make money). I've been around his channel long enough to remember a video titled "my final epic rant on video game fishing with livescope/active target". that video was 2 years ago and easily 100+ livescope videos ago.
Randy nailed it! Busted him on the range finder for golf!!! It's almost the same thing! There has to be a limit!!!!
My point exactly. In that case they need to ban all electronics in bass tournaments then.
Do a “cost cap” like in Formula 1 racing. Say $100k as an arbitrary number. Anglers can do whatever they want, just the total cost of boat/ motor/ technology and accessories can’t exceed whatever the determined max budget allowance is… Could also drive some potential content if the budget is set lower with anglers having to choose which elements to equip and what they have to leave off the boat for any particular tourney/ lake.
The whole issue with forward facing sonar is this. The untapped bodies of water where the fish had almost zero pressure on them, are losing ground.
Complete and total garbage comment based on your opinion. Doesn’t pass the smell test, the logic test, or the fisherman test.
What’s wrong with my 5 inch unit?
ben is a child whos upset hes been called out on bad behavior
Randy is from the school of thought that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water. It was hammered in everybody's head for years. Turns out theres just as many out deep and they were an untouched group of fish. People have had to realize this and adjust, FFS opened this up for everyone. Randy still wants to beat the bank one stretch at a time.
Thats the point. Anglers had to target those untouched fish with livescope specifically because they'd fail to cash a cheque if they didnt. Half of the events now are "must livescope" to have a chance at a cheque. in 20 years, when those untouched fish are "fished out" just like the humps and community holes are at this point in those "must livescope" events, then what? Then you see catch rates go down. If you had specific data for 2021-2023 for shallow fish, offshore point and hump fish etc, in events that a livescoper won, the catch rate would show a decrease, because the winning anglers are catching solo fish swimming on random flats or structure. Ben should enter one of those events that are a must to have live scope, and then NOT use it, and see if he catches the same rate or fails to cash a cheque. Standardized country wide catch data will have not shown a difference because recreational dude who fishes 6 weekends a year (and makes up the majority of fisherman) still is running his 2d graph from 2005. in 20 years, when the barrier to entry is $350 to fish with live sonar off a lowrance hook unit, thats when you see the real damage to the fisheries
Man the way Ben didn't address randy when he wished him a good season and then logged off was kinds pathetic!!
Indeed it was
Also saw the same thing. It’s a shame that respect is hard to come by, especially in a disagreement. Lame
Yes. Cringe.
He is an arrogant douche
Couldn't even say one word. Even if he had made a good point it would be negated by his snarky disrespect. His response to using those thumbnails was "I only used it twice" wtf. He tried to gaslight everybody that it never happened at first though. Not to mention the podcast trash.
Eventually they headed toward inferred cameras built into trolling motor heads that can see 50ft in front of them and 50 ft below them with clear sky image..
I have learned a lot from Randy and his videos on youtube. He is a legend and knows what he is talking about. Thank you Randy!
A LEGEND? Really. What are your guide lines for a legend?
@@TheFishdoctor1952wht are yours ?? Cuz if you say Ben is a legend then I want some of that shit you smoking lol
@@ElChema0719 Ben will likely never be a legend, but of course he is young. Randy did well. A couple of wins. But a legend? Not even close.
@@TheFishdoctor1952 The man has been in the game for a while he deserves to be in the legend league a least
He is like Eli manning of fishing lol
Thank you guys for hosting this episode
Ben talked fish catch numbers, not weights. It's a stretch to say that the younger generation is simply better. Fishing 340 days a year? Sounds like daddy got some money.
Sooooo should we look at how much money someone has in their bank account as a pre-requisite to enter a tournament? Or limit the amount of days someone can spend on the water? Also, I talked numbers, weights, number of quality fish etc.
I would love for a pro fisherman on either trail post the analytics or viewership numbers on each place they fish. If livescope plays show me the numbers after each tx
Thank you so much Ben! I have wanted to say what you said to Blaukat’s idiotic ass! You ripped him a new asshole! Your right as well about his minions. If you read his comments they sound like cult members!
So because a parent has sacrificed and worked to make a great life for their children that is some problem? As parent it’s one of my responsibilities to ensure my children are equipped for life in the best possible way. Daddy’s money doesn’t make a kid want to spend time on the water or work hard at becoming a great angler.
@@rustyscopano2667 You have parenting all wrong if you think it is your job to grease the skids for your children to skate through life. Hard times and needing to show some of their own grit makes the steel tempered. Otherwise kids will be soft as lead. Easy times make for soft men.
I don't like the 9EQ set up. It's fine what bassmaster wants to do but for me the entire idea of an open tournament schedule is to give guys a shot at the dream of being an elite angler without a $100k cost to do it. 3 divisions and 3 anglers from each was better from my personal point of view. To me it solidifies the Toyota Series being the #1 open series.
The flipping era has been done for a long time. Most tournaments have been won off shore the last 20 years. With the exception of spring. Most of the bigger fish are off shore.
What do you consider offshore?
@@billfrisk111 mostly referring to stuff 10 ft deep or more . But technically anything not near the bank is off shore. But wouldn’t consider flipping shallow grass out in the middle of the lake offshore either.
There is a much bigger problem than forward facing sonar. That is over development, decrease in EPA regulations, which all contribute to ecological depletion within our fisheries. This explains why the catch rates in the past years were much greater than the past 5yrs.
I also think the reason that you are seeing the young guys succeed is the work that they are putting in. They have no spouses, kids or other responsibilities and are able to get better using the technology as well as spending countless hours on TH-cam and the web, gathering information that used to have to happen on the water.
Ben has a family
They have no skills
I would bet the bank. You take any under 25 anglers. Take away all electronics. Put them on a lake they haven’t been on with no cell phone. No prior major tournaments have been there. They couldn’t catch a limit of fish. Then put them head to head on several different types of lakes with someone that doesn’t use ffs and they will lose.
Why in hell do you Blaukat cult members just spew the same garbage he says on 14+ pitifully amateur videos weekly. You are probably the one that watches him play a shrink every Monday.
You can’t stand it that these guys can catch em better then you can you lol
@@zimks you figured me out.🤗
@@zimks clown
@@aarons6931 you got two different accounts spamming the comment section because ffs hurts your feelings = clown behavior
Technology advancements in bass fishing will take us further away from what it means to be an angler.
Exactly .. this stuff will ruin fishing because no one can afford to compete. Its already almost impossible .
@@jeffreyyeater1780 A.I. will be fishing for us in the future. We might even have drones go fishing for us while we sit at home.
Even the best livescopers (Josh Jones, Chris Johnston, etc) agree that watching someone stare at a screen all day and only make a cast when they see a fish on the screen is like watching paint dry. You know whats gonna happen before it happens. Much more enjoyable watching pros flipping, punching mats, frogging, etc. Facts
I thank how deep fish are being caught and not knowing how to take care of them is causing more problems then the graph. I use ffs and that's my opinion
^ most idiots fail to even think about stuff like this. But hey, who gives a shit right?
100% agree with randy
Yep I don't like spotted bass in my area. Their not native & have been stocked illegally in the past & now they dominate the some of the lakes. Like lake Russell, Clark's Hill. I'm not sure about Hartwell but it's probably the same. But lakes Murray, Santee Cooper don't have them to bad thankfully. For those 2 lakes if you catch spots your supposed to keep them all, no limits on spots in lake Murray. I'd much rather catch largmouth, smallmouth or striper!
Clearly you have never fished the Coosa River or Smith Lake in Alabama. Like I have heard many pro anglers say, “ If you took a length of rope and somehow tied or connected a 5 lb. Coosa River Spotted bass and a 5 lb. smallmouth by the tails the spot would drag the smallmouth all over the lake. Also heard several tourney pros say Coosa spots were the hardest fighting bass in the world other than peacock bass .
I think spotted bass are harming largemouth populations. Texas lakes have very few spots in their lakes where as Oklahoma lakes with large populations of spots seem to have “stunted” largemouth growth.
Just have Randy and Ben settle the score on a lake they have never fish, let them have 3 days practice, Zero electronics and only a Topo map and see how is the best fisherman.
Randy said fishing use to be better and now it sucks in his state. Well news for ya we use to have big bucks all over my land but now they have all gotten smaller and I believe it's weather related. Honestly I have live scope and I can assure you it's not as easy as Ben makes it look he's really good at it. I have probably caught 4-5 on live scope and I've tried and tried it some people have it and some don't!!!!!!
There are two sides to every coin and this episode showed both. As far as FFS causing an issue with ‘over harvesting’ from my humble and uneducated opinion, its not as big of threat as… and I’m gonna say it… catching spawning fish. That’s where real damage is done to fish populations but ain’t nobody wanna speak on that. I’ll see myself out 🚪 👋
I always said CPR should become the standard for tournaments- boat tournaments should follow kayak tournaments lead. Less trauma to the fish, less relocation stress and less harm to them spawning. Let the fish distribute themselves in a lake naturally instead of making them play musical marinas dumps every damn weekend tournament.
Agreed. I hate watching those spawn time events aswell. I'd rather watch a guy scanning offshore then a guy running down the bank and standing on his trolling motor mount flipping at a fish spawning.
Ben has always been cocky but that’s neither here nor there. Just something I noticed but he started trying to catch double digits in a few of his TH-cam videos and was successful doing so. In fact he was so successful that now when he catches a 3, 4 or even a 5lb bass it’s just a “little guy” and his enthusiasm and excitement isn’t there anymore for the “little guys” bc he has LS to help him hunt for those giants. Most fisherman spend their entire lives in hopes of hooking into a 10lb bass bc that’s considered a fish of a lifetime. I’m guessing the majority of fishermen never even get close. But I see both sides of the argument and just my opinion is to either have certain tournaments that allow LS or only allow it during your 2 or 3 day practices before the tournament. During the tournaments you have to go off what you learned during practice while using your LS and now you have to put your head down and just fish.
But he’s also fishing lake’s recently with way bigger fish
I think Randy’s argument about viewing experience is unwarranted. Watching people fish shallow vs watching people off shore has more to do with the tournament location than livescope. Taking livescope away isn’t going to stop people from fishing offshore. Like Ben said, people have been fishing offshore for over 20 years.
Aaron Martens
I think Ben is a pretty shitty of him to wait till Randy gets off to start bad mouthing his career. What a low class move. I find Ben to be an arrogant ass. the whole time Randy was talking he was respectful.
EXCELLENT show Ken and BTC! The back and forth with Ben and Randy was great!
ps: I like stats and facts 😉👍
Milliken with complete disregard for Blaukat (me2) with the premeditated walk off on Randy’s first answer. Next time bring in a ball bat Ben and add in a bat flip!
@@Davo2233 Ben is a clown literally the worst data to provide. Ffs affects the lake it isn't rocket science you catch more fish equals bad for lakes
@@Theburningseason large populations of certain fish can also negatively impact fisheries, can it not????
@@Theburningseason you’re a brainwashed fool. Get out of the Blaukat echo chamber or something. You’re just not worth the time or energy to argue with. Maybe check out some special needs institutions.
@@zimksbingo! Even worse than there being too few out there
This issue is simply. You can draw the line in the sand at FFS, and I do atm, but it’s only gonna move forward. There’s money in it. It’s not going away. What will need to happen is taking the tech and changing water management strategies to protect the waters we love.
I think Ben's popularity has gone to his head and he knows he is washed up with out
You mean Randy, Right? Cuz he hasn't qualified for shit
@@TheBaitmanTV randy hasnt troed to qualify for anything you clown. Ride daddy Ben's d hard get it on it
@@TheBaitmanTV no one ever heard of ben prior to ffs he brags about beating on 15 boat local tourneys the dude is a joke and is dog crap at fishing
@@aarons6931 Wait, the videos he made trying to qualify for the Toyota series championship are fake? Do you even watch Randy's videos?
@@christopher9076 you're a clown bro keep riding daddy Ben's d
THANK YOU FOR THIS... "THANK YOU FOR NO CLICK BAIT BS"... THE VIDEO WE ALL WANTED BUT NEVER KNEW HOW'D WE GET IT! THIS was AWESOME!! 😂😎✌️
I'm mad about the Bomber Long A Slander
Amen brother
Wow real class with Randy’s sign off. Ben big mad lol
After watching footage of recent 2023 tourneys, I seen contestants locked to a screen at the bow casting and pitching. Then an older contestant was spot fishing and offering content to conditions and activity of the fish. Much more interesting than fisherman playing video games and having little much to say about what was happening. The old head down cell phone position is not very appealing.
Unwatchable for sure.
I find FFS interesting to watch. I think it has more to do with the personality of the pro. The new guys don’t’ know how to engage an audience, this is why Ben is fun to watch (in my opinion). Ike put a video out last week catching fish on FFS - it was super entertaining.
Anglers were locked in their screen just the same before ffs. You only think this because Randy said it. And why does anyone care where an angler is looking. It makes absolutely no sense. Just an excuse.
@@muthafukajones1513 No, not cuz of Randy. He was not on the clip I saw this sit on, it was one of the 2023 BMC series from early year. I have LS so I know how crazy it gets piloting a boat, pole in and managing LS. Just saying but I invested in LS.
@@joeybagofdonuts7164 Point being that anglers have been doing the same thing for a long time. Now all of a sudden it’s huge problem and only one person talks about Steiner the backs of anglers. It’s not a coincidence
Randy did prove a good point about old baits. And live scope has put a hurting on my local lakes around here. They should have got Josh Jones in on this. He has the facts and probably the best to ever use FFS
So Randy sells seasonal maps which shows your where to fish and gives his secrets that he’s held he’s whole career but FFS is killing the fish population
You think people read anymore these days? Lol of course FFS is doing far more damage.
@@BradHagler how so? The tournament that I fish it’s about the same between the winners. Some days it’s an advantage some days it’s a disadvantage. But I’m not seeing more livescopers win more than the non scopers
@@BradHagler The kids today are far more knowledgeable then we were due to more info out there
@@thebasswicker6294 lazier i feel is a better word. Im 38, middle of both groups. Younger guys find spots on social media, think you gotta spend $80 on a glide bait to catch a giant. FSS fishing is lazy fishing. Simple as that
@@BradHagler I guess but I use all three I’m just not a Randy Blauket fan he’s an ass and all about the money just like all the pros.. Randy puts down the locals here where I live so he doesn’t have to many fans locally.
After watching for a second time I convinced Ben is even a bigger prick than I first thought.
I'm not even a M'Fer but really happy that Ben was able to provide the truth compared to his hearsay and opinions. Every lake is cyclical and the fish adapt. If Milliken was a lawyer, he would tear some people up. Hearing Randy just spew hearsay and reading comments is so frustrating lol. He can't cite a single credible fact but just still goes back to spewing hearsay. It drives me crazy hearing the man talk.
Funny thing is Milliken drags a carolina rig around and dropshot most the time. Idk how he throws the ball and chain.
I can't stand Randy talking about financial barriers when he drives a skeeter, throwing MB 110s, on Orochi rods, and $10 jigs.
BTC is back there sipping his drink and probably snacking. 😂
Amateur hour with the echo
Seems like BTC was snacking on "edibles"- but I don't know him- he may be always like that.
But it’s a rubber jig
This comment is to Ben let me please say I have been fishing bass tournament s seance the mid. 8o.s I'm a sheet metal worker for 43 years now with 22 months to go..when I retire I want to win all the money back I spent on entries ..so forward facing sonar is definitely going to be a part of that..i enjoy your video s and learn by watching hope some day to fish with you ...good luck in the up coming season your friend Frank...god bless...
Being 62 years old and have never used any kind of sonar in any of my angling, I have always felt that tournaments should be sonar free. Do tournaments without sonar then see who swings the most sausage. ALL sonar basically takes the sport out of sport fishing.
Newsflash - money influences everything in life everywhere around the world at all times always has and always will. Fishing is the least of it. And those who benefit from something support it, those who don’t don’t. Pretty entertaining to watch and just remember..there are actually important things going on out there in the world 😂
Numbers don’t lie. How you present them does make it a lie.
I for one, am actually glad to see that bass anglers are being perceived in the way that they actually are, and not in the manner they were portrayed to be, for so long. In my experience most of them aren't these super nice, friendly, and courteous people. The so called professionals and semi professionals are more often than not a bunch of impatient, rude, careless, and entirely self centered assholes, who only care about how the general public perceive them to be, and not at all about how individuals do. At least now some of them are actually being open and up front with their genuine personalities. Even if you're an asshole, i think it's much better to just be that.. When it comes to the debate, we have, and have had actual deep water camera systems, that will allow you to literally look at whatever is under the water, and nobody cares about that. Sidescan, downscan, and GPS/Mapping technology are a more effective and efficient tool than FFS is today. If we are going to ban FFS from tournaments, you need to ban all technology. Just make tournaments be a guy, with fishing rods, baits, and at most, a paper topographical map of the lake. No 2D sonar, no sidescan, no downscan, no GPS Mapping, absolutely zero technology. Because that is the logical conclusion of that side of this debate. If youre against the advancement, because you are worried about something, with no solid concrete evidence of that happening. That is a you problem, not a real problem. AI is being integrated into everything. You use it every day. I know, big concept, tiny brain, hard to grasp. Cool story. Doesnt change reality.
Doesnt matter what side you are on. Personally i like ffs. But Milliken lost this argument based on his actions and his emotions getting the best of him. Bad look for him
Milliken couldn't hold a flash light for Randy
under water Electronics shouldn't be used in tournaments if they are "Pro's", they should be able to catch fish anywhere, anytime in any lake. Randy would jack Ben anyday of the week and twice on Sunday...