Unlocking the Truth About Forward Facing Sonar

the house needs painting the grass needs mowing where's he at hi this is Hank sorry I missed your call leave me your name and your number and I'll get back to you he's gone fish well hello everybody I'm Hank Parker and what's the name of our show sarahel off the water with Hank Parker off the water with Hank Parker well we've been uh sth got a little time off because I had Billy and Hank on the show how'd you enjoy your time off it was pretty great did a lot of sleeping in oh sleeping in that's fun thing sbody loves to sleep but we're in the summertime now almost y almost 80° outside that's great it's a little bit warm for me but uh welcome and uh boy we have had a lot of emails a lot of text messages a lot of written handwritten mail letters all sorts of uh of uh information and criticism and praise and all it's all over the board about forward facing sonar so I've been accused of opening up a can of worms and then running and hiding yeah I've even gotten several DMS about Liv scope and people saying that you're a Liv scope hater I was like that is not true at all well let's uh let's just open up that reopen that can of worms and let's just go down the road first of all some people they only get their exercise by jumping to conclusions so not the truth uh I I think that uh I got a bad rap in a lot of ways and some of it I'll take responsibility that maybe I didn't do a very good job explaining my position at all so uh we're going to start AR fresh all right that sounds good aresh how is that a good word or aresh a new start a new start a new that's that's better okay we're going to start a new and uh let me just tell you where I'm at I fish for hummingbird I have since Tom man wow that goes back to uh the early 70s and uh it's amazing how time flies but I literally I believe and I think we can research this and pretty much document it Jimmy Houston and I wore the first jerseys on the fishing scene oh wow hummingbird put together a fishing team with Davey Allison Bo Jackson Pam Shriver uh Jimmy Houston myself and the pro golfer Bobby Watkins and uh so we got a the very first I know this to be a fact we had the very first enclosed boat trailers humingbird and with matching Vans the first year and then it later evolved to matching Suburbans so we had uh uh the first as far as I know now we had the first uh wrapped boat oh wow and the first jerseys so uh we go back a long way so I have a long history with hummingbird and uh I left hummingbird for a short period of time and actually went to work for Garmin and I had a great relationship with Garmin they were fun to work with and I think I helped simplify some of the Garmin units uh because I just wasn't able to uh open up all these menus the way the uh the guys that are so familiar with chips and all the technology so I had to get them to make it simpler you needed the uh dumb down version yeah dumb down version layman's terms layman's terms come on girl you can do it so uh I I actually contributed a little bit I feel like with with Garmin and Gary barell at that time was one of the owners Ming I don't I can't say his last name so I won't attempt to wonderful people to work with and uh uh hummingbird had gone off in my opinion off the deep end uh uh Jim balam and Tom Dy uh they sold the company to uh tail flex and tail Flex had different ideas and uh they had a Hank Parker flasher that didn't work very well and I would not put my name on it so they gave me the option to either put my name on it or hit the door so I've always had the philosophy that I'm not going to endorse something that doesn't work my dad was extremely poor and I always look at the consumer as if it were my dad and I'm not going to sell him something that uh I think is a ripoff I'm just not going to do that so I ended up getting fired from hummingbird and uh went to work for Garmin and then Garmin got themselves in a bind for uh uh LED screens were in short supply and garmin's business had just exploded with these little uh devices that GPS systems that you put in automobiles okay and so there weren't enough screens uh their number one was Aviation that's their big deal you know uh airplanes and all the instrument panels and airplanes and that was the most profitable part of their business the second was automotive and at the tail end was the marine side so they didn't have enough LED screens to make Marine Products so I was kind of given the option to hang in there for a year and then as the screens became more available uh then I could go back and start endorsing and getting paid again well while all that was going on Johnson Outdoors bought hummingbird and so I got a call I've been with Mota since the 70s so I got a call from U Johnson outdoors and said hey we' just bought hummingbird and we'd like to have you back on board perfect timing so Garmin wasn't upset that I was leaving because they had actually put me on a leave of absence and so now here's an opportunity and my deal with I know that Mota was dedicated to making the absolute finest Troll Motor possible and so I asked at that time the president of mota was your philosophy the same for hummingbird they said absolutely uh we're going to make hummingbird as dedicated just as we have Mota uh we're we're going to make the very best product that we can possibly design and engineer so I said I'm in so that's how all that evolved so now we come back to the can of worms okay hummingbird is very much involved in developing forward facing sonar called megga life I personally love it I enjoy it I am not good at it I am not at all good at it but I enjoy the challenge you never become better if you don't challenge yourselves in Weak areas that's a weak area so I'm challenging myself to be become better and I like that and uh I'm glad I'm not competing uh because I would be at the bottom of the list no doubt about it but I like working on that and I have fun with it it's it's a learning curve too I mean look at where it's come from where you started to now and bringing all this technology and I'm sure it feels like very foreign for you it it is it it really is and that's a good way very foreign so with all that said I am not a forward faing sonar hater I am not and I believe the question that we should be asking ourselves as Sportsmen as people who are dedicated to the sport of fishing what is the best direction for our sport to take considering all the new technologies right and you know people get angry and let me say I appreciate this one guy is really over the top a little bit uh what's he call himself um I don't know Garmin Guru the Garmin Guru yeah yeah and uh let me say I appreciate his passion he's really passionate about forward facing sonar and he's very knowledgeable he knows his stuff but we need to stay focused on the topic and not get sidelined uh and turn against one another and start making personal attacks to justify the topic that we're talking about we need to keep everything relevant and so I'm not angry at all I appreciate uh this person I appreciate their passion because they're really protective of what they believe in and that's good but a Democratic Society is a wonderful thing uh but it's only it only works if we all respect one another and we can all accept one another's opinion even if it is in opposition of our own opinion what does the Bible say Sarah Beth about uh the first commandment is love your God with with all your heart all your soul and all your mind the second is love your neighbor like yourself love your neighbor as yourself very good you passed your Bible quiz for today uh that's as hard for me and I think if we're all honest that's probably hard for everybody because we like self I do I'm very partial to Old Hank and Hank's opinions but we got to set that aside because my opinion and my personal preference May not be the best thing for the sport or it may be let's lay it out on the table let's get a group of people on both sides of the fence let's respect excuse me let's respect one another's opinion and let's focus on the topic at hand what is the best thing for our sport forward facing sonar is in its infant stage at best it's less than 10 years old and I I really think it's only been relevant for about the last three or four but I want to argue that point because people keep correcting me and saying oh no it's been around a lot longer than you're you're crediting okay but I think we'll all agree it's been around less than 10 years agreed I mean I don't really remember seeing it too much really until like the past five years or so you start seeing it more on social media how old are you s Beth 20 20 I used to be be 20 back in your day that's pretty hard to believe oh man I used to be I fished when I was 20 how long ago was that that was 51 years ago wow wow yeah that's a half a century plus a year wow man we we're moving on now why did we go there I don't know why we went there age always seems to come into play when we're talking I I don't know what the deal is but I appreciate 20 year olds they think different than 71 year olds I can tell you that I can tell you that too I like that and when you get 71 a lot of times you get a frog in your throat I don't know why that happens to me every time I do a podcast but it does and so we'll just have to live with it but I apologize uh so here we are with our can of worms and we're trying to sort this thing out the best and I don't want to sidestep any of the hard questions I'm I'm willing to take them head on and I'm willing to take personal criticism and perhaps I didn't make my myself as clear as I should have and I've had people respond and say well wait a minute if you don't hate followed facing sonar tell us where do you stand okay all right here's where I stand I enjoy it it's a challenge uh but I see it at completely rearranging our sport I said earlier changing our sport let's just go with rearranging uh it it it is a definite threat through traditional fish to traditional fishing methods right is that good or bad I don't know let's lay it out on the table and let's let people decide uh that are a lot smarter than me or let's look at it from a democratic perspective that we would respect one another and let me tell you something when I say Democratic perspective I'm talking about a democratic idea I'm not talking about the Democrats of America I'm not talking about the Democratic party because if you know anything at all about me I am not at all for abortion I'm not at all for uh uh socializing America so I I stand firmly uh uh on my own principles from a political standpoint so when I say Democratic I'm talking about the philosophy of we the people coming together and decide what is best for us as a group right I think people take things to an extreme you'll say one thing like you lay out a whole sentence they'll take one part of that sentence and run with it instead of listening to the the whole rest of the sentence that you're saying um just because you are questionable about something does not mean you hate something um I feel like there's been a lot of miscommunication on that end from some of the messages that I've gotten I'm like whoa wait a minute nobody said that they hate at anything like you were saying you enjoy it leisurely but what does it mean for competition and I thank you for that she has defended me by the way she she answers a lot of these emails and uh we discuss back and forth she said how will you answer this question and uh a lot of uh a lot of of people have taken things completely out of context some people have taken it partially out of context and then I'm going to take responsibility for not making it perfectly clear and so let me just stay right off the top I I listen to a lot of people in opposition I listen to a lot of people that are pro and I listen to a lot of people that are somewhere on the fence or neutral uh about FID facing sonar here's where I am I personally enjoy it I think hummingbird has done an incredible job developing Mega live uh I think that it stands a really good chance of completely rearranging the sport of bass fishing as we know it now I see that somewhat as a threat but perhaps because I'm 71 years old I'm overreacting but perhaps I'm not let's lay it out on the table and let's discuss what is the best thing for the future of our SP support I'm very much you can see I got a huckleberry apparel shirt on that's all about trying to help High School fishing kids raise funds to be able to support themselves I'm I'm so pro- high school fishing I'm So Pro kids I have grandkids that love this sport I want it to be as good for them as it has been for me so preservation conservation is all important so I don't want to be guilty of being uh old fogy and not accepting change because change is a sure thing nothing stays the same we're in a moving World absolutely and and I see that you know I remember when Franco Harris was the hottest running back in the NFL and Jim Brown who was one of the Pioneers one of the greatest running backs in the history of the NFL challenged Franco uh in a Sprint and in all sorts of things trying to he was jealous I think that Franco was getting all this attention and he felt like he was a better athlete well I would say to Jim Brown you had your day and you were awesome and you set your records but let it go now it's Franco's turn and he's doing an awesome job so don't be critical to him and don't be trying to challenge him so I'm I had my day in the sun I had my years and I'm very appreciative for them I'm not jealous or nor do I challenge anybody of this era to have that I can compete with them I'm going to tell you these kids would kick my honey today and I know that and I'm not going to sit here and say I could compete against them I'm I'm not there I had my day and I realize hey I'm I'm out in the pasture and these kids are doing an awesome job and I'm in all I watch them and I'm impressed so I'm not jealous I'm not competitive uh I don't want you to think that I could go out on the tournament circuit today and compete against these guys I'm not saying that at all but I care I care about the future of the sport I care about it for my grandkids I care about it for everybody I care about for the high school fisherman and I just want to sort it out and get it right now I don't know if you've watched uh the BGE uh the Bild is one of the greatest podcast I think going uh on the topic of fishing uh the zalain do an awesome job and uh I watched as as they interviewed these fishermen and the purpose of the interview was determine how much all the electronics that they had on their boat that contributed to forward face and so on how much all that cost right and that was the objective but what I saw was almost every single guy that they interviewed with all this equipment apologized they said well and and he asked them were you a would you consider yourself a a a uh scoper a scoper and uh they said well I do it because I have to do it it's not what I like to do way wait a minute I heard that over and over and over and over again it's not what I want to do it's not what I like to do it's not what I grow grew up doing but it's what I have to do to be competitive right I don't like that I I don't like that I I don't like somebody saying I'm forced to do this it's not what I want to do and it's not fun for me what's fun for me is going up and fishing the meal beds and punching grass and doing all the things that I love to do but I can't win doing that there for I am shackle uh to a forward facing unit in order to be competitive right I just wanted to um backtrack a second there too when you were saying you know you're old you're like I might not be relevant but I disagree on that aspect because you were there when the sport was just starting out because before that you were saying it was just people would catch fish just to fry them and eat them it wasn't a sport um so I feel like you should have some leeway I know you love fishing I mean even outside of tournaments every summer you're fishing I mean any chance that this man can get to get out of the house and get on the water and everyone's like well is POA home no he's out on the water so um I feel like you should hold some sort of weight to your opinion because I know you genuinely love the sport thank you and I do appreciate that and I honestly do uh I go fishing I get excited I get excited when I get to go fishing and I I fish all my life and uh I love it it means a lot to me and uh I've said a long time ago fishing is not about Tournament Fishing that's just a small segment uh Tournament Fishing is wonderful and I made a living and I'm grateful for that and I love Tournament Fishing but that's not what fishing is all about fishing starts when you're a little kid and you watch a bobber and you hook a red worm fishings about camaraderie fishings about uh Fellowship fishings about family fishings about a release fishing is about reality uh fishing is about creating an environment that uh is friendly to be able to communicate with your kids uh fishing is a way of life in a lot of ways and so I don't want to make out as if it is all about being competitive because that's just a teeny sliver of what fishing really is right and and so I appreciate when I started my television show everybody thought I was just going to expand on knowledge as a tournament fisherman and uh I didn't do that man I Incorporated family and I had fun and I talked about and I tried not to instruct too much I tried to make instructions fun and uh uh I I didn't want to do a seminar every time I did a fishing show I wanted you to appreciate uh nature and the Ducks and the geese and the bald eagle and the deer on the bank and all the things that just incorporate uh a great experience on the water so that's what fishing is to me but nevertheless it is being driven for the most part by the professional angler he has the greatest influence on what lures you're going to buy what Electronics you're going to buy what brand of outboard you're going to buy right what brand of boat you're going to buy so so all of that is is a big deal because you have all that influence right I mean that's why they're called influencers yeah that well that's true and so what has happened is the technology has gotten so extreme that it has rearranged everything in just three or four years rapidly yeah yeah really quick and so my question is where is all this going to land it's a moving Target and it's going full speed ahead where's it going to land and how much more influence is it going to have on rearranging the sport efficient as a whole right now let me tell you something that I've learned on my own and I'm guilty and I apologize but I made it easy for my grandkid to hunt we put out Redneck Blinds enclosed fiberglass blinds with comfortable office seats and it became legal to bait I'm very much involved in a product called camir deer which which is an attracted for deer and we made it so convenient and we started taking them when they just little Kneads and they could move around in the blind because they're concealed we did not teach them how to hunt we did not teach them how to hunt we taught them how to go climb up in a comfortable blind sit in an office chair and look at a bait pile that's not hunting so my grandkids it dawned on me one day I tried to do them a favor by introducing them to the outdoors but I actually did them a disservice because I've got them and they don't know how to hunt life of luxury yeah I am a victim I've been personally victimized well I decided I'm not going to do that anymore we're going to hunt we're going to go climb a tree we're going to go Scout we're going to go find uh a scrape on the ground we're going to go find where deer feeding on White Oak acorns or whatever it is that they're feeding on we're not going to sit on a food plot we're not going to set in a redneck blind we're actually going to go out into the woods and we're going to learn how to hunt now Boon and Cade are the two boys that I have that literally love to hunt and so and good Hunters but we had to train them we had to go back and erase all that uh sitting in a comfortable office chair sitting in a blind man let's go hunting let's get out into the woods and let's Scout and let's learn what hunting about we're there right now with fishing it's no it's really parallels pretty close now maybe not exactly but are we going to teach our kids the fundamental and the basics on how to analyze water people ask me all the time what do you do when you go to a strange Lake never been there before all right consider the time of the year time of the year the only reason that's important is it pre-spawn or postpar right that's important so you establish that then you look at water temperature then you look at the height of the water has the water been rising or falling and then you start looking for bait because other than the spawn spawning season spawning season fish prefer food number one cover number two MH so you got to find the food the bait birds will show you where that's at you learn that as you go along your electronics will show you where bait is at you find bait pods you can find fish that's changed some with Fallen face and sonar because it gives you way more detail you actually you actually Target on finding the bait pods and finding the fish electronically and you discount all the other factors that's involved for the most part now not always and that may not be totally accurate but it's the way I see it so now if you take your kids and you say guys we're going fishing and all we're going to do is Target big fish and we're going to do it with forward face and soar forget the fact that the water's been rising and falling forget the fact that uh the the spawn is history forget the fact that uh the Water Clarity is different in the upper part of the lake than it is the lower part of the lake I always like to go to the upper part of the lake because it's easier to catch fish in off-colored water than it is clear water on artificial lures for the most part right so I would always you know back in the old days when we fish tournaments we Charter an airplane the day before practice and we would go up and we would look at all the fingers and all the Coes and all the rivers and the creeks and the the the tributaries that ran into the lake and we would mark it on our map I was always looking for that off-colored water because I would do better with the type fishing that I like to do in targeting structure in off-colored water versus clear water so that was a factor but now that varied if the water was extremely cold I would prefer the Clear Water because fish are far more lethargic and if more about sight fishing so I'd be fishing more like jerk baits right and more transparent baits so if it were cold wintertime then I didn't want the off-colored water I wanted the Clear Water if it were warmer weather I wanted the off-color water well throw all that out the window that doesn't matter anymore if it's all about finding bait pods with forward faing sonar and finding the fish and feeding them a a lure right that bothers me but maybe I'm wrong maybe I'm old school I don't know that let's put that on the table and let's get a lot of people with a respectful attitude you've got to respect my opinion but I have the obligation of respecting your opinion absolutely absolutely I was going to say um if you guys wanted to send in any questions or really opinions you have on the live scope you could DM all of our socials um and we'll get to them and we can address them if you want to do that and keep the debate well and I I think that's good and I think we need to come together with Major League Fishing with Bass with the pioneers with the sanctioning organizations with the Anglers themselves and and I'm not asking to be a part of that panel at all perhaps I don't deserve to be a part of that panel I'm I'm not trying to claim that I do I'm just saying I'm an individual that's been there I've been here from almost the foundation of organized Sports I I remember Bobby Murray in that first bassm classic out at Lake me in 71 and I've I've I've been to a bunch of them and I care and I think we need to figure this thing out because it's really complex and I hear a lot of negative I hear some positive and I hear a lot of people saying what was disclosed on the Bild it's not what I want to do it's what I have to do I have to do this to be competitive well I don't like that that really does bother me because I don't want anybody participating in this sport because they have to it's a privilege it's an opportunity it's wonderful it's a great experience so don't get yourself in a position where you have to do what you don't want to do to be competitive absolutely I mean what's the point of doing it at that point I mean other than to like make a paycheck I get what they're what they're saying I mean I'm sure they have these other companies that we need you to use XYZ um in the tournament to be in that group to be considered a professional so I mean it makes sense from that aspect but it is kind of sad that they're not fully enjoying it yeah and that that that part bothers me it's hard to recruit people to do something they don't want to do it's a lot easier to recruit if people enjoy what you're offering to them so if we're going to offer FID facing sonar as a platform to be competitive but realizing upfront it's not fun it's going to be harder and harder to get people engage in our sport from a high school perspective to to kids in general so I I think we've got a real dilemma and I think it's probably bigger than some people think it is I think it's going to be critical that we lay it out on the table and we get some serious people involved that respect one another and we determine the direction that this sport should go to be the most beneficial for the maass for the kids for everybody involved and that's the whole purpose of a Democratic Society is to let's do what's fair for all people yes it may not be the best thing for this class or that class but overall the blend is more favorable for the mass of people that's where we need to be today with our sport of bass fishing competitive wise because how important it is for setting the trends in the marketplace for the general public so whether you accept that responsibility or you don't the truth of the matter is you carry a lot of influence when you're a professional angler you carry a lot of responsibility to the sport itself you carry a lot of spon responsibility to conservation and for doing what is right so whether you want that title or that responsibility it doesn't matter you got it and so we got to deal with that and each individual has a responsibility of doing what he feels is the right thing to do and we need to collect as much of the data as we can possibly collect we need to sit down in an organized method of respect for one another's opinion whether we agree or disagree s Beth I can't remember the year but Ray Scott and Helen severe whom I deeply respect both made a ruling uh for the bassm classic that you could not wear a patch on your shirt unless that company sponsored the sanction event well stren was the the line for bath Berkeley tring was my sponsor and man they were a great sponsor for me and I had traling on my shirt so now I'm told I cannot fish the Bassmaster Classic with a trialing patch on my shirt well that's wrong because that's the way I make a living and so all the guys came together and uh uh Jimmy Atkins Randy fight and Denny Brier all said they were going to fish because they all had sponsors that aligned with bass I talked to Denny personally and Denny said Hank you've made it you've already woron a classic you've already man I I worked hard hard to get here and I'm trying to make my Mark I completely understood that yes we all wanted everybody all 40 contestants say no we're not going to participate if you're going to make that ruling because it pro prohibits us from making a living right so we got to make a stand but Randy Randy fight all of his sponsors all his patches on his shirt aligned and so he was totally legal Jimmy Atkins same thing Jimmy Atkins was a great angler who got killed in New York uh on on the Hudson River uh just two years after that uh very tragic very sad uh but Jimmy asked me he said do you think that all these guys are going to blackball me if I say I'm going to fish no I don't I know I'm not and I don't believe the others will so even though it was a sharp disagreement on how we should handle this we all came together and we all respected one another and people that maybe didn't didn't see eye to eye on other topics we all came together on this one and said hey if we allow them to rule over us and say we cannot have sponsors outside of the sanctioning organization sponsors then we're limited we can't make a living uh you know I had Christian friends that said while you're out there in those bass tournaments uh gambling hm you're putting up money to win money so you're doing nothing but glorified gambling and that's not at all what I was doing I was trying to establish myself to get sponsors to make a living so prize money was not not a big factor I mean that was a bonus the factor was the the the the ability to have an influence on the public and to be able to have those patches that paid money and and fed your family right well now we're told we can't do that so we came together and U Ry Ray called it a boycott uh it was not at all a boycott for me uh it was the fact that I'm just not going to fish if that's the rules because I can't make a living following the rules and so in Midstream after we've already competed all year and qualified now you come up and say we cannot represent our sponsors that paid us all year long to get to the big Super Bowl of bass fishing and now we can't wear patches right I would have been like don't you think you should have said that like maybe earlier this year yeah you know let us know well then years later FLW came down that same path and they said the same thing but the difference was FLW was paying enough money that you could make it on prize money I mean they were paying gigantic you know 40th Place was like 20 or $30,000 in their big Big Forest Wood cup so it was a different set of circumstances but the point I'm making is in all that controversy we came together I respected Ry Rey respected me I respected Helen Helen respected me we totally disagreed we completely disagreed so in that disagreement we just said 37 of the 40 Anglers were not going to participate because it's going to change our life and it will not work for us so we're not going to be there well they turned around and they withdrew they retracted and everybody came together and fished there was never Fallout there was never any hate there was never slander there was never personal attacks we understood where they were coming from we just disagreed they understood where we were coming from they just disagreed right but collectively we worked it out and the sport thrived and went on here we are again it's a very touchy subject it's edgy and there's people that's so passionate on one side or the other but even with that we just got to figure out how we can come together and respect one another and resolve the issue at least set into play something that's going to de dictate where we're going with this thing because regardless of whether you agree or disagree that this is new technology I think You' all if we were honest saying none of these companies are going to stop innovating they're going to keep and it's going to get crazier and crazier and crazier and maybe that's a bad word right there maybe I should not have said it it's going to get way more advanced way more advanced way more technology is going to give way more information on that screen to the angler is that good or bad I see danger but maybe I'm looking at it as a 70 year old right and I mean that's a very valid question though I mean there becomes into play over fishing as well I mean uh ecosystems in The Lakes what is it going to do if it's so easy to catch a fish I mean who's the that the bass aren't going to adapt to that and start behaving differently that that is awesome that you bring that point up I had neglected that overlooked that but there was a time and and I'm going to be honest with you I learned this through fallwood fac and sonar I learned a lot but there was a time when I thought fish left an area when a front would roll in or you put too much pressure on them I felt like they just left that area well what they have done that you can clearly see on forward facing sonar for the most point and there's always exception but for the rule they just pull out they just get too much pressure on them or the weather changes they just pull out and suspend they get in the middle of the Cove they get way out in front of the boat Docker they get out in front of the trees the structure that you're normally fishing they're not there they just pulled out it's a refuge it's a place that they're pretty much unmolested uh and now man there's no hiding place there's no relief there is no refuge man they cannot hide they can swim but they cannot hide right and that is another issue there are especially when it comes to Speck fishing sakalay white perch crappie crappy whatever you want to call that fish that's wonderful to fry up and put on a plate I love them man you can wipe them out I mean you can literally people go out and that normally would not catch a limit man they catch a limit almost every time they go is that good or bad I don't know maybe we need need to reduce the limit and and that's an option but all I'm saying is it's changed everything is that good or bad I don't know let's talk about it let's figure it out let's get some very smart people together that respect one another say okay here's where we're going here's where technology is obviously going to go it's not going to stop let's regulate and put some rules there are guys already now putting transducers for forward faing so on are all over their boats out the back out the sides couple out the front now it's getting crazy to me it's getting very Advanced perhaps to others but to me that's the that's dangerous that to our sport that it's going to become nothing but looking at them on a scope looking at them on a screen so I don't know it's hard to say what the answer is but to say it's not a problem is wrong there is a problem there is a change of Direction there is need in my opinion to figure out where this thing is going let's put clamps on it let's let's get it arranged where we're going to have a great sport to protect and people want to participate they don't have to do this to be able to be competitive let's keep that out of uh out of the sport I go fishing because I love it I don't go fishing because I have to I don't go fishing uh because I need to I go fishing because I want to right I can testify to that he's telling the truth so I want people to want to go and I think it's going to be a lot easier to recruit our kids if it's something they want to do rather than something that they have to do and uh so that's where I'm at on forward facing sonar and for people to take that out of uh out of context and say I'm a I'm a FID faing sonar hater that's not true uh I think I've made it as clear as I know how to make it on where I stand I think we've looked at the problem and uh I will not call any names but I work with the sanction organizations of the Sport and behind closed doors they all agree that there's issues to say problems may be an overstatement but to say there are issues there are people on both sides of the fence it's very passionate in One Direction or another that causes a division it forces the sanctioning organizations into making decisions and rulings that is fair for both sides they don't know what that is to be honest I've talked to both both sanction and organ organizations and they're they're much in the same position as I am there's issues here but how do we go about resolving them what is fair where should the future of the sport go can we even think about controlling that is there a way to regulate that that is fair to all sides and fair to the electronic companies that have worked so hard to develop this technology how do we rule on this and how do we be fair that's why I'm glad that I'm not in your position I'm thankful that I'm sitting on the sideline uh but I do have a responsibility as all other professionals do as a television host as a personality that uh is involved in the sport I do have a responsibility of being a good Steward I I have a responsibility of being faithful to the sport itself and so it would not be right for me to know what I know and not speak up so I know that there's issues I know that it's causing a division Unity is strong Unity is what makes things work when people are discontent when people are against one another it creates a controversy that is not favorable for growth I know that and we don't need to be there so let's come together and try at least to resolve it people that are for gun control man they're passionate about it people that are against gun control they're passionate about It's a Great Divide it's hard to find common ground and that's a that's a issue that's been going on in America now for 50 years plus I don't want to be that 50 years from now with this thing creating a division in our Fraternity in our sport I I don't want that to be the case I want to get it resolved so I don't know how we'd resolve it all I know is we need to lay it on the table and let's get a group of people that respect one another and let's figure it out I I say that sounds like a plan lay out all the facts just how it is and what are we going to do about it and there's always going to be speculation there 's always going to be uh uh people that you just don't have a crystal ball to see what the future holds completely so it's not something that you can say absolutely is right you may have to amend uh as you go along you need you may need to make some rules and realize well we didn't go far enough uh so you you you make new rulings or you may make some rules and you say we went too far so you adjust that to to be fair and and to make it work so that's where we are on forward faing sonar and if you've got any of the questions that people ask me uh I'd say send them to me send them to hank. Parker on Instagram Hank Parker on Facebook um and we'll get to it I mean we'll just make a whole list of it um send in your comments and we can address them for I mean our opinions anyway for I mean our knowledge that we have we got a lot before and and I couldn't possibly answer them all and I had other podcast hosts summarizing what I said and how I said it some of it was accurate and some of it was inaccurate so go by what I've said and keep it in context and you'll understand my position but I'm not against anybody and and I'm not for everything uh Aaron tippen song that you got to stand for something or your fall for everything uh I I get that I I think that was well said uh I definitely stand for the betterment of the sport and I I definitely want to do what is the best thing for the majority of the people whether it supports my opinion or agrees with my opinion or not so so uh we're in a we're in a a state of uh controversy that needs to be resolved and we need to come together with respect for one another and get the job done that's our responsibility to the Future it's our responsibility to the kids that's involved in the sport and uh we need to keep that going and while we're talking about that I want to give a plug uh to Huckleberry apparel uh the whole purpose of me joining h Berry was to get these high school kids in a position to fund themselves and so we're going to put a link at the end of this podcast where you can go and look uh and see if what they have to offer to allow you to fund raise for your fishing team if it's something you want to be a part of but we need every single high school team to at least go to that link and look and say does this fit what we're trying to accomplish because we have worked really hard to get this thing where it's you can fund yourself and it's a program that's working and we've got a lot of people signing up man we got a lot of teams but I want every team I don't want to leave one team behind uh second Peter 3:9 says the Lord is not slack as some count slackness but is longsuffering toward us not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance now that's the most important thing in the entire world nothing else compares to that but I want all teams I don't want anybody to be left behind left out I want you to go to Huckleberry apparel look at this program and see if it's something you want to be a part of if it is sign your team up let's go uh and be self-funding so uh Huckleberry apparel is helping us uh they're helping with the podcast so I don't lay anything out I I don't want to hide anything uh but the sole reason I'm involved the sole reason I'm involved with Huckleberry Peril was I found a company that was willing to give up enough profit out of their sales to make this fundraising effort possible and to make it significant I mean you sell a hat you make 30% of the profit of every single thing Huckleberry sells they absorb all the cost they absorb everything and they cut the profit where they Dey out 30% to these high school teams so you can make significant money and support your own team so jump on that look at it and we'll put this link up and you can check it out it'll be in the description box for both YouTube and Spotify so if you just want to click down below there'll be a link to Huckleberry and then a link to the high school fishing form separate that's good I don't know how to do any of that you know all this technical stuff is way above my pay grade but uh since we've started this podcast my whole objective was to talk about the history of the sport you know we started out that very first podcast that we did and we talked about uh the old plug spoon that buck Perry developed way before the Flasher the old hummingbird flasher that showed the depth of the water we talked about that that that's the foundation we talked about Blake Honeycut uh who was my personal hero he was a ranger rep and uh he was a great fisherman and a big string of fish he was on the cover of Bassmaster Magazine with 138 lounds that you follow Alabama uh talked about Bobby Murray uh Another Hero Of Mine Bobby could catch fish in clear water cold water muddy water deep water shallow I didn't matter he was versatile and that's what I admired so much about Bobby he caught him all the time and so he became uh uh a mentor a guy that I wanted to uh uh follow and and uh become like him be able to catch fish and all those are all the things that I want to talk about I never really wanted to get into the controversy of of anything and certainly not forward facing son but again it's my responsibility and I had to do it I can't just bypass that and leave it alone when I see a threat and I see division in the sport so I had to go there but it's my objective uh to get this behind me and uh I was accused of open up a can of worms and running and hiding so I I don't want to do that and I agree that's what it looked like I had my boys on and we talked about our NASCAR days we talked about the hunting show days we and we talked about family uh all that's important to me so there was a couple weeks there that I just stayed away from this particular topic and people felt like I was running from it and I didn't want to address it so I think we cleared that up uh I I I'm not scared to uh take the tough questions I'm not running uh but that's not what I want to do and that's not why I started this podcast I started this podcast because I wanted to tell the history of the sport you know I was sitting around with some professional Anglers that are just awesome I mean they're they're fish catching machines but they did not realize at the first couple of Bassmaster Classics the Anglers didn't even know where they were going it was only 24 Anglers they didn't know that and they didn't know it was a $10,000 first place winter take all second place got nothing they didn't realize any of that and they didn't realize that you got on an airplane you didn't even know where you were going you were allowed five rods and reels you were allowed 10 lbs of tackle and they gave you an envelope that when you got 10,000 ft or whatever the elevation was that they turned the little fastened seat belt sign off you're allowed to open that envelope and see where you're going sounds like deployment you don't know where you're going to end it's like deployment shipped off that's pretty cool well and that's the way it was well guys don't even know that man we need to know that That's History how awesome is that and look where we've gone look where we've come from and look where we're at uh let's not mess up let's let's keep momentum on our side let's don't make our sport something that you have to do man you don't get up at 5:00 in the morning whistling if you're not happy and if you're going to go do something you don't want to do you're not going to be happy if I have to wake up at 5:00 in the morning I'm not going to be happy I I'll tell you that I love it I uh I get excited I'm a turkey hunter so five o'clock right now is actually sleeping in a little bit we've been getting up at 3:45 but uh it it's I love it man I I get up I'm I'm fixing to go to New York small M fishing and I'm like a kid in a camp candy store man I am so pumped up I can't hardly sleep um leaving in just a day or so and uh get to go catch those big small mou it gets daylight up there at 4:30 at 4:30 4:30 a.m. is daylight so I always like to fish from daylight to dark well it don't get dark till about 8:30 you ever heard of blackout curtains blackout curtains no daylight oh that's a pretty good idea but anyway that's where that's where this podcast uh is going that's where I want to go and I want to have some guests on I want to talk to uh to Bobby and I I want I want to talk to Paul Chamberlain I want to talk to dance and I want to talk to Roland and uh I want to talk to these Pioneers that uh are the foundation of the sport uh Rodney Honeycut Blake's son I'd like to talk to him you know Blake passed away three years ago at the I was at the bassm classic in Greenville South Carolina may only two years ago and uh Blake passed away the day after that that classic or the final day maybe and I I really all my life uh I I've just my whole adult life I've just love Blake and I'm so sad that uh he passed away before we started the podcast because I would have loved to heard some of his stories he was a delightful human being and had a perspective of the sport that was different than most and it would have been so great to have captured that I would have loved to had Tom man I wish everybody knew Tom man like I knew Tom and could appreciate uh the Pioneer Spirit the humor uh the warm human being that he was uh he would be on my podcast but the very first guest I would have on my podcast um if if he were still with us would be Forest Wood Forest Wood cared more about the sport he did more for the sport than anybody I know and uh so I started my podcast a few years too late uh I would Lov to have had these guys on there where you could see who they were as characters you could understand uh a little bit more about them and then you'd have deeper appreciation for what they put together and uh I ask myself often as I engage in this Sport and I try to uh uh try to be the person that I should be I asked myself what would Forest do get it made on a bracelet what would Forest do yeah not not Forest Gump what would Forest Wood do uh because he was a man of wisdom he was a man of passion for the sport and he always dealt with issues and would leave the emotion out of it you know I'd get so fired up and and I'd get real emotional and farce would say Hank wise the be wise business decisions are never made out of emotion you have to take whatever the subject or topic you're you're evaluating and evaluate it for what it is and don't be emotional about it remove that because you can make some really bad decisions because sometimes when it's emotional you really push for it to go your way when you really need to to do what is right for that particular situation forest was a very brilliant wise man that loved this Sport and helped build it Brick by Brick and so I'm obligated to him uh he supported me and got me in the position that I'm in today and so I'm obligated to him to do the right thing absolutely so what would Forest do what would Forest do I wish he was here cuz he would have a better answer than probably anybody else does and uh but he's not and so we got to go on we got to use the influence that we have and uh uh the experiences that we've had to become the person uh the best person we can be through his influence so we appreciate it I hope you've enjoyed the podcast and I hope we've cleared up a few things what do you think I think so I don't think you could have said it any more clearer I mean at this point if you don't get it I mean just re hit rewind sth would get so aggravated that some of the the things that people would say that were not accurate at all and she say did you actually watch the whole podcast or did you just get a a snippet I I'll come for you in those comments like I won't well R Us and sarth and I will sit down and try to answer them to the best of our ability uh we we're not uh we're not in a panic mode but we're in a concern mode so let's get this thing worked out get it all behind us and let's talk about the good things let's talk about the history of the sport how wonderful it is and and let's make sure we've got the foundation shorted up for a great future absolutely sounds like a plan what would you say to everybody out there s Beth say what will Forest do be a forest in this generation I like that so I'm going to say goodbye s Beth tell everybody goodbye all right goodbye I see you guys next week I like that and I'm going to say God bless you and we'll see you next time where's he at hi this is Hank sorry I missed your call leave me your name and your number and I'll get back to you he's gone fish

Channel: Hank Parker's Outdoor Magazine

Views: 19,867

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Id: uyTqnqziT_w

Length: 64min 14sec (3854 seconds)

Published: Thu May 09 2024