We need a little controversy.

Yep, I quoted Eminem.

Normally I stay away from things that are controversial like religion, politics, the NFL, MLB, CFB, and recruiting classes… However, we need to discuss something I find hysterical — so many are offended and scandalized by in the fishing world today. Forward Facing Sonar or Livescope.

Social media is probably the great scourge of our time as it allows many to express not opinions (because opinions are formed through thoughtful consideration, study, and learned discussion) but half-formed and half-thought out comments. One hundred forty characters of, for the most part, nothing much. But this medium has allowed a lot of hate to be thrown at a technology that frankly hasn’t done what it is accused of doing.

As many of you know, to me the greatest game fish that swims are the speckled trout. Second is either going to be a red fish or a tarpon. So, to me the greatest technological impact on fishing was not sonar, forward facing sonar, sidescan, trolling motors, or four stroke motors. No, the greatest impact I have ever seen was the GPS. You see, when I started chasing trout you had to learn the water. Even when I was on Lake Oconee as a young man fishing with my father, we had to learn where spots were by triangulating the spot with points on land. You lined up with this window on that house, this pine tree, and this point. However, when I recently pointed that out on a social media post I was ridiculed and yelled at by a man that said he had a right to that info as well as the right to know where he was going. Yet the same man was bashing those who use livescope… The irony is enough to choke an elephant. Or at least a hypocrite, if they could choke.

There is nothing inherently evil about technology. The evil lies in how we use technology. Plugs in shotguns really exist and started not to keep people from firing five shots but from wiping out a whole covey of quail. Gas is used to get ambulances up and down the road, firetrucks to your house in an emergency. You use it to get to work to provide for your family, go on vacation or visit loved ones in the hospital. Yet, governments use it for tanks, planes, and fuel air bombs to destroy, to maim, to kill. Livescope is in the same instance nothing evil. In fact, it’s showing us fish behavior we have never seen before, we’re learning more about the movements of fish than ever before. Fish, however, are starting to react to technology and we can see it. I’ve watched crappie get hit by a livescope beam and scatter. I’ve watched bass go from feeding to sinking to the bottom. I’ve also seen stripers chase shad and the ideas that these fish cover miles in minutes is now gone (to any who pay attention).

So, with all that being said, let me weigh in here. Be quiet. Honestly. Things will sort themselves out, and whether you believe this is the end of fishing, the end of tournament bass fishing, or whatever ever else you might conjure up in your mind, trust me on this. We have survived far worse, and all you are doing is saying how you do things is better than how someone else does them. And honestly, give me a break… Fishing is here for us to enjoy — to teach our kids, to find an escape from a world that is becoming increasingly violent, depressingand overbearing. The last thing we need is you to become overbearing as well. Or in some of your cases… more so.

Tight lines and following seas y’all. I’ll shred the hate mail over this one but feel free to send it anyway.

—Outdoors columnist James Pressley can be reached at jameskpressley@gmail.com .