Technically called a bathyscope, the device is basically a plastic cone with a viewing window on the narrow end. When the wide-bottom end is placed in the water, the user can peer through the top and get a closer look at what's down below, which is extremely handy for sight-fishing deep smallmouths on overcast or choppy days.
As first reported in a 2011 magazine article, a bathyscope was imported from Europe by pro angler Chad Pipkens and his friend Jeff Cox to use for sight-fishing on clear-water lakes of northern Michigan. And Poor Boys Baits, which sponsored Pipkens at the time, began selling them on its website. That device, known as the Flogger (the most common "street name" among anglers), still is sold under the LureCraft brand name at sites such as Tackle Warehouse (retail price is $114.99).
Scott Dobson, who's also from Michigan, is one of the anglers who adopted the bathyscope for bass tournament fishing. He used it extensively on Champlain, where the tournament days coincided with a surge in deep smallmouth-bedding activity.
Said Dobson, "Many of my fish were very tricky to locate because they were locked down so much that they barely moved. Also, the bottom content was dark, and so were the beds. The bathyscope made it much easier to locate the biggest fish in practice and re-locate them in the tournament."
Dobson went on to explain that the funnel shape of the Flogger expands the viewing range, and by extending his arms and tipping the cone to one side, he can see out 10 yards or so to the side. He wraps the cone with black duct tape to cut out light penetration. The tape adds a bit of weight but not enough to be a bother.
The most frustrating part of using it, he said, "is that the constant standing, kneeling and shuffling around on the deck can get tiresome. Plus, the Flogger is so light it can bounce in waves and smack the user in the face."
Pipkens described the situation this way: "You must be physically nimble (that alone eliminates me) to get it right. That means getting down on your knees or belly, putting your face to the contraption, and taking your lumps. I've had black eyes, bloody lips, and holes ripped in my jeans from doing it," he said.
"You also need either a friend or a second set of arms to flog and fish at the same time," continued Pipkens. "Friends of mine who fish team tournaments use the two-man approach to get it done. One guy mans the bathyscope and tells the other which way to move the lure and when to set the hook on a finicky fish. That's all well and good in two-man situations or when fishing for fun, but in top-level competitions, where the competitors have to do everything themselves, it's not so good. Even in non-team events, it's not feasible, because who wants to lose valuable fishing time to help the other guy or gal in the boat beat them?"
Also, the popular Flogger model is cumbersome to haul around in a bass boat. Dobson takes it along when he knows he's likely to use it a lot. Otherwise, he keeps a similar yet smaller device called the FissureMan in the boat.
He also has tracked down a larger bathyscope that's similar to the Flogger and is sold on a European carp-fishing website. Other anglers reportedly have built their own out of everything from Plexiglas and trashcans to various plastic pipes or buckets.
Bathyscopes like the Flogger are specialty tools that, as described, are extremely valuable for finding deep bedding smallmouths in air-clear water. If you don't live in the upper Midwest, Canada, the Great Lakes, New England, or other areas where those scenarios are common, a scope might still have some uses.
Dobson has used it to identify deep-grass types and bottom-contact changes, and even to spot bass on deep grass or structure. Obviously, water clarity would limit the effective viewing range, but there are plenty of clear-water impoundments throughout the continent where it might have similar uses.
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