A 76-Year-Old Record Falls
Austin Schiefer of Menasha, Wisconsin, caught a 9.7-pound smallmouth bass off Oconto in Green Bay on October 30, 2026, breaking Wisconsin's state record of 9 pounds, 1 ounce, which had stood since 1950, according to Outdoor News and Outdoor Life. Schiefer and his partner Ted Johnson had spent more than five hours releasing smallmouths when Johnson spotted the big fish on forward-facing sonar as the bait sank. Schiefer said they had fished the spot before and were targeting big bass with the sonar. Biologists weighed and inspected the fish the next day before it counted.
The Sonar Debate
The catch landed in the middle of an argument over forward-facing sonar. A randomized experiment on Nebish Lake in Wisconsin, published in a fisheries journal, found anglers using the technology caught fewer smallmouth per hour but caught longer fish on average. Outdoor News also cited a Maryland DNR study of 73 professional anglers in 2025 Bass Pro Tour events. Major League Fishing introduced limits on the sonar for Bass Pro Tour pros, and B.A.S.S. limited it in 2026 Bassmaster Elite events. Sports Illustrated has asked whether those limits settled the debate.
Toyota Series Championship on Pickwick
Major League Fishing's Toyota Series Championship is being held November 5 to 7 at Pickwick Landing State Park in Counce, Tennessee. Logan Dyar of Alabama led after day one with a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 13 ounces, after a three-hour fog delay. Georgia's Tallis Morrison took the lead on day two, and the field was cut to the top 25 pros and co-anglers for the final day. The top prize is up to $235,000 plus a REDCREST qualification, and the event decides the final three spots in REDCREST 2027. It is the last championship to feature co-anglers and the last to use the three-hour forward-facing sonar format. The final day was still ahead at the time of writing, so the winner is not known.
NOAA's Whale Entanglement Rule
NOAA Fisheries finalized a rule, published October 13, 2026, covering commercial bottom longline and pot gear in the West Coast groundfish fishery. It includes a single-line allowance that takes effect immediately and new gear marking requirements, including color coding on vertical ropes and markings on buoys, that take effect January 11, 2027. NOAA says the rule responds in part to increased humpback whale entanglements with Pacific coast fishing gear since 2014. The Center for Biological Diversity argued that trying to stop entanglements without reducing the amount of line in the water makes no sense. On the East Coast, NOAA is considering changes to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, with scoping comments closing October 16, and a final rule on right whale entanglement risk is targeted by the end of 2028. NOAA confirmed 76 large whale entanglements in 2025.
Background: Smallmouth Records
Green Bay and the waters of northern Lake Michigan are known for big smallmouth. The all-tackle world record, 10 pounds, 14 ounces, was caught in 1955 at Dale Hollow Lake on the Kentucky-Tennessee line, and Wisconsin's new state mark sits about a pound under it. A catch that size has to be weighed on a certified scale and inspected by fisheries staff before a state agency will certify it, which is why Schiefer's fish was checked the next day.
Why It Matters
The Wisconsin record highlights both the appeal and the controversy of sonar, since tools that help anglers find big fish are the same ones agencies and tournaments are limiting. For anglers, the practical points are rules: check state record certification requirements, which require weighing and inspection, and check your tournament's technology limits.
The Sonar Rules, Briefly
Garmin released its first LiveScope live-imaging product in 2018 and other makers quickly followed, which let anglers see fish in real time in front of the boat. The tournament world has since split on how to handle it. The National Professional Fishing League banned forward-facing sonar entirely starting with its 2025 season. B.A.S.S. chose limits: for 2025, one live sonar transducer and a maximum of 55 total screen inches, and for 2026, the technology is allowed in only five of nine regular-season Elite Series events, chosen at random. A coin flip decides whether it is allowed at the 2027 Bassmaster Classic, with the opposite rule applying in 2028. Major League Fishing also wrote limits. Some pros have said the sport is more fun without it, and the state-level picture is mostly unregulated for general anglers, though Wisconsin's DNR rules should be checked directly.
For the industry, electronics are a major profit center for marine companies, so rules that limit their use in tournaments affect what sells to the weekend angler.
Fishing Tackle and Electronics
Forward-facing sonar has changed fishing since Garmin's first LiveScope arrived in 2018. A Wisconsin experiment found that anglers using it caught fewer smallmouth per hour but longer fish, which supports the argument that the tool makes anglers more selective, not necessarily more successful. The tournament circuits are deciding how much technology belongs in competition, and manufacturers and anglers are watching, since electronics are a major profit center for the marine industry.
