There has been a lot of talk lately how a lot of guys using forward facing sonar just “flashlight” around looking for fish and don’t cast until they see one. I’ve also heard guys saying that we are learning so much more about bass because they see so many that are basically out in the open, nowhere near any kind of cover.

Have you experienced this? How has forward facing sonar changed your fishing style and what can we learn from this? Thanks all

What is this FFS that you speak of?

Forward facing sonar, livescope, live target, etc.

I feel like a lot of guys are looking at carp and buffs and thinking they are bass.

Thats just what I think. Could be wrong.

What do yall think? Would you agree?

Oh yeah

Agree. I have caught a couple of drum thinking they were bass. A certain percentage are bass but most are other fish.

My boy Randy doesn’t like the devils juice, called Forward Facing Sonar. It’s ruining fisheries, makes fishing too easy and it’s the cause of some lakes being ruined. I learned that in one of his videos recently.

Oh and if you have it during a tournament, you’re guaranteed to win!

If you haven't seen a fine tuned FFS system, you can tell the difference in fish based on the tails when they turn. I've seen carp forked tails and knew they were not bass. Watch youtube videos and you'll see what I mean.

I see brush piles and they either have fish on them or don't. And I see fish swimming around off the shoreline. I've caught a bunch of bass since I got Live Scope and the only ones I attribute to the LS are those I saw chasing gizzard shad schools in the fall and they showed themselves at the surface. All late winter and early spring I've not had any correlation between catching fish and seeing fish except one afternoon when I saw some pre-spawners on a little ridge in deeper water off the bank. I'm sure the pros are better at it than I am. It's probably like a doctor reading an Xray. Experience is good.
YouTube Randy is simply a zealot concerning anti-FFS. He should just fish points and humps or shoreline grass instead of motoring fifty miles between here and there to the magic spot. And he should chunk a plastic worm if the Jack Hammer doesn't work.

It has changed my efficiency i think. I pull up on structure and after a few cast if the fish aren't reacting, i'm gone. If I don't see fish i'm gone. But it has also made me look for fish in areas i would never fish before. I've caught multiple fish, in the middle of a pocket, suspended over 25 ft of water less than 3ft deep. Why were they there? Who knows. But several of these fish were in the 6lb range. Without FFS i'd never see that fish or catch it.

It's a tool that sometimes helps and sometimes doesn't and I feel that I'm pretty good with it.

I've learned that you can't always see what is there by "scanning" over a piece of structure. Flip a swimbait by that cover, they'll show you if they are there...


I'm much more efficient with it, but i've learned pretty well when to ignore it and trust my gut. Fished last night and caught nothing but sandbass off of FFS for an hour. I picked up my chatterbait, ran the bank and had a limit of largemouth in 30 minutes.

If you've ever fished the dam at Falcon and watched the guys trolling the open water and catching boat loads of bass, you'd already know this.

According to Randy B,, you are a sinner if you use FFS......because he can't figure out how to use it, therefore it is wrong for you to use it.

It’s so funny, instead of finding a way to beat the competition, some people refuse to try to get better.

I was listening to KVD on the Mercer podcast a few weeks ago and he mentioned how he thinks it will really change the game in Saltwater fishing. I’m excited for that too.

Randy is just a contrarian by nature. He has a state of the art skeeter fxr21,2 raptor anchors, spot lock trolling motor, 2 graphs, a boat full of jdm tackle yet he wants to take things back to a “simpler time”. Guy is a clown.