Guest Editorial-Opinion: Forward-Facing Sonar

This FFS image shows a school bus under the water, with a school of baitfish over it and another right on top of the bus’s roof at the center.

I’ve worked in the fishing industry for 18 years, and I cannot remember a time when the bass-fishing world was more divided than now. New technology, “forward-facing sonar,” has anglers at odds with each other. Essentially, with an expensive screen unit and a trolling motor-mounted transducer, anglers are able to see, in live time, fish swimming in front of their boats and present their baits to them accordingly.

I don’t have the space to write a novel here, so excuse my brevity. But I will say that this new technology has old- and new-school anglers pitted against each other. The young anglers coming up and making hundreds of thousands of dollars grew up playing video games and using technology, so naturally, they’re better at it than the older fellows fishing professionally.

Social media has made it even more divisive. In a time where anyone can make a derogatory comment from a faceless account, hateful rhetoric has taken center stage.

Because of this division, three professional leagues have made specific rules for the 2025 season. Interestingly enough, each league has taken a vastly different stance on this issue.

The National Professional Fishing League (NPFL) announced that all forward-facing sonar transducers are banned from competition starting in 2025. The Bassmaster Elite Series announced you can only have one forward-facing transducer on your boat and a maximum of 55 inches of electronics on your boat. The Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour (BPT) announced that anglers are only allowed to use forward-facing sonar during one period of fishing throughout the day.

With the implementation of these rules, every angler can choose a tour to fish and be happy. If you’re an old-school guy, hop in the NPFL tournaments. If you like the forward-facing sonar stuff, go fish one of the two other trails. It seems simple enough to me.

So there are the issues about what’s currently going on. But can we end all of the fuss by using some common-sense ideas? As an industry veteran, I believe we can. Hear me out.

The Easy Solution

I have to watch, or at least keep my finger on the pulse, of the professional tournament scene. Since live coverage was put into play years ago, I can tell you one thing with the utmost confidence: It stinks watching guys stare at screens all day for eight hours. It’s not good TV and very few people are going to sacrifice their weekends to watch people fish like that.

But you know what would help? Better venue selection. Instead of having tournaments on clear-water, highland reservoir-type fisheries, these tournament organizations can instead host tournaments on bodies of water that favor shallow-water fishing. Go to the backwaters of the Mississippi River—anything to get the electronics situation out of the equation. You can’t really use forward-facing sonar when you’re knee-deep in reeds, pitching a 1-oz. creature bait or launching a topwater frog to a flat full of lily pads.

There needs to be a balance when it comes to tournament venues. It’s not hard. But then again, it comes down to the money potential hosts are willing to pay organizations to fish their waters.

Peer Pressure Is Stupid

When you pull up to a tournament and see a bunch of expensive boats rigged out with all of these electronics, you’re going to feel intimidated.

Don’t.

You don’t have to spend a hundred thousand dollars to enjoy this sport or succeed in a local jackpot tournament. Don’t buy into that. The technology is cool, but it doesn’t mean you have to outspend people to enjoy catching fish. While they’re out there using forward-facing sonar to catch deep-water fish… guess what? You have the bank and shallow-water areas all to yourself. Take advantage of that and lean into it.

Unification Is Essential

If you’re reading this, please understand one thing: We have to stay unified. It’s a crazy world, and we have to be a united front. No matter what your view is, be kind. Don’t mess up this sacred industry. No matter how you like to fish, whether old- or new-school… restrain from the ugliness.

Fish and be happy.