Spring 2025
With stats like that, the angler from Oakdale, Calif. has spent much time on the water and studying electronics. His time pre and post Forward Facing Sonar (FFS) has allowed him to learn the best of both worlds.
Amidst the industry controversy of the advancement in technology, Monroe has found that there is a time and place for everything and here (in his own words) he shares his thoughts on when he uses FFS and when he turns it off – and most importantly why.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
I run two Lowrance 12 Pros on my bow and a Lowrance 16 on the console. I have everything rigged on Bass Boat Technology Mounts with both the gimbal and the bracket mounts for both the bow and the console.
Regardless of how you feel about the use of technology, it would be best to understand it is a great tool. It is an awesome way to learn how fish relate to baits as well as how to catch fish. That being said, it is good to know there are times that you need to turn it off.
So, my thoughts are – absolutely – everyone should have it, but you don’t have to use it every time you are out, every place you fish, for everything you do.
TIMES YOU DO
It is a must-have when fish are suspended. That’s a no- brainer; but it is also good to use if you’ve been fishing and you haven’t gotten a bite. You can use ActiveTarget to scan a piece of structure and see if there are fish around, because they may be there, but they’re not eating the baits you are throwing, or the baits normally catch them on.
ActiveTarget can help you figure out what the fish are relating to. The fish may be relating to the bottom or
suspended more and knowing this allows you to make adjustments. This is all information that you can get using the technology.
experienced this at Lake Shasta.
TIMES YOU DON’T
I am a firm believer that fish get conditioned to things. Just like they do when they feel the signal on 2D sonar and so, when you scan that piece structure and the fish feel that signal and relate it to being caught, they may not be in the mood to feed. I just
HOW IT HAPPENED TO ME
I was going down the bank and I ran into another angler. He hadn’t turned his FFS on at all, even though he normally uses it. Me – I had used it all day and I had caught a ton of fish. When we talked about it, I found out that I had caught a lot more fish than he had caught, but the fish that he was catching were bigger.
The difference was I was focused on every fish I saw. I was casting at them all and I was catching 80 percent of them.
He was just focused on fishing the fish that I couldn’t see and those were the bigger fish. I was catching fish in the 1 1/2-pound to 2-pounder range, and he was catching 2 1/2 to 3-pounders.
This translated to the bigger fish in Shasta were relating to the bottom and I wasn’t fishing for those fish, because I didn’t see em. When fish are hugged up on the bottom you cannot always see ‘em and that is how I missed the big fish bites.
WESTERN FISHERIES
FFS is a must-have in western fisheries because our depths are different, and our fish are different. We have a lot
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