Forward-facing sonar has changed bass fishing. It has also generated plenty of debate over how the technology should be used in tournament competition.
But there’s another side to the FFS discussion that gets far less attention: What can anglers learn from watching bass in real time that makes them better fishermen even when the screen is turned off?
That question became particularly relevant during the 2026 Bassmaster Elite Series season, when competitors fished some events with forward-facing sonar and others without it.
I talked with two Bassmaster Elite Series pros about what they’ve learned from forward-facing sonar—and how they apply those lessons when it isn’t available.
Bob Downey finished 15th in the 2026 Angler of the Year standings, highlighted by a ninth-place finish at Santee Cooper. Jeff Gustafson, better known as Gussy, is the 2023 Bassmaster Classic champion and finished 25th in the 2026 AOY race.
Both have spent enough time watching bass on forward-facing sonar to develop a much clearer picture of what is happening beneath the surface.
And that picture doesn’t disappear when the electronics are turned off.
Quick Takeaways
- Bass often move around a piece of cover more than anglers realize.
- Repeated casts and different casting angles can trigger fish that ignore the first presentation.
- Bass may detect a lure from 20 feet away or more.
- Watching fish react to lures on FFS can improve retrieve decisions even without live sonar.
- Comparing FFS with 360 imaging helps anglers better interpret grass, rock, brush and bottom transitions.
FFS Shows How Bass Really Use Cover
Bass anglers have always known that fish relate to cover. Stumps, dock posts, rocks, grass and brush can provide ambush points, shade and security.
Forward-facing sonar hasn’t changed that. But it has shown anglers considerably more about how bass use those places.
“Bass relate to cover like they always have, and FFS sonar reaffirms this, but there’s also a population of fish that roam and suspend and relate to bait more than cover,” Downey said.
More importantly, bass holding on a particular piece of cover aren’t necessarily stationary.
“MEGA Live 2 [FFS] has also shown me that bass move around more on a specific piece of cover more than we originally thought,” Downey said. “They aren’t always just sitting still.”
That observation reinforces something accomplished bass anglers have preached for years: One cast past a good-looking target isn't necessarily enough.
Changing the angle of the cast, the direction of the retrieve or the presentation itself can put a lure in front of a bass differently enough to trigger a strike.
Gustafson has seen the same thing around isolated cover.
“I’m big on getting a bait near potential pieces of cover, especially if that cover is isolated, as it is many times the only spot on a bank for a bass to hide,” he said.
Forward-facing sonar provides visual confirmation of something anglers previously had to infer. A tiny clump of grass, isolated rock or small piece of brush may not look significant from above the water, but it can be exactly where a bass wants to be.
Make More Than One Cast
Seeing how bass move around cover also changes how an angler approaches a target without FFS.
A fish might be on the back side of a stump on one cast and reposition several feet away moments later. It might follow a lure without striking, then react to the same bait presented from another direction.
That makes casting accuracy important, but it also argues for varying your presentation before abandoning a promising spot.
Instead of simply thinking, I threw there and nothing bit, an angler who has watched fish react on FFS has a better understanding of how much can happen below the surface without producing a strike.
Sometimes the right fish is there. The first cast simply wasn’t the right one.
Learn What Your Lure Is Doing
One of the greatest advantages of forward-facing sonar is the ability to see both the fish and the lure in real time.
An angler can watch a bass approach, follow, turn away or strike. Over time, those reactions build a mental picture that remains useful without FFS.
“Without FFS you have to imagine in your mind what’s going on with your lure below the water in that exact moment and adjust accordingly,” Downey said.
But after watching enough fish react on FFS, he has a much better idea of what different lure movements may be accomplishing.
That becomes especially important when he is confident a bass is holding on a particular piece of cover.
If the fish is likely there, the challenge becomes figuring out how to make it bite.
Forward-facing sonar can shorten that learning curve by showing anglers exactly how changes in retrieve speed, cadence, depth and direction affect a fish.
When FFS is unavailable, those lessons remain.
Sometimes the right fish is there. The first cast simply wasn't the right one.
Bass May See Your Bait Farther Away Than You Think
Gustafson came into the forward-facing sonar era with decades of experience interpreting traditional 2D sonar through tournament fishing and guiding.
Even so, watching fish react to lures on FFS changed some of his assumptions.
“The biggest thing I learned is that a fish can see your bait from a lot farther away than you think,” Gustafson said. “It’s nothing for a bass to see my Smeltinator jig 20 feet away.”
That has implications far beyond fishing with forward-facing sonar.
If bass can detect a lure from 20 feet or more, casting distance becomes increasingly important when targeting fish that may already be aware of the boat.
At the same time, accuracy still matters. A bass buried tightly in cover or concentrating on bait in a particular area may require the lure to come through a very specific strike zone.
The lesson is seemingly contradictory but important: Sometimes you need to put the lure precisely beside a fish. Other times, simply getting it within the fish’s field of awareness is enough to draw its attention.
FFS helps anglers understand the difference.
Forward-Facing Sonar Can Make Other Electronics More Useful
One of the most overlooked benefits of forward-facing sonar may be how much it teaches anglers about what they are seeing on other electronics.
When Downey fishes offshore without FFS, he relies heavily on 360-degree imaging.
“MEGA 360 does a great job of helping me find the edges of grass, or holes in it, along with isolated boulders and hard-bottom transitions,” he said.
In shallow water, he'll often keep things simpler and use traditional 2D sonar primarily to monitor depth.
The real education comes from using the technologies together.
“With MEGA Live 2 I get a very good idea on how high the grass is, and how tall a boulder is under the water,” Downey said.
Full-circle imaging, meanwhile, gives him another perspective on the layout of boulders, bottom composition and objects partially buried in vegetation.
Seeing the same structure with both technologies helps him recognize those features later when only one system is available.
Gustafson uses the same approach.
By comparing what he sees on FFS with 360-degree imaging, he has developed a better understanding of how different types of cover appear on each screen.
That visual correlation becomes valuable when FFS isn’t available because he can better interpret what his other imaging is telling him about the structure and cover around the boat.
What FFS Can Teach You
- Cover: Bass don’t always sit motionless beside a stump, rock or grass clump.
- Casting: Accuracy matters, but so do angle, distance and repetition.
- Presentation: Watching fish react reveals which lure movements trigger interest—or rejection.
- Electronics: FFS can help anglers learn what the same cover looks like on 360 imaging and traditional sonar.
- Confidence: Once you understand what’s likely happening below the surface, you can make better decisions even without seeing the fish.
Use FFS as a Learning Tool
It’s easy to think about forward-facing sonar primarily as a way to locate an individual bass, make a cast toward it and watch how the fish reacts.
But that may be selling the technology short.
Pay attention to where bass position on cover. Watch how often they move. Notice how far they travel to inspect a bait and what makes them turn away. Compare what a grass edge, stump or boulder looks like on forward-facing sonar with what the same object looks like on 360 imaging or traditional sonar.
Eventually, those observations become part of your understanding of what is happening beneath the surface.
Then, when the forward-facing sonar screen goes dark, you aren’t fishing blind.
You’re fishing with a better idea of what the bass are doing down there.
