In the simplest of terms, Forward Facing Sonar is a glorified fish-finder that has expanded the scope of view for those taking advantage of it. How it works is a completely different story though in terms of the amazing technology leveraged to build these revolutionary devices.  

Think of it this way - Forward Facing Sonar is not too unlike the echolocation awareness technique our porpoise friends use to navigate open waters. Using a transducer device, which can transform one type of energy to another, sound waves are emitted that bounce off structures, fish, and obstacles to then be returned in the shape of visual information anglers can use to orient themselves on the water. This technology gives fishermen a real-time, live view of the water in front of an around their boat. 

Normally, anglers will fix this device to their trolling motor, giving them the opportunity to move it side to side so as to receive a wider view of the water around them and ultimately understand more about their fishing locations.   

Forward Facing Sonar is turning proven fishing methods into precision tools. Whether you’re finessing a wary bass, dropping vertically on a suspended mark, or steering a trolling spread toward visible targets, live sonar lets you see fish, track your lure, and adjust in real time. Let us explore how finesse fishing, vertical fishing, and trolling are all evolving to take full advantage of this technology.

Finesse Fishing

Finesse Fishing takes patience and a subtle yet attractive presentation. However, Forward Facing Sonar is making this technique more approachable and allowing anglers to find more success on the water with finicky fish.

Prior to this technology, covering large areas of water with a finesse tactic was a slow process but now a quick scan ahead helps anglers only stop to work waters where fish are certain to be living — making dead or empty water a thing of the past. Beyond pinpoint targeting, finesse fishing benefits from FFS by leveraging real-time lure tracking to gauge the path of a bait and ensuring strike-zone optimization. FFS shows whether fish are following your bait, spooking it, or just downright ignoring it, giving anglers the opportunity to make micro-adjustments mid-presentation to better attract fish and understand behavior.

Vertical Jigging

When it comes to vertical fishing, a few inches can mean the difference between a reaction strike and a complete miss. With the help of Forward Facing Sonar, threading that needle has never been easier.

Like traditional sonar, FFS can be used to target fish near the bottom of the water when vertical jigging but has the advantage of providing information through the water column as well. Slow your drop, stop right above a targeted fish, or speed past it for a reaction bite now and understand exactly what works best. Anglers can keep their lure at fish eye level, ensuring they are in the strike zone and adjusting instantly whenever and wherever they move.

Trolling

Trolling for fish is no longer about just covering a mass area of water and hoping your presentation runs into schools, it's about actively and intentionally steering into them and making real-time adjustments.

Trolling with Forward Facing Sonar allows you to see fish well ahead of the boat's path and continuously adjust depth and pull speed based on what the sonar feedback. Instead of trolling long, unproductive stretches, boats can spot bait pods, structure, or temperature breaks with fish holding on them, and focus passes in those high-percentage areas. Similarly to vertical jigging, understanding the water column behavior of fish is just important when trolling and FFS can help place lures in precise locations where fish are actively feeding.

With the rise of Forward Facing Sonar, we're sure you’ve heard many companies talk about specific lures designed and built for FFS specifically – but what does that really mean?  

Even if you were to spot a school of fish on your radar, there are a lot of variables and questions that can determine whether the fish are even interested or not – Can I get my lure there? Is it lifelike enough? How are fish reacting to it? Well Forward Facing Sonar and Berkley® are starting to take the guess work out of it.  

While many companies set out to make specifically-designed lures show up on the FFS monitors, Berkley® FFS optimized products set out to do two things specifically: create tools that allow the anglers to create better presentation while remaining efficient and to simply solve new challenges anglers are presented with today to catch more fish. This is conducted at Berkley Labs with a focus on the following product features:

• Custom Shapes that are not limited to one area of the water column so an angler is able to control and maintain water column elevation more easily.

• Maximum Lateral Movement without a lot of longitudinal movement to increase time in the strike zone.

• Optimized Sink Rate of Berkley lures further promotes maximized time in a fish's line of sight.

• Precision Casting is in some ways the perfect partner to FFS. Seeing the fish is half the battle but making sure a lure is balanced and weighted properly to land it in front of a fish is just as crucial.

Working on your FFS optimized set up? Check out these FFS Optimized Baits by Berkley® like the Krej, Jack, and Powerbait® Drip Minnow and the Forward Braid Line to pair with them.  

• Forward Facing: The obvious and most significant benefit of Forward Facing Sonar is right there in the name. It’s forward-facing, allowing anglers to now see beyond just what’s below their boat. 

• Water Column Fish: FFS allows you to find fish that have previously gone unnoticed, including those that are suspended in the water column. The days of pure bottom fishing are behind us.  

• Bait Observation: FFS allows anglers to observe bait movement and placement to generate more strikes. It is now possible to watch your bait descend and see what fish do in those vital moments.

• Reduction in Loss Bait: FFS gives anglers the opportunity to spot structures and obstacles they would probably cast into normally, resulting in fewer snags and less lures lost to the water. 

• Smarter Fishing: FFS helps individuals to fish smarter and more efficiently with the ability to quickly deem an area of water fishable or dead so as not to waste any time or casts. 

• Environmental Understanding: When you are able to see more under the water, you are able to understand more about your favorite fishing locations and what they have to offer. 

• Expensive: While effective, Foward Facing Sonar comes at a high price that may not be suitable for the everyday angler. 

• Controversial: In professional circles, there is much debate on this technological advancement and whether it should be permitted into tournaments or deemed cheating or unfair. 

• Learning Curve: Many people find the display and readings difficult to discern at first and requires many trips to start fully understanding the information on the screen.  

Witness how Forward Facing Sonar imaging works in a real time display as Emil on the Berkley Pro Staff pulls in a mean lunker on the Powerbait® Power® Switch.

That’s one small step for man, and one large leap for anglers everywhere. At least that is how it felt when Berkley Labs took to the Houston Space Center to launch their lineup of lures optimized for Forward Facing Sonar. Rooted in science, Berkley Labs recognizes that FFS goes far beyond just catching fish but also will help study environments and how these fish interact with everything around them. With that information at their disposal, Berkley brought forward specialized lures that have all proven highly suited for this technology.