Since forward-facing sonar burst on the bass-fishing scene over the past decade, it has stirred up anglers. Some claim it’s expensive video-game fishing, while others assert it’s an effective way to target quality fish.
Regardless, it’s impact has been apparent in the numbers of lunkers caught using the method, especially on lakes like O.H. Ivie, where numbers of big fish are brought in each winter.
The tournament and tackle industries have taken notice.
The upstart National Professional Fishing League banned use of the technology, called “real-time imaging units” in its tournaments, beginning in 2025. “We do not want competitive bass fishing to become a technology arms race where anglers stare at a screen, targeting pixels and losing their connection to the fish we love so much,” the league said in a statement.
B.A.S.S. took a different approach, creating equipment standards related to new technologies that will impact anglers.
First, the number of live sonar transducers will be regulated to one and it must be mounted to the trolling motor at the
bow of the boat. Until now, competitors could have an unlimited number of live transducers
mounted on their boats in any location.
Secondly, Elite Series and Classic competitors will be limited to a total of 55 inches of screen, including bow and dash head units. The trend to add more and bigger head units to boats is becoming a safety concern, B.A.S.S. said.
Smaller grassroot tournaments may be next to respond. Most involve boaters and nonboaters competing separately, and nonboaters have complained the fishing method, sometimes called “front-ending” often leaves them with nowhere to fish, as a boater fishing from the bow of the boat, targeting a single fish in an area with no other structure, leaves the nonboater with little hope of casting a lure near a fish.
John Crews, a Bassmaster Elite Series angler and the founder of Missile Baits, told Fishing Tackle Retailer there’s been a shift in the hardcore anglers to using more products that are designed around and used with forward facing sonar such as spinning rods, lighter line, jighead minnows and drop shots.
“The more traditional, popular flipping bait sales are probably down 20-30 percent, but drop shot baits might be up 10 percent,” he said.
