Multiple big screen sonar/gps units and forward scan may be out of the reach of most of us, but some of the lessons from FFS can be helpful to all of us. 

Most of us may not ever be able to justify the cost of Garmin’s Live Scope forward scan sonar—the cheapest setup is around $2600 and that’s a chunk of expendable income for most—but we can learn a lot from what the pro’s who use it share with us.

For one there are a lot more fish in most lakes than we ever dreamed. The fact that we don’t catch all that many all that often means we are not getting our baits in front of them. FFS makes it possible to see all these fish, and those who have become skilled in its use are also skilled at putting their lures in front of the fish, whipping them out there into the direct path of the fish instantly as if they are moving it with a cursor on one of the screens that surround our lives these days.

It’s also notable that “spot” fishing is not so effective in many hard-fished waters these days because everybody knows the spots and can find them exactly with GPS maps and conventional sonar. So although areas like brushpiles, channel edges and rocky points have lots of fish, those fish see lots of lures and the “dumb” ones get caught and transported to distant weigh-ins—or to the frying pan in the case of crappies, perch, walleye and other tasty species.

The many fish that are not on the obvious spots so many of us now can find are less educated and sometimes larger, so they are great targets for FFS users—who frequently win tournaments without ever fishing bottom contours or structure.

However, among the things I’ve learned spending some time in the boat with skilled FFS anglers is that open water fish still do have some predictable behaviors.

For one, in lakes where large bait schools like threadfins or gizzard shad form, large predatory fish will often be found within striking distance—when they get hungry all they have to do is go to the pantry. And those of us without FFS can readily find these bait balls—they appear as huge bright clouds on screen of conventional sonar. Focus your fishing within 20 yards or so around these bait balls and you’ll often find gamefish.

Secondly, large fish seem to travel channel edges and cover breaks, even though they may not hug the bottom so often as we expect them to. Follow these edges and fish mid water or just above the thermocline, where one is evident as a vertical line on conventional sonar, and you’ll often find gamefish.

Large bait schools can readily be located on inexpensive down-looking sonar, and there are often gamefish close by. (Frank Sargeant)

Third, in impounded river lakes, current is king. You can fish a shell bar, point or brush pile when there’s no flow and catch zip, come back when the gates are open and the current is flowing and load the boat. The fish take advantage of food brought to them by the current to feed, so cast upcurrent and let the flow carry your bait to the bite.

Fourth, while many big fish hug bottom, many are traveling in two’s and three’s in mid-depths. A lure that can be fished in this water, rather than plunging to bottom, can be a winner for larger fish. That’s why 1/8 to 3/16 ounce jigs with 4 to 5 inch soft plastic tails are favorites of the FFS pros. Suspending jerkbaits are also designed for this midwater fishing—baits that run from 4 to 8 feet can be especially effective.

Fifth, FFS pro’s are showing us the image difference between bass and “rough” fish like gar, carp and drum on screen with their deadly tactics. The most basic lesson is that exceptionally large, bright and motionless targets are nearly always unwanted species, while smaller, bright and fast-moving targets are often bass or other game species.

A multitude of small targets hanging over a tree top or brush pile probably will be crappie, but if there are only a half dozen larger, brighter targets close in the cover, they could be bass.

Crankbaits and suspending lures as well as lightly weighted jigs are all effective midwater offerings. (Frank Sargeant)

And last, one of the amazing things seen on FFS is that bass in schools often swarm after a hooked fish, trying to take whatever it has eaten out of his mouth. While anglers have sometime seen this at boatside among schooling fish, to realize it’s common among open water bass is useful. If you land a fish and get your bait back to the same spot ASAP, the fired up schoolmates are likely to cooperate again.

All told, it’s of course a lot easier if you have forward scan than if you don’t, but the lessons of FFS can help make us all better anglers.

— Frank Sargeant
Frankmako1@gmail.com