Has Forward facing sonar changed your fishing tactics? How do you utilize it?

[clemsondds]

So wanting to hear from those that have ffs.  Since getting it, has it changed the way you find fish?  Do you use it pretty much the entire time or what?  I'm thinking about getting one and just trying to see how it will play out.  I know no one wants to admit to staring at a screen all day to fish, but I really would like to hear honest opinions and feedback if possible.  I love the idea of it, but I also love the art of bass fishing.  Thank you all! 

[TnRiver46]

I don’t own it but I’ve fished in a boat with it. I imagine in new waters it could be quite helpful. In the same ole spots, you already know there are fish there, the screen just confirms it. Yes you can watch them chase your bait, but like I said in the same ole spots I kind of already knew that was happening. When they eat it, you feel a bite ! Haha. But if you wanted to try multiple baits on the same group of fish I suppose you could gauge their reaction to each lure as you cycle through them using FFS. I just don’t really fish that way, I rarely change lures 

[clemsondds]

54 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I don’t own it but I’ve fished in a boat with it. I imagine in new waters it could be quite helpful. In the same ole spots, you already know there are fish there, the screen just confirms it. Yes you can watch them chase your bait, but like I said in the same ole spots I kind of already knew that was happening. When they eat it, you feel a bite ! Haha. But if you wanted to try multiple baits on the same group of fish I suppose you could gauge their reaction to each lure as you cycle through them using FFS. I just don’t really fish that way, I rarely change lures 

Thanks! I fish once a month or so...so when I go, I like to know that I'm hitting areas with fish.  I fish a few lakes in the area so I don't know any of them all that well.  I can graph over them with DI and SI and I know that it looks like there's fish there...so I think it would be nice to then go with ffs and see where exactly they are.  Is that how ppl use it?  I just wonder if people get frustrated trying to find the fish...and something like 360 would be more useful.  Thanks

[Tennessee Boy]

As I mentioned in your other thread,  I have MEGA 360 and have MEGA Live on order.   I'm a technology geek so I indulge in all of it that I can afford.   About 1/3 of the value of my boat is in technology.   I stare at a screen all day at work so I'll admit I don't mind starting at a fish finder.  I spend many hours idling around graphing structure looking for fish.  I can share my experience  using 360 imaging. 

 

All sonar technology does is provide information.  To some degree it takes some of the mystery out of fishing which some people may not like.   Personally,  I like having as much info as possible.  360 imaging gives me a very detailed view of the bottom a few seconds after I drop the trolling motor.  It allows me to replace random cast with smart cast to specific targets.  I fish a lot of offshore structure.  I always know exactly where my boat is in relation to the structure.  I spent many years learning to visualizing the invisible structure I was fishing.   Now those skills are unnecessary thanks to 360 imaging.  For better or worst,  I guess you could say that aspect of the art of bass fishing can be bought for $1,200. 

 

Many people think this technology is ruining fishing.  I don't see it that way.  A guy makes a random cast that lands next to a log he doesn't know is there.  A fish on that log hits his lure and he reels in the fish.  A second angler sees a log with 360 imaging and makes a smart cast next to the log and catches a fish.  He knows he caught the fish off a log.   A third angler see's the fish with his live forward sonar, cast directly at the fish and watches the fish hit his lure before setting the hook and landing the fish.  He knows how the fish was positioned on the log,  how quickly it reacted to his lure,  and if other fish also reacted to his lure.  I don't see where having less information makes the first fisherman's catch more impressive.  The added information makes it possible to understand why you caught the fish so you can more quickly find a pattern.   I want to be as informed as possible.

 

I'm looking forward to having MEGA 360 and MEGA Live.  I'll let everyone know how I like it  and if it ruins me as an angler. 

 

[clemsondds]

12 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

As I mentioned in your other thread,  I have MEGA 360 and have MEGA Live on order.   I'm a technology geek so I indulge in all of it that I can afford.   About 1/3 of the value of my boat is in technology.   I stare at a screen all day at work so I'll admit I don't mind starting at a fish finder.  I spend many hours idling around graphing structure looking for fish.  I can share my experience  using 360 imaging. 

 

All sonar technology does is provide information.  To some degree it takes some of the mystery out of fishing which some people may not like.   Personally,  I like having as much info as possible.  360 imaging gives me a very detailed view of the bottom a few seconds after I drop the trolling motor.  It allows me to replace random cast with smart cast to specific targets.  I fish a lot of offshore structure.  I always know exactly where my boat is in relation to the structure.  I spent many years learning to visualizing the invisible structure I was fishing.   Now those skills are unnecessary thanks to 360 imaging.  For better or worst,  I guess you could say that aspect of the art of bass fishing can be bought for $1,200. 

 

Many people think this technology is ruining fishing.  I don't see it that way.  A guy makes a random cast that lands next to a log he doesn't know is there.  A fish on that log hits his lure and he reels in the fish.  A second angler sees a log with 360 imaging and makes a smart cast next to the log and catches a fish.  He knows he caught the fish off a log.   A third angler see's the fish with his live forward sonar, cast directly at the fish and watches the fish hit his lure before setting the hook and landing the fish.  He knows how the fish was positioned on the log,  how quickly it reacted to his lure,  and if other fish also reacted to his lure.  I don't see where having less information makes the first fisherman's catch more impressive.  The added information makes it possible to understand why you caught the fish so you can more quickly find a pattern.   I want to be as informed as possible.

 

I'm looking forward to having MEGA 360 and MEGA Live.  I'll let everyone know how I like it  and if it ruins me as an angler. 

 

Thanks for that info!  A few questions: 

-when you go out, do you fish shallow much or do you pretty strictly stick to offshore fishing?  

-Do you initially go down the bank at a certain depth with SI at your helm and look for structure, and then once you find structure, drop trollling motor and 360 and pinpoint where the structure is to cast to it?  

-Do you ever go to main lake points or troughs and turn on 360 or do you only use it once you have located using SI or down imaging? 

Finally, will you use mega live similar to 360, but the difference will be that you can see if fish are on a particular log before you even cast to it?   

sorry for all the questions

[Tennessee Boy]

47 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

-when you go out, do you fish shallow much or do you pretty strictly stick to offshore fishing?  

 

In the spring I fish shallow a lot.  Visibility is usually pretty limited on the lakes I fish so 360 helps me find unseen targets.  

 

47 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

-Do you initially go down the bank at a certain depth with SI at your helm and look for structure, and then once you find structure, drop trollling motor and 360 and pinpoint where the structure is to cast to it?  

That's hard question to answer.  That's not part of my usual process for finding fish near the bank.   I do spend a lot of time just graphing  areas that I'm not familiar with.  I might go down a bank and noticed it has a lot interesting cover and return later to fish it.  If I've fished a bank before,  I don't look at it again with side imaging before I fish it.

 

47 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

-Do you ever go to main lake points or troughs and turn on 360 or do you only use it once you have located using SI or down imaging? 

I usually idle over offshore structure looking for fish and baitfish before fishing it.  I often spend hours graphing before stopping to fish.

 

47 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

Finally, will you use mega live similar to 360, but the difference will be that you can see if fish are on a particular log before you even cast to it?   

Others who have the technology now can probably answer this question better than I can.  Time will tell.   I've always end up using new technology differently than I expected before I got it.  There are a lot of ways fish can hide from sonar, even live sonar.   I don't expect to see every fish before I catch it.  I think 360 and live provide very different information.  It's much easier to see the log with 360.  Much easier to see the fish with Live.  360 runs all the time with little effort on the angler's part.   You have to aim live sonar and interpreting the results requires more effort.

 

Hope I've answered your questions.

[king fisher]

     It has definitely changed the way I fish.  I used to be able to relax and have fun while fishing.  Now I have the Bait Monkey screaming in my ear all day while I'm on the water.  He constantly tells me I should have Live Imaging, you would be landing your PB right now if you had the Live Imaging.  The pros all have Live Imaging.  You have ruined your fishing trip, because you are to cheap to buy live imaging.  That last cast was completely blind, you would be casting right in front of a DD if you had bought Live Scope.  Only a cave man goes fishing without the latest technology.  Do you want to play with your rods, or catch fish with them?  You might as well go home, all the other anglers caught all the fish because they have Live Imaging.  Who cares what your wife thinks.  She isn't the one getting skunked because you didn't mortgage the house and buy Live Imaging sonar.  He never lets up.  That is how live forward scanning sonar has changed my fishing.  I'm going to go wade some creeks, just to get the Monkey to shut up.   What's he going to say, they have a new transducer that attaches to wading boots?

[WRB]

Read my Oct 14th thread on the topic!

Tom

[clemsondds]

It's a really tough decision.  Maybe not as much for those tournament guys...but I don't fish tournaments.  So it comes down to whether I want to go down the bank (or fish off shore) the way I have been for the past few years, or switch to looking at the screen more.  I absolutely love the art of casting, but I also enjoy catching fish.  I, as I'm sure a lot of you, hate getting skunked...so maybe this tech would give me a better shot at that.  I also have three small kids who love to fish...and I hate for them not to catch anything as well...so I thought it might help finding a school of small perch or something that would make it fun for them.  I know that you still have to know where to find fish and that the ffs isn't magic.  But I have yet to hear someone say they got livescope and it didn't help them find fish.  I guess I'm just worried I won't want to just go down the bank and just fish anymore, knowing that I'm not 100% sure there's fish there. Looks like it's going to be about $4500 to get livescope and 9" 93sv garmin (probably would get bigger but that's all the dealer has right now) installed.  That's a big chunk of change

[GreenPig]

On 12/16/2021 at 4:22 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

As I mentioned in your other thread,  I have MEGA 360 and have MEGA Live on order.   I'm a technology geek so I indulge in all of it that I can afford.   About 1/3 of the value of my boat is in technology.   I stare at a screen all day at work so I'll admit I don't mind starting at a fish finder.  I spend many hours idling around graphing structure looking for fish.  I can share my experience  using 360 imaging. 

 

All sonar technology does is provide information.  To some degree it takes some of the mystery out of fishing which some people may not like.   Personally,  I like having as much info as possible.  360 imaging gives me a very detailed view of the bottom a few seconds after I drop the trolling motor.  It allows me to replace random cast with smart cast to specific targets.  I fish a lot of offshore structure.  I always know exactly where my boat is in relation to the structure.  I spent many years learning to visualizing the invisible structure I was fishing.   Now those skills are unnecessary thanks to 360 imaging.  For better or worst,  I guess you could say that aspect of the art of bass fishing can be bought for $1,200. 

 

Many people think this technology is ruining fishing.  I don't see it that way.  A guy makes a random cast that lands next to a log he doesn't know is there.  A fish on that log hits his lure and he reels in the fish.  A second angler sees a log with 360 imaging and makes a smart cast next to the log and catches a fish.  He knows he caught the fish off a log.   A third angler see's the fish with his live forward sonar, cast directly at the fish and watches the fish hit his lure before setting the hook and landing the fish.  He knows how the fish was positioned on the log,  how quickly it reacted to his lure,  and if other fish also reacted to his lure.  I don't see where having less information makes the first fisherman's catch more impressive.  The added information makes it possible to understand why you caught the fish so you can more quickly find a pattern.   I want to be as informed as possible.

 

I'm looking forward to having MEGA 360 and MEGA Live.  I'll let everyone know how I like it  and if it ruins me as an angler. 

 

I agree and 360 Imaging greatly improved my off shore fishing. 

[clemsondds]

2 hours ago, GreenPig said:

I agree and 360 Imaging greatly improved my off shore fishing. 

Mind sharing how?  Do you think you will get forward facing sonar? 

[GreenPig]

1 hour ago, clemsondds said:

Mind sharing how?  Do you think you will get forward facing sonar? 

360 Imaging allows me to make precise cast to cover that I locate on SI. Yes I'm going to install LiveSope on my other boat at some point as I went a Garmin unit.

[clemsondds]

Here’s another question: if I just want to find any fish, which (ffs or 360) would be better?  Take my kids out sometimes and they just want to catch a fish…which would help more in that scenario? 

[Team9nine]

1 hour ago, clemsondds said:

Here’s another question: if I just want to find any fish, which (ffs or 360) would be better?  Take my kids out sometimes and they just want to catch a fish…which would help more in that scenario? 

I don’t have 360 to compare to, just what I’ve seen and researched, but I do have FFS and it is simply great for multi-species fishing, especially panfish (crappie, bluegill, white bass, yellow bass, etc.). If I could only pick one of the two for all around fishing, I’d stick with FFS personally for the way I fish - just seems more versatile to me.

[clemsondds]

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

I don’t have 360 to compare to, just what I’ve seen and researched, but I do have FFS and it is simply great for multi-species fishing, especially panfish (crappie, bluegill, white bass, yellow bass, etc.). If I could only pick one of the two for all around fishing, I’d stick with FFS personally for the way I fish - just seems more versatile to me.

Awesome thanks! Every time I lean one direction, I get swayed back to the other side lol

[FryDog62]

Here is something I posted on another site, hope it helps you in your plans:

 

360 Imaging VS. Livescope ~

 

First, I’m primarily a bass fisherman but have targeted pike, walleyes, white bass and crappies at times this past year. I have had Livescope for 3 seasons and 360 Imaging for one. This was the first year I used them together. Much of my opinions below are generalities and there are always exceptions.

 

Livescope: Absolutely excels in the spring pre-spawn period where for me, 360 Imaging isn’t worthless but not very useful IMO. Outside of spawn beds (which I don’t target much, and you can just sight fish with good polarized sunglasses anyway) fish aren’t set up on/near structure yet, they are roaming and that is where Livescope kicks tail. Seeing schools of crappies, white bass or other species moving around is lights out on Livescope with a jerk bait. You not only see the fish, but also what depth they are at, how far down they are suspended, etc. I also found walleyes just off the emerging weed line on Opener and caught a limit. I’ll post a picture below of a large school of white bass in 16 fow, about half way down. I could figure out whether to use a shallow or deep jerk bait a lot easier once I knew their depth. Livescope also is awesome in down view for drop-shotting as the season goes on.

 

360 Imaging: I didn’t get much benefit from it until post-spawn when the fish set up on off-shore cover, drop-offs and rocks. Before I had 360 Imaging I could always find a concentrated boulder field but struggled to find broken/chunk/scattered rock even with side imaging (I could find them many times on SI but didn’t always successfully pinpoint it when fishing). I was amazed this year how I was able to find some isolated areas and catch more than the usual one fish. Finding the big boulder field is a no-brainer, but with 360 you can really key in on specific rocks – the biggest one, or one on the end of a point, etc. I even found a sunken picnic table on the Mississippi in 18 feet of water and could drop my jig right right through a missing plank after a few tries. Was great target practice to learn depth perception, distance from the outer rings on the 360 graph, etc. When it got hot this Summer/Fall and fishing was really tough, finding bottom structure with a Ned or football jig was sometimes nothing short of incredible.

 

Both: Livescope didn’t come much back into play for me again until Fall when fish started to transition and move again. But at that time, it was a great combo with 360 to see rocks or sunken trees and then see fish (or baitfish) moving around it with Livescope to see if anyone was home. The second photo below are the 2 units working together around some scattered boulders that I may have found with side imaging, but would have struggled to pinpoint cast to them without these electronics.  I had my best smallmouth trip of the year on that day (see Avatar picture).

 

A few other general observations:

• I was surprised how little the two technologies overlapped. Rarely ever got benefit from them simultaneously. But one usually would really shine.
• Both technologies were good to see/track the outside weedlines. I had heard some people previously say one or the other is better – but both work well.
• Sometimes big fish (or 2-3 together) look too good to be true but you can’t get them to bite. Wish I had an Aqua-Vu to determine if they are rough fish which they probably are.
• Besides a jerk bait bite, I seem to catch more fish now when the lure slowly gets into the bite window and gradually moves versus – fast retrieve. Confirms I have always fished too fast. I now have overall better results with finesse applications. I have been a long-time critic of the Nerd-Rig (slow, tedious, last resort) but I learned it this year and it absolutely saved my bacon time and time again when I put it in the spot-on-the-spot.
• Fish rarely sit still in one location very long. You have to be in the right spot at the right time. These two technologies absolutely help you do this. Slight edge to Livescope there because it is real time and you don't have to wait for the screen to refresh like 360 to see which direction they are heading.

 

———————————————

 

So the question I get a lot is if you had to buy one, which would you? Wish I had an easy answer, but I don’t. If you fished one way or the other as described above – roaming fish vs. fish set up on structure/cover – you could pick one over the other. Unfortunately for me anyway, the expensive answer is both. Neither is cheap, but kind of like when you added automatic locks (and later auto windows) to your car in the 90’s, you’d never go back to a crank up/manual system now…

 

Glad I purchased them both and am looking forward to next year to learn them more ~

[clemsondds]

11 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

Here is something I posted on another site, hope it helps you in your plans:

 

360 Imaging VS. Livescope ~

 

First, I’m primarily a bass fisherman but have targeted pike, walleyes, white bass and crappies at times this past year. I have had Livescope for 3 seasons and 360 Imaging for one. This was the first year I used them together. Much of my opinions below are generalities and there are always exceptions.

 

Livescope: Absolutely excels in the spring pre-spawn period where for me, 360 Imaging isn’t worthless but not very useful IMO. Outside of spawn beds (which I don’t target much, and you can just sight fish with good polarized sunglasses anyway) fish aren’t set up on/near structure yet, they are roaming and that is where Livescope kicks tail. Seeing schools of crappies, white bass or other species moving around is lights out with a jerk bait. You not only see the fish, but also what depth they are at, how far down they are suspended, etc. I also found walleyes just off the emerging weed line on Opener and caught a limit. I’ll post a picture below of a large school of white bass in 16 fow, about half way down. I could figure out whether to use a shallow or deep jerk bait a lot easier once I knew their depth. Livescope also is awesome in down view for drop-shotting as the season goes on.

 

360 Imaging: I didn’t get much benefit from it until post-spawn when the fish set up on off-shore cover, drop-offs and rocks. Before I had 360 Imaging I could always find a concentrated boulder field but struggled to find broken/chunk/scattered rock even with side imaging (I could find it on SI but didn’t always successfully pinpoint it when fishing). I was amazed this year how I was able to find some isolated areas and catch more than one fish. Finding the big boulder field is a no-brainer, but with 360 you can really key in on specific rocks – the biggest one, or one on the end of a point, etc. I even found a sunken picnic table on the Mississippi in 18 feet of water and could drop my jig right right through a missing plank after a few tries. Was great target practice to learn depth perception, distance from the outer rings on the 360 graph, etc. When it got hot this Summer and fishing was really tough, finding bottom structure with a Ned or football jig was sometimes nothing short of incredible.

 

Both: Livescope didn’t come much back into play for me again until Fall when fish started to transition and move again. But at that time, it was a great combo with 360 to see rocks or sunken trees and then see fish moving around it with Livescope to see if anyone was home. The second photo below are the 2 units working together around some scattered boulders that I may have found with side imaging, but would have struggled to pinpoint cast to them without these electronics.  I had my best smallmouth day of the year on that day ~

 

A few other general observations:

• I was surprised how little the two technologies overlapped. Rarely ever got benefit from them simultaneously.
• Both technologies were good to see/track the outside weedlines. I had heard some people previously say one or the other is better – but both work well.
• Sometimes big fish (or 2-3 together) look too good to be true but you can’t get them to bite. Wish I had an Aqua-Vu to determine if they are rough fish which they probably are.
• Besides a jerk bait bite, I seem to catch more fish now when the lure slowly gets into the bite window and gradually moves versus – fast retrieve. Confirms I have always fished too fast. I had much better results with finesse applications. I have been a long-time critic of the Nerd-Rig (slow, tedious, last resort) but I learned it this year and it absolutely saved my bacon time and time again when I put it in the spot-on-the-spot.
• Fish rarely sit still in one location very long. You have to be in the right spot at the right time. These two technologies absolutely help you do this.

 

———————————————

 

So the question I get a lot is if you had to buy one, which would you? Wish I had an easy answer, but I don’t. If you fished one way or the other as described above – roaming fish vs. fish set up on structure/cover – you could pick one over the other. Unfortunately for me anyway, the expensive answer is both. Neither is cheap, but kind of like when you added automatic windows to your car in the 90’s, you’d never go back to a crank up system now…

 

Glad I purchased them both and am looking forward to next year to learn them more ~

Wow such great feedback!  
So prespawn and fall is livescope…and max360 for post spawn and summer? 
so why do you not like to use livescope in the postspawn and summer? Hard to find them? 
finally, would you mind sharing your system for how you go out and find fish? Thanks again 

[FryDog62]

14 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

Wow such great feedback!  
So prespawn and fall is livescope…and max360 for post spawn and summer?
so why do you not like to use livescope in the postspawn and summer? Hard to find them? 
finally, would you mind sharing your system for how you go out and find fish? Thanks again 

I would add 360 in the Fall too - excellent when its "football" (jig) season...

 

I do use Livescope in the post spawn/summer too, but I just don't see as many fish roaming, they are more on structure or inside the weed line. Livescope and 360 are both great for seeing exactly where the weedlines are, but neither can help you see the fish while they set up inside the weeds. 

 

As far as a system.. I have a busy job and limited time to get away - so I just want to spend less time guessing where the fish are and more time targeting the spot on the spot. If that's Livescope to find pods of fish in the mid-depths in the spring, or 360 when the big fish are feeding on crayfish in the rocks in summer/fall - its always a place to start and figure out a pattern that works hopefully on the rest of the lake/river. 

 

[clemsondds]

25 minutes ago, FryDog62 said:

I would add 360 in the Fall too - excellent when its "football" (jig) season...

 

I do use Livescope in the post spawn/summer too, but I just don't see as many fish roaming, they are more on structure or inside the weed line. Livescope and 360 are both great for seeing exactly where the weedlines are, but neither can help you see the fish while they set up inside the weeds. 

 

As far as a system.. I have a busy job and limited time to get away - so I just want to spend less time guessing where the fish are and more time targeting the spot on the spot. If that's Livescope to find pods of fish in the mid-depths in the spring, or 360 when the big fish are feeding on crayfish in the rocks in summer/fall - its always a place to start and figure out a pattern that works hopefully on the rest of the lake/river. 

 

Gotcha. So when you say that fish aren’t roaming as much and are on structure…is the livescope not able to differentiate bass from structure? Does it all just blend in?  So if you have a tapering point with large rocks at the end…can ls differentiate or is it mainly for when bass are suspended/roaming? 
And by system, I just meant, when you leave the boat ramp how do you typically go about finding fish? Obviously it probably depends on the time of year since it sounds like you depend more on one system over the other depending on the season. It say you were looking for a prespawn bass, how are you go about finding them  and using your LS?

[FryDog62]

1 hour ago, clemsondds said:

Gotcha. So when you say that fish aren’t roaming as much and are on structure…is the livescope not able to differentiate bass from structure? Does it all just blend in?  So if you have a tapering point with large rocks at the end…can ls differentiate or is it mainly for when bass are suspended/roaming? 
And by system, I just meant, when you leave the boat ramp how do you typically go about finding fish? Obviously it probably depends on the time of year since it sounds like you depend more on one system over the other depending on the season. It say you were looking for a prespawn bass, how are you go about finding them  and using your LS?

Yes you can differentiate fish from structure - a lot of the time but not always. Here on Mille Lacs, we have a lot of big rock piles. You might see the fish swimming between or above them, but a lot of times the big girls just sit down between or next to the rock and bottom and wait for food to come by. Then they are hard/impossible to distinguish.  But yes, if you know where a tapering point is, or some other high percentage spot - you can point Livescope at the structure and see if anything is moving around it... if not fish, maybe bait. You can usually see if someone is home, unless they are just motionless against the bottom.. then its hard to know. 

 

For pre-spawn bass, it helps to know where some of the flats near spawning areas are, or near a gradual point, etc... So before you take off, familiarize yourself with what your lake map/contour looks like, then go target the most likely areas. You might have an idea for depth so start there too. That's where Livescope is great - you suspect they are in 8-10 fow on a flat getting ready to move in to spawn. Can scan all around til you find maybe a stray but more likely 3-4 fish, and sometimes an entire school. Obviously start casting there and eliminate all the water around you that is unpopulated. Ha, I used to cast and cast a chatterbait, jerk bait, search bait, etc... just hoping to find where they are. Probably how I ended up with tennis elbow... Now I drive around on a higher trolling speed until I find signs of life and target just those areas. Much more productive.