What We Can Learn From Forward-Facing Sonar
- Aidan Ford
- Feb 8
- 7 min read
Three Lessons Learned from Forward-Facing Sonar
February 8th, 2026
On a crisp spring morning in April 2021, I packed up my rods and an assortment of tackle and headed west along Route 70 toward West Virginia. I arrived at my destination before dawn and met my friend Ethan at the boat ramp. Ethan and I fished many tournaments together in college, but this would be the first since the pandemic. In the days leading up to the trip, Ethan had been telling me about an exciting bite he’d unlocked using a new technology he called LiveScope. I was eager to see it in action.
Just minutes after blast-off, the boat settled onto our first spot of the day. Ethan deployed the trolling motor and powered on the Garmin. What appeared on the screen was a real-time window into the world beneath the surface: bait balls suspended in open water, brush piles and fallen trees scattered across the bottom, and what I could only describe as “blobs” drifting in and around the cover. From that moment on, I was hooked.
Before owning my own boat equipped with forward-facing sonar, I spent time here and there fishing from the boats of friends who were fortunate enough to have the technology. Looking back, I now realize those experiences didn’t truly change the way we fished. We were handed a powerful advantage, yet we didn’t know how to use it to push us to think differently or try new approaches. We fished the same locations, threw the same baits, and followed the same patterns. The only difference was that we could see what we were casting at. More often than not, our growing addiction to staring at the screen hurts us more than it helps.
In March of 2024, I stepped into a boat of my own. A 16-foot Lowe aluminum rig equipped with a 12-volt trolling motor, a 9.9-horsepower Evinrude, and, most importantly, a Garmin 94SV paired with LiveScope Plus. I quickly learned there is a stark difference between simply seeing what’s happening below the surface and truly understanding what you’re seeing.
Seeing is believing, and that is the true advantage of forward-facing sonar. You are watching it happen in real time. It removes much of the guessing that once defined bass fishing. But seeing what is happening does not automatically mean you understand why it is happening, and those two things are very different. The angler who understands is better than the one who only sees. Understanding allows you to develop pattern recognition, apply it in new situations, and continue to find success even when the screen is turned off.
This revelation raises an important question: what can we learn from forward-facing sonar? The first thing we learn is that we must unlearn much of what we once believed about largemouth bass.
Bass spend far more time in open water than we once believed.
Before forward-facing sonar, I rarely targeted bass that were suspended and roaming over open water. Even when I did, it was typically during late summer, when bass were grouped up and actively feeding at the surface on schools of perch and gizzard shad. I was led to believe that during other times of the year, bass did not behave this way, roaming open water seemingly without purpose. Even when I did target fish suspended over deep water, I still focused my efforts around structure, such as the ends of long, tapering points.
It is now clear that bass can and do behave this way year-round. Whether it is the hottest day of summer or the dead cold of winter, bass still roam. The question is why. The simplest answer is that bass are opportunistic creatures shaped by their environment, not bound to any single stump, rock, or log.
In early spring, a bass may roam from a creek channel to the mouth of a pocket simply because it is the easiest path to take. In the fall, a bass may leave the cover of a laydown tree to intercept an unsuspecting school of baitfish. In winter, a bass may leave the stump it has been sitting on to roam higher in the water column in search of a dying shad, simply because it is the easiest and most energy-efficient meal available. In cold water, during the afternoon of a sunny day, a bass may rise off the bottom and suspend just a few feet beneath the surface simply to warm itself. During periods when the water is at its warmest, bass may position themselves over the deepest sections of a creek or river channel, where even a slight draw of current can be cooler than the surrounding water.
Understanding that this behavior has a purpose is the key. Bass rarely move or behave at random. More often, their actions are driven by necessity. And if you understand the where and the why behind this behavior, you can often replicate it across other areas of the lake.
How Conditions and Time of Day Influence Bass Positioning in Cover and Structure
When it comes to catching bass, especially trophy bass, timing is often a critical factor. The angle of the sun, the first light of dawn following a full moon, sudden changes in wind speed, current generation, or approaching frontal conditions can all play a role in triggering bass to position themselves to feed.
While learning and understanding these factors requires time on the water, forward-facing sonar can provide deeper insight into how bass react when these shifts occur by allowing us to observe their behavior in real time.
Bass that were previously roaming or positioned off the side of a point and showing little activity may be triggered by a sudden afternoon breeze or a draw of current, causing them to stack up on the point and become more aggressive and willing to strike a properly presented lure. At times, this change is subtle and difficult to recognize, but an efficient and skilled forward-facing sonar angler can identify when the shift occurs and knows to be in their best spots when it happens.
This does not apply only to structures such as points, humps, and channel swings, but also to cover, such as submerged vegetation, brush piles, rock piles, standing timber, docks, and laydown trees. A bass living in a brushy standing tree may spend part of the day buried deep in the limbs, making it difficult to present a lure and less likely to bite. As conditions change, that same fish may reposition higher in the tree, settling near the top of the brush. More often than not, this shift coincides with increased aggression and a greater willingness to strike a well-placed, well-presented lure.
Bass Are Often Less Lethargic in Cold Water Than Once Believed
The idea that bass do not move much in cold water has been around for as long as most of us can remember. Nearly every book and article I read growing up about winter fishing repeated the same advice: slow down. Bass were considered lethargic and largely inactive in cold water. While this advice holds in many situations, I have consistently found the opposite to be true in cold water conditions.
Bass still need to eat. Period. Water temperatures in the 30s and 40s may slow them down, but when a bass encounters an easy meal this time of year, it is often more willing to strike than most anglers expect. I have caught bass in 41-degree water that were suspended ten feet down and quickly darted up to strike a lure just inches beneath the surface.
In many cases, a larger presentation draws more interest, and that is an important consideration in cold water. A glidebait can be a deadly forward-facing sonar tactic when presented to the right fish. There are also times when a smaller-than-usual presentation is the most effective one. Pay close attention to how bass position themselves in cover or around baitfish during cold water periods, and experiment with a wide range of lures to learn what works best in each situation rather than limiting yourself to only traditional cold water tactics.
So, What Can We Learn?
I focused on just three key points in this article, but the truth is, there are seemingly limitless lessons to be learned from bass fishing with forward-facing sonar. Through years of trial and error with this technology, I continue to learn something new about bass and their environment on every trip, even the bad ones, especially the bad ones.
With that in mind, the biggest takeaway from this article is simple: pay attention to the details. What you are seeing almost always means something, and there is always something to learn if you are willing to observe and think critically. As a trophy bass angler, I am constantly focused on being in the right place at the right time, whether that means choosing the right lake during the right month or positioning myself on the right piece of cover at the right moment.
The more time you spend on the water and the more closely you study what your forward-facing sonar is actually showing you, fish behavior, bait location, and subtle changes, the more your knowledge and confidence begin to intersect, putting you in a position to land a truly special fish.
About the Author
Born and raised in Gambrills, Maryland, Aidan Ford grew up fishing the reservoirs and tidal rivers of Maryland, Delaware, and southern Pennsylvania. In his early twenties, Aidan spent two years living in upstate New York, where he honed his skills targeting bass in deep, clear, rocky, and grass-filled glacial lakes. Today, Aidan spends most of his time pursuing trophy largemouth bass in the lakes and reservoirs of Virginia and Maryland. His fishing style is heavily forward-facing sonar–focused, with a particular emphasis on glidebaits and mid-strolling techniques.
Great info and write up!
Awesome info!!