Forward-facing sonar, or simply "FFS," is everywhere you turn right now, and it's created a firestorm among anglers and fans of professional bass fishing. Technology has changed how many anglers fish, and companies like Berkley have made baits that work exceptionally well with it. Bass Pro Tour angler Matt Stefan relies on forward-facing sonar to compete and uses a trio of baits that excel with his Lowrance ActiveTarget: the Power Switch, Krej, and Finisher.
Here's how he fishes each to get the most out of these specially designed lures.
Power Switch
The Berkley PowerBait Power Switch was the first bait to get the "FFS Optimized" sticker on its package when it was released at ICAST last year and it's the one Stefan has the most experience with. He says it excels year-round because you can fish it at many depths.
"To me, it's more like a 'Damiki Rig' style bait that everyone is using with a jighead and minnow bait," he said. "But it's molded and a heavier plastic that comes in various sizes and weights. I was fishing it in 35 feet of water at our first event this year on Toledo Bend and caught one over 8 pounds on it."
He likes the Power Switch because it can be fished at virtually any depth and remains in the strike zone.
"It has a really good side-to-side action and darts and walks in place," he said. "The depth stays consistent and you can throw it to fish you see on the screen. Let it fall to where they are and the bait will stay roughly at that level."
Stefan fishes it with simple rod pops to get it to dart and has been impressed with the versatility of the bait as it catches fish of different species.
"It's also a very good multi-species bait, and I've caught tons of crappie and yellow perch on the smallest one, which is only 1.75 inches long," he said. "The biggest one is 5 inches long and weighs a lot, but it has a bigger profile to appeal to big bass and other big predators."
The Finisher
Like the Power Switch, the Finisher will "walk" in place and of the three, it's Stefan's favorite.
"It's got similar movement as the Power Switch, but in a hard plastic material," he said. "Throw it out there, let it sink to the right level and start working it. The bait has sharp darting action and is like a walk-the-dog action that will go a few feet to either side of center."
To get this action, Stefan pops his rod like he does with the Power Switch. "I like to keep my rod at about 10 o'clock and give it simple rod pops," he said. "It does not take much to get the movement and it generates strikes from bass and a lot of other species."
The bait comes in three sizes: 5, 7, and 9, and Stefan said the middle size is his go-to. "None of them are very big, but the 7 is my favorite," he said. I've caught fish with it in 3 feet of water and all the way down to about 25 feet deep. It's a very versatile bait."
The Krej
Krej is jerk spelled backward, and that's what it looks like with a reversed bill that allows the bait to do many different things. Stefan began by saying that this bait is highly technical and requires a little getting used to.
"It can do so many things from backsliding into fish to rising to the surface where you can fish it like a topwater," he said. "The best thing to do is to pay attention to your forward-facing sonar and see what the bait does with each pull and pop of the rod. That way, you know when to use different movements for specific fish."
Stefan gave a prime example of the effectiveness of the bait as he recalled catching bass with it while fishing grass and seeing fish follow the bait. "You can give the bait slack, and it will fall backward at a 45-degree angle, and you can reengage those fish following the bait," he said. "It's a great tool for fishing individual targets and specific fish you see. The Krej can do many different things when you know what the bait is doing and it's deadly when you use it to trigger fish with different rod movements."
Forward-facing sonar is the hottest topic in bass fishing and looks to be for the foreseeable future. Berkley was one of the first to introduce lures specifically for the technology and there will surely be more on the way as companies learn ways to get the most out of FFS.
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