MANY, La. — Forward facing sonar is all the rage. The latest in fishing technology has some people literally in a rage over its use. Whether you hate it or love it, it undoubtedly produces some big fish stories the details of which were impossible to discern before its arrival.
Chris Johnston’s 9-pound, 3-ounce big bass of Day 2 at the Gamakatsu Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend Reservoir is a prime example.
“I was LiveScoping, just like most the people are with a (jighead) minnow,” Johnston said. “I made a cast at one, and it was following me to the boat. It wasn’t going to eat. It was just sitting there about three feet from my bait. I was shaking it.
“Then I see something come streaking off the bottom. I didn’t think it was a big one at first. I just kept shaking the bait, and I felt a thunk. That was the 9-pounder.”
Johnston estimated his lure was 20 feet down in 35 feet of water. He’s surprised so many bass are still deep.
“Everything says they should be going to the bank,” said Johnston, who had a 26-pound, 8-ounce five-bass limit Friday, which left him in 6th place with a two-day total of 45-7. “I’m not sure why they’re not yet, but they’re staging in these pockets and creek channels. I tried keeping them honest (Thursday), seeing if there were any spawners. I saw one or two, but I didn’t see any big females. I’ll probably keep it honest again (Saturday) and see if those big ones pull up on some beds.”
Johnston said he caught probably 25 bass Friday, including some in rapid fashion on a jighead minnow and a jerkbait. But all the big ones he caught were more isolated, not on the numbers spots.
Alex Wetherell, the second-year Elite Series pro from Middletown, Conn., saw proof positive, thanks to forward facing sonar, that a hooked fish will hit a second time. Wetherell battled hooked bass coming unhooked all day long.
“They were just eating it weird today,” he said. “I lost a couple of good fish. I should have had a really, really good bag.”
He had 19-13 that, combined with 21-14 on Day 1, left him in 11th place with a 41-11 total. His bag Friday included an 8 ½-pounder that had a “fish story” with it.
“I hooked that fish, it comes up, jumps and it came off,” Wetherell said. “I saw it swim back down on LiveScope. I threw to it twice, and it kind of reacted to it. It didn’t ignore my bait, like a hooked fish typically would.
“It was heading towards the bank. I got my bait down in front of it before it got to the grass on the bank. It ate it again, and I caught it.
“Most of the time, when you hook a fish, they’re done.”
Without forward-facing sonar, Wetherell couldn’t have known any of those details, nor would Johnston have known how that 9-pounder came streaking off the bottom to hit his lure. You can’t argue with the fact that those are pretty good fish tales.
