Dialing in forward-facing sonar means tuning your Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 settings, contrast, StableView, and transducer angle, so you can clearly see fish and your lure in the water column like a video game. In this How 2 Tuesday I bring professional bass fisherman Jacob Wheeler into the studio, because the bass guys are far ahead of us in saltwater on this technology, and he walks through exactly how he sets his unit up to catch more fish.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Jacob Wheeler says Lowrance comes pretty ready to roll out of the box, but two keys make the biggest difference. First, take your contrast off auto and turn it up, around 80 to 85 percent in fairly clean water, so fish and your lure show up sharper. Second, keep StableView on so the image stays locked in place when you are in waves on big water. Those two changes alone clean up the picture dramatically.
Wheeler takes contrast off auto and runs it manually. In fairly clean water he sets it around 80 to 85 percent. He says that sharper image helps you see the fish better and, just as important, see your lure better, so you know exactly where your bait is in the water column, whether you are throwing a jerkbait, a crankbait, or bouncing a jig on the bottom.
StableView is a Lowrance feature that locks the sonar image in place when waves would otherwise make it bounce around. Wheeler keeps it on, especially on the Great Lakes or any big water, and notes saltwater anglers on the ocean face the same chop. Without it the image jumps with every wave; with it on, the picture stays steady so you can actually read what you are looking at.
Wheeler clicks the transducer up one more notch from the factory-recommended angle in the pamphlet. That gives you a better view of the top of the water column so you can watch your bait hit the water, while StableView positions and locks it in place. He says he can sometimes even see his topwater lures with the angle set a click higher than recommended.
For a more advanced tweak, go into Sonar settings, then ActiveTarget 2 installation, and change the degrees with a positive or negative value. Wheeler will run something like a positive three or even plus five degrees so he can see his bait hit the water better, depending on how his bow and trolling motor are set up. That fine-tuning is a big tip for saltwater anglers.
Wheeler says color palette is mostly personal preference. He keeps it on the standard yellowish palette he is used to, though plenty of anglers like red or other options. It does not change what the sonar sees, so he suggests playing with it and picking whatever you read most easily, rather than worrying that one color outperforms another.
The bass fishermen are simply better at forward-facing sonar than we are in saltwater right now, and Jacob Wheeler is one of the best in the world with it. He has run Lowrance for years and went from ActiveTarget one to two, so when he offered to tune our setups in, I jumped at it. I get into why this technology matters in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I walk through each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Wheeler explained that clicking the transducer up trades a little of the image directly below the boat for a much better view of the top of the water column, so you watch your bait land. For us in saltwater, that detail is gold. He breaks down exactly how he does it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Beyond the basics, Wheeler goes into the installation menu and adds a few positive degrees so he can see his bait hit the water depending on how his bow and trolling motor sit. It is the kind of small adjustment that separates the pros. He walks through it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Forward-facing sonar feels like a video game once it is dialed in, and Jacob Wheeler just handed us the settings the best bass anglers use. Take his two keys, contrast and StableView, then experiment with the transducer angle.
If you are bringing this technology into saltwater like we are, start with these and adjust from there. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Jacob Wheeler · Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 · forward-facing sonar · contrast · StableView · transducer angle · Great Lakes · bass fishing · saltwater fishing · Danco pliers · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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