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.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 876: Jacob Wheeler
In this How 2 Tuesday: Jacob Wheeler's Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 settings for forward-facing sonar — taking contrast off auto, keeping StableView on in big water, clicking the transducer up a notch, fine-tuning the install degrees, and choosing a color palette.
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Jacob Wheeler: Yeah. There's definitely a couple different things. You know, I I I I've been using the Lawrence for several years now, and I went from the active target one to target two. And and the biggest thing, you know, Lowrance is is pretty ready to roll out of the box. But there's two major keys that I always will tell someone to look at. Number one is contrast. Contrast is your opportunity to really get that image a little bit sharper. I take my contrast off of auto. You'll see the sidebar on the right hand side. You go down there in menu and get into that sidebar and get into your contrast. I typically run that if the water's fairly clean, 80 to 85%. That'll help you see those fish a little bit better and also potentially see your lure a lot better, which is important because that gives you an understanding of, like, you know, how where your bait is in the water column. You know, if you're throwing a a jerk bait or, you know, crank bait or anything like that, you can see that. Or jig and it's on the bottom, you bounce around. The other thing is, is making sure, having having StableView on for me is one thing that I try to do as well. Keeping StableView on, that's when you're in those waves, especially if you're in
Tom Rowland: Right.
Jacob Wheeler: In in big water. Like, a lot of times, I am on the Great Lakes or you might be Sure. On the ocean. Waves and those things, they typically, you know, make the image move around and StableView allows to lock that in place. And then the last thing but not least, if you're trying to get a better image of the top of the water column and, like, sort of your bait hitting the water is clicking up your transducer one more click from the factory settings. So if you look in your Allianz temp the pamphlet and it says, hey. You know, this is the angle that that we we recommend. I always like to go one more up. So that gives you a better view and stable view just sort of positions it and locks it in place.
Tom Rowland: Gotcha. So will you want to see the bottom and the top of the water? Like, that's how you like to see it? Yeah. And so have it clicked up so it's showing a little bit more focus on the top of the water than the bottom, but you can still see the bottom on your You're
Jacob Wheeler: seeing basically, all you're doing is the way that transducer works is you'll have it you'll have an image below your boat. Right?
Tom Rowland: You have
Jacob Wheeler: an image below your boat or a little bit behind your both. So your motors at if it's on your trolling in the front. Basically, I lose that image below directly below my boat, but then I all I get I gained that by having the top of the water. So you're getting basically, you're getting it from if you click it up one or two, you're getting from your trolling motor down to the bottom, and then you're getting out to you when that bait hits the water. I mean, there's times I could even see my top water lures. So that's what the way to do it. The the biggest easiest way to do it. Now the the one thing that's more a little bit more advanced that I will tell you, and for the viewers, this is a little bit more advanced. If you go into sonar, you go into your menu, go into sonar, and you go under sonar settings, your active target to installation, you can actually change your degrees, like a negative and a positive degree. So, like, if I'll do, like, a positive three degrees where I can see my bait hit the water better depending on how it's going.
Tom Rowland: So even if the transducer is focused in one area, then you go to the installation and you can have
Jacob Wheeler: it I can focus in a little bit higher. So plus. So if I give it a plus
Tom Rowland: be a big tip for the saltwater anglers.
Jacob Wheeler: Gives you a little bit more. So you might go plus five, plus three, depending on how your bow is set up and how, like, your angle of your your trolling motor
Tom Rowland: Mhmm.
Jacob Wheeler: That helps a lot. So you're gonna basically adjust that. And when you hit that bait hits the water, you're seeing your bait hit the water boom, you know, and you can see it. That's what it's at that's those are the those are the tips in 20 in in the amount of time. That's the tip.
Tom Rowland: Well, those are really, really great tips, and they're gonna definitely help. What about color palette? I see people running it all different. A lot of people like red.
Jacob Wheeler: I keep it pretty much like the standard one. It's like more of a yellow one. Mhmm. I I I do, but, like, it just depends. Some people it's really preference. I keep I know, like, a red or a a a either that yellowish tint to me. Is this just what I've been used to. But I I mean, you can play around with it a little bit. Color palette palette is more preference. It's personal preference, I feel like. Mhmm.
Tom Rowland: Alright. Awesome tips. So that's, Lorraine's Active Target two. And it is definitely definitely working. So those are those are some good tips there. Thanks, Jacob. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. See you.
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