Interested in buying forward-facing sonar? Here’s everything to consider

Interest in forward-facing sonar has been growing exponentially, and a guy who spends every day rigging angler’s boats with this equipment calls it the “wave of the future.”

“We went from a point back in 2020 when we’d get five or 10 guys asking about it in a year, to now when every other customer is interested in it,” said Jared Remerowski, the general manager of Fish-Lectronics in Minneapolis.

Forward-facing sonar (FFS) also is known as live sonar or real-time sonar. Manufactured in some form by all the major players in the sonar industry, it can allow anglers to actually determine the species and size of fish they see on their screens, and then watch as the fish responds to their lures.

“Every boat that comes through here now has an FFS unit on it in some shape or form,” Remerowski said. “Everyone is acquiring them now. It’s the wave of the future.”

Fish-Lectronics has been in the business of rigging boats with electronics since 1983, and was acquired by Thorne Bros., a well-known tackle shop in the Minneapolis area, two years ago.

Remerowski came to Fish-Lectronics after working for a nearby boat dealer and has been in the industry for seven years. The electronics business is booming, he said, as the company employs three full-time riggers and two trolling motor technicians, as well as front-end staff.

Remerowski, 46, is a bass fisherman and uses FFS equipment on his own boat. He estimates that Fish-Lectronics now sells thousands of the new live sonar units annually.

The average buyer will acquire a single unit, he said, though muskie fishermen often buy multiple units as they hunt individual fish. One unit installed on a boat will run around $5,500, Remerowski said, while an ice fishing package can be had for about $4,000.

Fish-Lectronics has completed “builds” as expensive as in the $40,000 range, Remerowski said. That involved the installation of six 12-inch sonar heads on a large multi-species boat for a fisherman who pursues muskies and walleyes.

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What to know

The considerations involved in adding live sonar to a boat are many. Remerowski advises potential customers to stop by the shop rather than call.

“Whether it’s me or another shop, you’ll gain more from talking face-to-face rather than through the phone,” he said. “My first question will be whether they will use it solely in their boat, or flex it between summer and ice fishing.”

Remerowski checked off the information he needs before starting a live sonar project on a boat.

“I need to know what kind of trolling motor they have. Lots of guys want it installed on their trolling motor, and depending on the motor there are multiple ways to connect it. How do they want to mount it? Then we go down the rabbit hole from there. We go through the mounts available. Do they have a rail or track system on the boat?”

Other important factors are the angler’s boat model, size of screens they want, how many units on which they want to be able to view FFS, and whether they would prefer a pole mounting system.

“The options are really endless to outfitting the boat,” Remerowski said.

He advises anglers to get a live sonar unit with at least a 10-inch screen.

“Viewing live sonar on anything smaller is almost impossible. They’re just not going to see what they want to see.”

The single greatest problem with getting live sonar to work properly is consistent power, Remerowski said. A new boat’s factory wiring is usually sufficient to handle one unit’s power needs.

If two or more units are being installed, he recommends a separate, dedicated lithium battery.

Anglers who try to install it on boats that were built in the late 1990s to early 2000s often run into trouble with voltage drop because the boat’s wiring isn’t heavy enough, and a separate power system is usually required.

In the hands of some anglers, live sonar is incredibly effective. But there are a slew of misconceptions, Remerowski said, especially after several bass and muskie tournaments and circuits initiated bans or limits on its use for fear that it tips the scales too much in favor of anglers.

“The biggest misconception newcomers to live sonar have is that they’re going to catch more fish,” he said. “They think ‘I’m going to spend $3,000 or $4,000 on this unit and I’m going to catch all the fish in the lake,’ but that’s not how it works. They still have to catch the fish.”

The evolution of sonar has been rapid in recent years and Remerowski questions how much farther the manufacturers will take it, especially given the pushback from bass and muskie tournament organizers.

“I keep on thinking about that. I don’t know how much farther they can go besides improving clarity, cleaning it up more than what it already is. I don’t know how much farther the manufacturers can or will go with it,” he said.