B.A.S.S. Limits Forward-Facing Sonar in 2026 Bassmaster Elites—But Should They?

An old angler and lifelong fan’s reaction to the new 2026 rule and what it means for the future of bass fishing.

B.A.S.S. will ban forward-facing sonar (FFS) in four 2026 Bassmaster Elite tournaments, as decided by a coin flip. Here’s one bass fan’s reaction, why the rule is controversial, and what it means for the sport. | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

After what appeared to be a great conclusion to the 2025 season, B.A.S.S. announced a controversial change for the 2026 Bassmaster Elite Series. The use of forward-facing sonar (FFS) will be limited to five of nine regular-season tournaments. To decide which tournaments, they flipped a coin. As an old fisherman who loves both the tradition of this sport and the technological innovation it has created, I wonder if this is the best way forward for professional tournament bass fishing?

Setting the 2026 Bassmaster Elite Schedule

I just watched the live broadcast of the coin flips. Longtime B.A.S.S. LIVE hosts, Tommy Sanders, Davy Hite and Mark Zona, thoroughly explained the process, paired up the lakes on the 2026 Bassmaster Elite schedule, and let the B.A.S.S. shield logo-side of the coin decide “No FFS” and the bass eating a crawdaddy-side (Zona’s words) dictate “Yes FFS”. To be honest, I'm such a bass geek that I enjoyed watching those three goof around for an hour and talk about the 2026 season, whether or not I think this is a great move forward.

In the end, the 2026 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule will be as follows:

1. Lake Guntersville -No FFS
2. Lake Martin -Yes FFS
3. Tenn-Tom Waterway -No FFS
4. Arkansas River -Yes FFS
5. Lake Murray -Yes FFS
6. Santee Cooper Lakes -No FFS
7. Pasquotank River -Yes FFS
8. Lake Champlain -No FFS
9. St Lawrence River -Yes FFS

While it's all in good fun (because, isn't bass fishing supposed to be fun?), I did make the following post on Facebook when I heard the announcement.

Forward-Facing Sonar Debate: Facts vs. Opinions

This fish was caught while being watched on forward-facing sonar. Lots of other fish were seen but never caught. | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

Being THE authority on any subject is hard. By definition, an authority on a subject has extensive knowledge and experience. Their opinions and views can be taken as definitive and can influence others. Being the self-proclaimed authority is bold and comes with a high-level of responsibility.

So, how has B.A.S.S., the worldwide authority on bass fishing (their words), come to this decision on FFS use?

From B.A.S.S.’ own press release on the decision, they state about the 2025 season, “…winners in nearly half of the season’s events relied primarily on traditional tactics.” That’s a fairly indisputable fact. With the live coverage we have, we can say with reasonable certainty which tournament winners were using FFS. In the case of the 2025 season it was an even split (or as even as you can get when dividing an odd number). So, even though this technology was available at all the tournaments, the actual results were pretty fair for both old-school and new-school.

But then the next few lines say, "However, live sonar still influenced outcomes across the board. Many stakeholders within the bass fishing community, including fans and B.A.S.S. members, continued to voice concerns about live sonar use and its influence on competition.” When compared to a statement that is provable and based on facts, these sentences feel kind of flimsy. These are statements of opinions and feelings, not facts. No doubt many of these “voices of concern” are passionate, and that their hearts aren't anywhere but in the right place, but that doesn’t make them right.

So in the one paragraph where B.A.S.S. explains their careful evaluation and decision, they start with something positive that is provable and backed by data and statistics, and negate it with a couple statements that seem like personal opinions backed by unclear, or no, data. Then they summarize it all by going with the part that is not provable.

Does B.A.S.S. Limiting Sonar Fix Professional Bass Fishing?

Forward-facing sonar has quickly become standard equipment on most professional angler's boats. | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

So, this technology that’s “influencing the outcomes across the board”, which is presented as something that is apparently bad, is now okay to use in half of the tournaments?

For the voices who don’t like it, will the tournaments that include its use be unwatchable? And will those fans, and I suppose the competitors, who oppose it, believe the winners of those events deserve an asterisk by their “victory” in the history books?

And for those who do support FFS, are they disappointed because the pros aren’t able to show what they or a fishery are truly capable of at the highest level possible?

Was the Sport of Bass Fishing Actually Broken?

Big crowd at Bassmaster Elite Event in LaCrosse, WIsconsin at the LaCrosse Loggers Baseball Stadium. | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

We live in a time where it has become increasingly important to sharpen your critical thinking skills and carefully analyze and rationalize the information we receive, all day, every day. The sad reality is that bad news gets clicks. And even as most people are aware of that, lots of us click anyway without factoring in the story’s motivation when analyzing the accuracy of the information.

I was personally in attendance at the 2025 Bassmaster Classic in Fort Worth. The expo was busy and crowded. The weigh-in, especially on the final day, was buzzing with noise, excitement and energy. I had a great time and everyone I saw was having a great time, too. Then I got home and started reading online how nobody was there and nobody had fun and this was the worst Classic ever, blah, blah, blah.

The same thing happened at ICAST. I was blown away by how excited everyone I spoke with was. But then got home and read what a terrible time I had. Turns out I hadn’t talked to anybody and the sport is dying. Huh.

I was also at the final Elite event of the year on the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin a couple weeks ago. I witnessed an absolutely huge crowd of fans enthusiastically support several grown men, brought to tears by the idea that they may not be re-qualifying to compete on the Bassmaster Elites next year. So, contrary to what I read online, the fans sure seem to love it and so do the competitors.

How Other Leagues Handle Forward-Facing Sonar Rules

2025 Forward Facing Sonar Rules Official Guide: What Every Bass Angler Needs to Know | Kurt Mazurek

I wrote about this at the beginning of the 2025 season. In summary, the National Professional Fishing League (NPFL) went with a straight ban—no FFS. For Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour (BPT), they limited use to one-of-three periods every day of competition. For the Bassmaster Elites, they limited the mechanics of it to one transducer and a maximum amount of display screen size, but use of FFS during competition was not limited.

Each organization offered a major point of differentiation. Each top-level angler could compete in whichever scenario they believed was most fair. Plus, in a world where for some reason we need three different, top-level, bass fishing organizations, at least those various approaches created some justification for three pro tours.

Where Does All That Leave This Old Fisherman with B.A.S.S.?

The author with a nice smallmouth bass caught from a bass boat without forward-facing sonar (gasp!). | Photo by Shane Beisner

For the record, I’m not for or against FFS. I’m a fan of clear, rational, critical thinking based on facts and data, and a desire to always keep moving forward. I reject most of the squeaking of the squeaky wheels among us because the truth and the facts rarely need to be squeaked. And I love bass fishing.

After a very enjoyable 2025 Bassmaster Elite season, I hoped that perhaps we had finally moved forward. The tours had all settled into their take on tournament bass fishing, and we could start to keep an eye out for some new technology, or lure, or strategy to divide us. It’s disappointing to see the “authority” taking what appears to be a one-year step backwards.

So, I’ll brace myself for a fresh round of click-bait headlines and divisive, never-ending debate about FFS for 2026, I’ll watch as much coverage of all three tournament organizations as I can, and I’ll continue to love bass fishing. Because regardless of any decisions any business makes, I can still go catch a bass any way I want.

And now, one last thought. This whole situation reminds me of a quote I’ve always loved as a business and marketing guy. It’s not about choosing the easiest or safest answer, it’s about taking responsibility as the authority.

“Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”
-Steve Jobs (elaborating on a quote by Henry Ford)