Stepping up your forward-facing sonar game with Cody Huff

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard or seen anglers on social media discussing forward-facing sonar and its success over traditional techniques.

The most popular of these forward-facing sonar setups include Garmin LiveScope, Humminbird MEGA Live, and Lowrance ActiveTarget. Many lures can get bites paired with this technology, but Bassmaster Elite Series and Sunline pro Cody Huff claims the lures that consistently perform year-round seem to be the drop shot, swimbait, and, of course, the "jig head/minnow" like the Missile Baits Spunk Shad.

At Sunline, we know there is so much more than knowing what lures perform best. So, we reached out to Cody Huff to ask him what setup he uses for these techniques. Would you believe he uses the same setup on all three lures listed above? That's right, Huff reaches for a 6-foot 8-inch medium power spinning rod setup spooled with 10-pound Overwatch braid paired with a 12-pound Tornade V Hard FC leader.

Braided Lines

The Overwatch braid is an eight-strand braid designed specifically for spinning reels. Many of the top Bassmaster and Major League Fishing pros have switched to it because of its high flexibility for improved handling and superior slickness for improved casting distance with light lures. This braid's most unique feature, however, is the metered markings for enhanced visibility for better bite detection and line watching. It features repeated sections of 12 inches of chartreuse marking and 30 inches of green braid.

Huff also notes that adjusting your braid size will significantly affect how fast your bait falls. For example, an 8-pound test will sink faster than an 18-pound test due to its thinner diameter, causing less drag in the water. Huff also suggests using the new Almight sinking braid when fishing very deep water or wanting to fish your bait faster.

Almight is brand new from Sunline and is currently the only sinking braided line in the US market. This line is designed specifically for spinning reels and is available in two colors: olive camo and pink. Because of its four outside PE strands with a high specific gravity core in the center, which creates a faster sink rate for deep water presentations, Almight is 50% heavier than traditional braided lines.

If you're looking for a high-performance eight-strand braided line that will maintain performance due to Performance Sustainable Processing (PSP), look no further than the new Siglon PE AMZ. The PSP application allows for greater longevity by keeping the initial smoothness and durability of the braided line. Available in orange from 10-18 pound test and dark green from 35-60 pound test, this braided line is a great choice for both baitcasting and spinning setups.

A more affordable option for braided line is the Siglon PEx8. This braid provides great lineal and knot strength, high abrasion resistance and sensitivity, low color bleeding, and superior slickness. Available in 10-50 pound tests in dark green and orange colors, this braided line is an affordable yet reliable choice for both baitcasting and spinning setups.

Leader Materials

When it comes to his spinning setups, Cody Huff prefers the Tornade V Hard FC leader tied to his braid because of its Plasma Rise Technology that creates ultimate abrasion resistance, so he doesn't have to waste time retying as much.

However, a more affordable yet reliable option for a leader material would be the FC Leader. This line is designed specifically for tying to braid because it perfectly balances tensile and knot strength, sensitivity, and abrasion resistance.

If you're looking for a leader material with a little more stretch or trying to keep your lure up super shallow in the water column, try the Nylon Leader. This line is also designed specifically for tying to braided lines because of its superior strength and abrasion resistance, and it reduces water absorption more than other nylon lines, preventing breakage issues.

The new Tepa Tapered FC Leader is another great option for a fluorocarbon leader material. This is a unique line that allows for an angler to do one of two things: (1) tie the stronger end of the leader to the braid to increase knot strength while keeping a thinner diameter by the lure, or (2) tie the thinner diameter of the leader to a small matching diameter braid while having more strength at the lure if fishing around structure.

Whichever leader material you choose, it is important to tie a strong connector knot like the FG knot, Albright knot, or  Quintet knot. There are many other types of knots, however. Check all of them out here.

Fluorocarbon lines

When looking at fluorocarbon lines, our FC Sniper and Shooter are two of our most popular. Both lines have triple resin processing, which provides high abrasion resistance, low memory, long life, and uniform line diameter. While you can tie these fluorocarbon lines to braid just as you can our leader-specific materials, they are often used to fill up the whole reel spool for many different lures, but especially the ones that excel with forward-facing sonar such as jerkbaits, swimbaits, spoons, glide baits, and Alabama rigs.

FC Sniper is a versatile line that can be used for all these lures and more! Shooter fluorocarbon is extremely abrasion-resistant, which is crucial when fishing around heavy cover. This line would be beneficial for techniques like casting a big worm or a jig in deep, heavy cover that can be located with forward-facing sonar. If you're looking for more affordable fluorocarbon lines, check out our Assassin FC, Super fluorocarbon, and our new Model FC designed for new fluorocarbon users.

Conclusion

This may seem like many overwhelming options, and you may be wondering where to start. Well, it all depends on your preference! At Sunline, we create different fishing lines to suit each angler's preference. This is why we reach out to pros like Cody Huff to get their preferences so that anglers can use what the pros use. Besides, if the best pros use it, you can't go wrong!