Do depth finders Find Catfish

Drawout · #1 06-23-2006, 02:53 AM

Ive heard that a depth finder detects scales on fish and thats how u get a reading,If this is true then how do they find catfish or do they ? "Sorry If this is a stupid question":confuse:

RamRod · #2 06-23-2006, 03:06 AM

That's not a stupid question at all brother. It's actually a very good question that I personally asked DH not long ago over a phone conversation with him. When he sees this question, I'm sure he'll be able to answer your question and make you understand better than I could explain it. But yes you can tell the difference between scaled and non-scaled fish with a fish finder.

catcam · #3 06-23-2006, 03:07 AM

It's all about the whiskers!
They should- my depth finder finds things that I know are not fish but appear so on the screen- large floating debris and you think Jaws is underneath the boat.

Dwednuts · #4 06-23-2006, 05:01 AM

Depth finders are great tools for finding catfish. I look at it this way, when you find the right type of structure and you see fish arches in that srtucture, chances are you have found the cats you are looking for. You need to be able to read the structure and it's proxcimaty to a deep hole or channel, to determine what type of fish are in the structure.

Arkie55 · #5 06-23-2006, 09:13 AM

Depthfinder is the best tool on my boat. I not only use it for finding holes and structure but with practice you can determine bottom type (hard, soft, rock, ect...) structure type, (stumps, tops, trees, ect) and locate and catch the fish. That's right. Many times I have been checking a hole and find good arches positioned on structure that indicate they may be active. I've then set the boat in a position to effectively fish that structure and those fish. Lots of times within 5 minutes of presenting the bait I've had a fish on.

There are many others here that know a lot more about reading their depthfinder than I do but I will tell you this. Set it up to show arches and not fish drawings. Then learn to use the zoom feature. Get the "Greyline" feature too. The things you can see and learn with these three features set up and running will really improve your fishing.