Cat Scans: Modern Tools to Help You Catch More Catfish

Great catfish anglers know that they must understand their quarry to routinely find success. They’re willing to regularly adapt to conditions to catch fish more frequently, too. These days, some of the best catfish anglers are those utilizing modern electronics to more effectively and consistently pin down fish locations and activity.

Much has changed in fishing electronics over the past two decades—especially in the past two or three years. When I started catfishing on the Red River of the North more than 20 years ago, most anglers were using simple 2D sonar and maybe GPS. I started with just a flasher and real-time depth readings.

Back then, it could take an entire summer to learn just a couple holes and the structure situated within them. Now, with today’s electronics, anglers can map and side-image an average-size hole in just a few minutes and learn everything they want. Add in live, forward-facing sonar, and you can see if fish are in the hole; sometimes, you can even determine what species they are.

Currently, there are four predominant types of electronic tools available to most anglers. Some have been around for decades, while others are so new they may still be cost-prohibitive to many anglers. Below, we’ll cover these main four to show how each has its place in identifying and catching catfish.

CREATE CUSTOM MAPS

The first step in any electronics-based catfishing strategy is pinpointing areas that may be productive, and this usually begins with a good map. Companies like LakeMaster and Navionics have mapped most lakes and bodies of water around the country. Detailed contour maps of these lakes are usually available for depth finders via download, an SD card or even a cell phone app. Having these maps with marked depth contours dramatically simplifies the search for productive, fish-holding areas. However, this only works is waterbodies that have been digitally mapped or charted, and many smaller lakes haven’t been.

Around 2015, Humminbird introduced AutoChart Live. This was a software update to depth finders that allowed anglers to make custom maps. It was intended to help anglers fine-tune a point or an area to find that “spot on the spot.” However, it also allowed anglers who fish uncharted waters to create accurate maps of their own, thus opening up a whole new, previously unseen world.

When fishing on the Red River, AutoChart Live allowed me to chart out many miles of river. Having these maps for the first time gave me a huge leg up because I knew where every break line, head of hole, back of hole or river trough was. With this knowledge, the task was simoly to read the water and go fishing. AutoChart Live even has a custom range setting so I can color-code the map to my liking. This makes fishing fast and fun. Once I figure out the most productive depth range based on bites, I simply move to the next spot that is the same color as the previous one.

In my opinion, the ability to build custom maps of a waterway has been the greatest technological advancement in fishing. It removes all guesswork in finding break lines and current tunnels when fishing rivers. If you have a basic understanding of identifying current and can pair it with a detailed map, you’ll catch more fish in more places—even areas you’ve not previously fished.

LOOK DOWN

Good old-fashioned 2D sonar has existed for many years and is still used in lots of situations. When it was introduced, it was revolutionary to be able to find and see fish below the boat. Over the years, 2D sonar has seen numerous improvements, and it remains a solid tool.

These days, it’s used mostly for determining depth and to see fish that anglers pass over while drifting and trolling. Of course, 2D also helps users gauge how fish are suspending and acting in relation to the bottom, then make adjustments in fishing depth, presentation or bait.

SCAN SIDEWAYS

The current iteration of side-imaging sonar revolutionized catfishing when it came about in the 2000s. It allowed anglers to see away from the boat without spooking fish. This was, and is, huge for catfish anglers, especially in rivers. Beyond seeing fish on or near bottom, they could also decipher structures such as sunken trees and current break drop-offs. They could similarly observe how these features were situated in an area and better understand how to fish them.

“I hardly ever sell anyone a unit that does not have side imaging anymore,” says Vince Nadosky, a southern Ohio catfish angler and owner of the online electronics store Catfish Tech. Based on his experience, he feels that this “is still the main method for identifying structure and finding catfish effectively.”

Jimmi Brown, owner of the Iowa-based Chasin’ Cats Guide Service (chasincats.com), agrees on side imaging’s importance in finding fish to target in a general area. He typically heads out to where he wants to fish and then uses side imaging to scan the area before setting up his drifts.

I began my own guiding career around the time side imaging was being introduced. I wanted to be on top of my catfishing game, so I bought a unit with side imaging to see if it was the real deal. While it took some time to understand initially, over the past 15-plus years it’s been my go-to method for learning structure and finding fish.

GO LIVE

No technology is making bigger waves in fishing than live, forward-facing sonar. It’s changing ice fishing and how anglers target walleyes, bass, crappies and every other species in open water. But how is it being used in the catfish world?

In 2023, I got Humminbird’s MEGA Live and have used it on a limited basis in my catfishing. I predominantly fish while anchored, so I haven’t seen a huge advantage yet in using it to catch specific fish. But, what I’ve realized is that I can quickly determine what current seam catfish are feeding on at any given time. This basically proves my patterning correct or incorrect in seconds.

Minnesota guide Darren Troseth, who owns 3 Rivers Fishing Adventures (3riversfishingadventures.com), has come to a similar conclusion. He uses Garmin LiveScope and also fishes under anchor. We agree that live imaging lets the user confirm or disprove his or her theories about the current seams fish are using or not using in real time, thus helping to eliminate wasted time.

For catfish anglers who drift and troll, like Brown, the benefits may be more pronounced. Brown started experimenting with forward-facing sonar—Garmin LiveScope, specifically—in 2022. By 2023, he was sold and all-in for the following season. Brown feels that forward-facing (or, in his case, backward-facing) sonar has made him much more effective while drifting and trolling for catfish. While he can’t see his baits behind the boat with live sonar because they’re too far away, he is able to see the fish in the area. Then, he can make gear adjustments based on how they are feeding. He can determine whether fish are suspending or not suspending in relation to baitfish and tweak leader length, floats and planer board distances accordingly to put baits right in the sweet spot.

Brown says it drastically reduces the time it takes to pattern fish each day. Instead of putting out a bunch of different setups to discover what fish want, he can make quick adjustments to all lines and tailor presentations to the fish because he can literally see them feeding in real time. In his experience, the result is often catching more fish per trip.

Nadosky believes that the use of forward-facing sonar—at least applied to catfishing—is in its infancy. As catfish anglers get better at adapting the technology to their unique needs, he feels it will only become more popular. Many of his Catfish Tech customers target both catfish and crappies. Because they’re already using the technology for crappies, they’re trying to find ways to do so while catfishing as well. So far, as is the case with Brown, many are using it to quickly see the adjustments they must make with their rigs to stay on active fish.

He adds that some anglers are also figuring out how to pinpoint one specific fish in a drift or troll while having the live sonar pointed out beyond the side of the boat. These anglers then adjust their planer board holding the bait to ensure it drifts right by the targeted fish. His one caveat with this is that the technique is still a work in progress and has not yet been perfected.

A BRIGHT FUTURE

Advancements in modern electronics continue to make anglers more efficient on the water and leave fish with fewer places to hide. This trend will persist as long as anglers have the desire to become better at their pursuit. Currently, some of the more advanced technology is priced outside the budget of many catfish anglers. As with any new tech, prices will eventually come down as advancements occur and more anglers adopt it.

The sky is the limit for catfish anglers when it comes to incorporating electronics into their fishing. Right now, they’re slowly learning how to best adapt it to their techniques. As live sonar is perfected in catfishing, it could change how we all fish in the years to come.

BAIT BOOSTER

• Forward-facing live sonar simplifies the bait-catching process for catfish anglers.

Catching bait is often a big headache and one of the more time-consuming activities most catfish anglers face. Forward-facing sonar is changing this in a big way. It lets anglers find schools of shad and pinpoint exactly where to throw their cast nets to catch bait quickly and easily.

Captain Darren Troseth, Minnesota catfish guide and owner of 3 Rivers Fishing Adventures, uses Garmin LiveScope to help him net shad in the Mississippi River. He says that the technology has paid for itself in the amount of bait he’s caught with it.

Troseth searches spots known to hold shad with down and side imaging to isolate the general area of the schools. Once he does this, he puts down the LiveScope and gets close to the school. Because he knows exactly where and how far to throw the net, he says that often “one throw is all it takes to get enough bait for the trip.” If the shad are small, it might take two.

Vince Nadosky, catfish angler and owner of Catfish Tech, echoes this strategy almost exactly. However, he adds that anglers using skipjack as bait, who previously had to scan the surface for topwater boils to find them, are now also utilizing live sonar. After finding a skipjack school with forward-facing sonar, they can cast sabiki rigs with four or five hooks on each rig into the school to catch them. Bottom line: Live sonar makes finding and catching bait quicker and more efficient.

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• This article was featured in the June-July issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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