Today’s electronics give catfish anglers an unprecedented look at underwater structure and fish.
But as experienced anglers know, the real test comes when that technology helps put a catfish in the boat.
Technology for Finding and Catching Trophy Catfish
By Rodney Crimm
Finding where trophy catfish hide and feed is the first step in catching them. Catfish like all other fish orientate to some type of structure, whether that be bottom contours, wood, rocks or other obstructions on the bottom of a lake or river. Modern depthfinders cover three different platforms—2D sonar, down imaging and side imaging—you can use to find those structures.
Arkansas native Jason Masingale, National Sales Manager for SeaArk Boats, has won numerous catfish tournaments along with his fishing partner and brother Daryl. He says “When looking at a new body of water or an area I haven’t been on in awhile, I first get on the Navionics app at home and start looking at contours on the bottom, creek channels, wing dikes, outside and inside bends of rivers and depths.”
Then, once on the water, Masingale uses the side imaging first to scan areas with the range of side scan set out as far as 300 feet on each side to check areas of interest for the type of structure and cover he thinks may be holding trophy catfish.
“I then use the GPS technology of the depthfinder to mark that structure and get a closer view using side imaging, down imaging or 2D sonar, depending on depth and water clarity,” he says.
He prefers 2D sonar when with kilohertz set on lower settings when in rivers that have stronger current and lower water clarity. This makes it easier to find fish on the bottoms of rivers. But on lakes with little to no current and better water clarity, down imaging works as well.
“The greatest technology for today’s angler is GPS technology to be able to mark productive structure and return to it time after time.” He says. “At the end of the day, though, the best fishfinder is a fresh piece of bait. It tells you if what you are looking at is really a trophy fish or not.”
Mike Mitchell, owner of SouthernCats Guide Service, says, “I am 99 percent of the time using side imaging to locate structure, whether it be wood, rocks, contour ledges or revetment lines on big rivers.”
Anyone who follows tournament catfishing has like heard about Mike and knows that he loves to find and fish wood structure. He has won numerous tournaments and built a very successful catfish guide service largely by targeting fish on wood structure.
“I use side imaging to cover larger areas of water and find the wood structure,” he says. “Then I slow my boat speed down and use either 2D sonar or down imaging to better identify what type of fish are using that structure.”
Mitchell notes that side imaging loses some effectiveness in extremely deep water and fast currents. He likes to use higher frequency on his unit when water clarity allows because it helps in identifying what fish are showing up on side imaging.
He told me one tip that really surprised me. “In higher current and stained water, I turn the sensitivity on the unit up for 2D sonar to help show better arches and locate fish,” he says. “The clutter might be worse, but seeing fish is easier.
“When on lakes or in areas with little to no current, you should use side imaging to cover as much water as possible because fish will be more scattered. Also, in faster current, you should focus more on structure of different types because fish will be looking for ambush points and breaks from the current.”
The third fisherman I talked with about using technology to find and catch trophy catfish is a younger fisherman who grew up fishing with his dad in tournaments and now works with his dad through SouthernCats Guide Service. Despite his young age, Jackson Mitchell has lots of fishing experience and has become very successful putting his clients on fish as a guide.
“I start picking an area using the Navionics app to find interesting structure, which can vary from holes, humps and ledges to shallow flats or creek channels,” he says. “Then I refer to Google maps to get an aerial view of the area to see if there is some wood structure that might be visible along banks or standing timber.”
Once on the water side Imaging is Jackson’s choice to cover water to find structure or fish. He shared an interesting tip that no one else mentioned.
“Once I have found a piece of structure, I move closer and turn the range that is scanning and scan the area from a different angle to get a better view of the structure and determine if it is holding fish.”
When using side Imaging, he says it’s important to remember that in depths over 80 feet, it isn’t as effective and you should set the range you are scanning on each side of the boat to about double the depth of water that you are in. Another tip Jackson mentioned was that if you are in an area with a softer bottom, you should turn the frequency on your unit down to help recognize fish easier.
I hope this information can help you improve your skills for finding and catching trophy catfish with the today’s excellent technology. It was a little surprising to me that all three of these guys depend so heavily on side imaging. As a tournament angler myself, I must start putting it to greater use to try to improve my odds of finding trophy catfish. Each angler shared different nuggets of good information, but overall, their approaches are very similar.
One thing all had in common was putting out bait whether they see a fish on their electronics or not because electronics can’t always pick up the fish.
Take some of this information and try it for yourself on future fishing trips. Maybe some tips could help you catch that trophy of a lifetime.
(Rodney Crimm of Pontotoc, Mississippi is a B’n’M Pro Staff member, catfish tournament angler and lifelong outdoorsman with a passion for catching trophy catfish.)
