Thanks Ken.
Bass look similar to a cat but there are a few things that are different. A hybrid will give a hard return on side image from tail to head. This is due to Hybrids being a scaled fish. All scaled fish will give a bright hard return the entire length of the fish as your sonar bounces off. Catfish will only give a bright return on the head. The soft body of the cat will give a much softer less dense return. The soft back half of the catfish absorbs more sonar giving it a softer return. Catfish will also have a conical shape on side image as the head is wider than the tail and a hybrid is more uniform. This is where the larger screened units really start to stand out above a smaller screens. These are subtle differences but can be easily distinguished as you gain experience. The other major element that I use to tell bass from catfish is their orientation with the fish around them. Sandbass, hybrids, striper move in unison as a group as if all being controlled by the same remote control.. Catfish will move more like packs of wild hogs as they graze. They will all be facing the same general direction as they move together as a pack but will all be oriented slightly different as if each has a mind of its own and not all moving in unison. Blues like to keep their spacing and don’t like to all bunch up. Bass will stack right next to each other like cordwood.
Another indicator to what your looking at is when your in an area big Bass are feeding hard you will see them attacking prey at speed. When they are feeding heavy your side image return will be stretched out due to the fish moving fast. Same kind of effect you get if your not matching your chart speed with your boat speed. Cat returns generally aren’t stretched out like a fast moving bass.
Sorry if I rambled too much Ken. I’ve been on that liquid desert tonight amigo.
