Identifying fish on sonar

[cato]

I have heard several people talk about seeing catfish, bass, stripers, etc on their fishfinders. I haven't personally had a lot of experience with sonar so how does a person identify and detach different species of fish on their sonar?

Just yesterday I was on the lake and saw a lot of fish arches on the screen. for instance in 20ft of water I would see fish at 10ft and fish on the bottom. I saw several instances where baitfish (which I can identify) had some fish arches around them but I couldn't get them to bite anything I threw at them. Can you tell what species of fish is on your sonar? If so, how do I learn this?

[NBR]

Although I have heard you can tell one fish species from another I am very dubious. I have heard that crappies stack up in a pine tree shape and white fish stack vertical but I am not sure. I think that fish identity is more are they in the right spot for say a largemout so you assume they are largies. Similar with other species. There are walleyes in the lake, the location is right for walleye so it must be a walleve. It also might be a suspended bottle.

Bait is different since you see a blob of something. Then if you see an arch near the blob you can be pretty sure it is some preditor fis feeding on the bait.

[Jig Man]

I have heard several people talk about seeing catfish, bass, stripers, etc on their fishfinders. I haven't personally had a lot of experience with sonar so how does a person identify and detach different species of fish on their sonar?

Just yesterday I was on the lake and saw a lot of fish arches on the screen. for instance in 20ft of water I would see fish at 10ft and fish on the bottom. I saw several instances where baitfish (which I can identify) had some fish arches around them but I couldn't get them to bite anything I threw at them. Can you tell what species of fish is on your sonar? If so, how do I learn this?

Target seperation is largely determined by what unit you have.  How many pixels does your unit have?

[cato]

It is a Lowrance X51 240x160 pixels. This is not a very expensive unit but it is what was on the boat when I bought it. I will eventually upgrade as I learn more and more.

[TommyBass]

There is no way to tell for sure just by looking at an arch.  More goes into that arch than just what the fish is.  It has to do with boat movement and fish movement/size as well.   The best you'll get is possbily a larger return for substantially larger fish than you will something like a bluegill.  Being able to tell the exact species would all be determinant on reading into where the fish are holding and how they are staging.  Like  you said, crappie will stack up in schools, bass will generally relate to cover, walleye and catfish like to bottom hug etc.  But a definate knowing of the species..... nope.

[cato]

That was my thinking as well.