Bottom composition

So, I see people talking about bottom composition. Fur just started a thread about spawning areas and bottom composition comes up a lot already. Forgive my ignorance, but how can I tell if the bottom is clay, pea gravel, sand, etc? I have maps that help with contours, but I wouldn’t recognize a transition from one composition type to another. Should I be getting this from my graph? Should I be able to look at the shoreline and determine it? Just how do you know?


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No expert, but until some chimes in I know the brighter the return on the sonar the harder or more solid the bottom is. At least I think so. Lol

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Nothing beats testing the bottom with a paddle, I fish from a kayak so I'm close to the water, :biggrin