Fishing Intelligence
Ocean conditions and how we read them
One week of ocean looks nothing like the last. The temperature moves, the currents move, the food moves, and the fish move with all of it. What follows is what we look at before deciding where to start.
Sea surface temperature
A single temperature reading tells you very little. What we want is the front: the line where two masses of water at different temperatures meet. Food gathers there, and the predator follows the food. A stretch of water that is the same all over, however good the number looks, usually gives less.
Surface and deep currents
We look at the surface currents and, when there is data, the ones underneath. What matters is where they collide, where they turn and where they slow down, because that is where a current stops spreading food around and starts holding it. An eddy that lasts a few days ends up gathering bait, and behind the bait comes whatever eats it.
Phytoplankton, turbidity and productivity
Phytoplankton is the start of the whole chain, so looking at where it concentrates is looking at where there might be life. We watch how clear the water is too. The bluest, prettiest water in the photograph is very often the emptiest.
Upwelling
An upwelling brings cold, nutrient-rich water up from the deeper layers, and that fires up production across the area. On its own it means nothing. When it lands on top of a front or a good shelf edge, then it is worth going to look.
Bathymetry and underwater structure
The bottom matters more than people think. A shelf edge where the depth falls away, a canyon, a step or a bank are places the fish passes through or stops to feed, and every species has its own. That is why you do not search over a flat chart. You search over the relief.
Weather
Before we sail we look at the wind and how it will change through the day, the swell and the pressure. It tells us whether an area is safe and whether the fishing will be comfortable, but it also says a lot about the fish: in certain conditions the birds stop working, the bait drops down and nothing happens up top.
We don't wait for the fish. We follow them.
Tell us when you are coming
Send us your dates and the species you are after. We will tell you honestly what the ocean is likely to be doing.