Digital Catching

Whether fun fishing or competing in a prestigious tournament, anglers of all skill levels are constantly on the hunt for that special edge – an edge that may very well be right under their nose.

With so many options, selecting the proper marine electronics for a new install or modern retrofit can be a seriously daunting task. Unlike a piece of terminal tackle which can be easily altered, such as scaling down to a lighter leader, switching to an alternate color trolling lure or tying on a different size or style hook, the installation of fish-finding and/or navigation equipment is generally a one time shot, so it’s important that you get it right!

As a rule, invest in the equipment that is best suited for your vessel’s capabilities and for the style of fishing you enjoy most. Don’t compromise! Marine electronics are one area where it makes perfect sense to invest in the highest quality products that you can afford as you will likely be utilizing the sophisticated equipment for quite some time to come.

Along with advanced VHF for critical on-the-water communications, if you are an avid sinker-bouncer constantly on the hunt for spectacular snapper and gargantuan grouper, powerful, dual-frequency color sonar is certainly what the fishing doctor ordered. For adventure-seeking island hoppers, a chart-plotter is mandatory equipment for safely navigating unfamiliar waters. However in today’s competitive offshore arena, an optional radar system is quickly establishing a reputation as a ‘must have’ for avid blue-water gurus.

Once the components are fully operational, utilizing all of this state-of-the-art equipment to its fullest capabilities is a major step toward achieving maximum angling success. Question is; are all offshore anglers currently taking full advantage of the modern technology they have onboard?

Fish Finding at Its Finest

The recent buzz in fish-finder technology is the ability to detect individual fish targets such as a single wahoo or a large cobia. Statements that you can only detect individual targets using only the latest digital or high-definition technology are simply incorrect. Fish-finders have been able to detect individual fish for years! Actually, it's amazing how much information you can garner from your fish-finder when you learn how to truly interpret the screen. Through the combination of a sensitive receiver, proper power output and advanced transducer technology, users are presented with a clear picture of the underwater environment. This means highly detailed images of natural and artificial reef formations, pinnacles and depressions, bait schools and of course, fish targets.

To get the most out of a fish-finder, users need to understand the logic behind how a sounder operates. The transducer emits a sound wave that is reflected by objects in the water. The more dense the object, the stronger the echo return. For example, if you are fishing over hard rocky bottom, the color screen will display the bottom contour in dark red. Soft mud or loosely packed sand will show up in pale red and appear less dense. When tuned properly, powerful fish-finders even display vegetation directly above the sea floor. All of this information is extremely useful when targeting particular species. It obviously goes without saying that demersal dwellers are typically structure oriented, however, flounder prefer sandy bottoms and tilefish prefer a muddy environment, so being able to interpret the bottom is critical to your all-around success.

As far as fish targets are concerned, the air bladder is actually what returns the echo to the sounder. The larger the fish, the larger the air bladder and thus, the larger the target. Tightly packed baitfish formations show up as a blob or ball, because the echo is being returned on their collective air bladders. Though under the right conditions, even the air bladder on a single baitfish is often enough to return an echo.

I happen to have a Furuno FCV585 on my 36-foot ProKat and always keep my screen on dual-display. This allows me to view and interpret echoes in both high and low frequencies. Whenever heading to and from your favorite fishin’ hole, I recommend you do the same while always keeping one eye glued to the screen. This is especially important when you find yourself in the midst of a hot bite. With a full on feeding frenzy taking place beneath your deck, it’s a great time cross-reference what is actually occurring in real time with what is appearing on the screen. Include sea surface temperature into the mix, and all of this valuable information provides important data for future trips.

Chart Your Way to Angling Success

Highly successful professional anglers and full-time charter boat captains are the first to claim that they couldn’t do without their electronics. They count on advanced navigation equipment so much, in fact, that they’ve developed a number of helpful tricks for consistently finding and catching quality fish. Outlined are a number of those tricks that you can use with your chart-plotter to give yourself an edge over the competition when fishing in high-profile events and when paying passengers are on the line – no pun intended.

Anglers who only use plotters to navigate to and from their favorite destinations and to locate reefs or wrecks are really missing out. Too many fishermen just pull up to a piece of structure and deploy their baits. Whether your plan is to drift or anchor on a ledge, rock or wreck, you should test drift the spot first by using your chart-plotter to determine your set and drift in relation to the piece of debris you intend on fishing. With the accuracy of the GPS and the detail of the bottom being revealed, you can track your vessel’s exact movement and speed over the structure and over suspended fish, and verify what you’re seeing on your chart-plotter with your sounder. Then you can simply adjust your drift to consistently present your bait or lures directly in the strike zone time after time. That’s bottom fishing with precision!

When big-money and a big ego are at stake, experts begin planning well in advance, studying weather patterns and sea surface data including water temperature and chlorophyll levels – all of which can be acquired from a variety of onboard subscription sources. Using detailed bathymetric charts, the pros are able to relate temperature breaks and other important data to specific bottom contours. C-Map’s new electronic fishing contour charts are a huge help here (C-Map.com). This sort of homework is why the best crews spend less time looking and more time fishing – an important factor with soaring fuel prices.

Too often plotters are used to navigate from Point A to Point B without really studying what the chart is revealing. Don’t be afraid to detour from your intended course to check out marked wrecks, reefs and distinct contour lines clearly displayed on your electronic chart. The spots may turn out to be covered up! And whatever you do, don’t get into a routine of heading to the same spot and doing the same thing trip after trip. Look at the detailed charts and do some investigating. You might be surprised with what you find – even in your local waters.

One important factor that separates consistently successful anglers from the rest is their ability to find and catch live bait – even in unfamiliar waters. Electronic charts provide a big advantage in this area. By moving the cursor around and zooming in, you can study charts in great detail while still at the dock in an attempt to determine the best places to search for bait. Shallow wrecks, natural reef formations and marker buoys are ideal places to investigate, especially if they are coupled with significant tidal flow. Every time you go fishing, you should look for new bait spots and record them for future visits.

Find Birds and You’ll Find Fish

You have been running offshore for what seems like hours. The excitement is mounting because your temperature gauge just plummeted two degrees and the water all around you is littered with well-formed weed patches. You have just entered the warm-water haven known as the Gulf Stream. Now your eyes scan the horizon and all points in between, trying to pick off any signs of life.

Its situations like this which help us understand why an increasing number of enthusiastic blue-water aficionados are investing in radar systems that can detect birds from distances of more than five miles. The added “visibility” exponentially increases one's chances of finding the targeted species in such wide-open expanses. Birds, scouting from high above, are always first on the fish to take advantage of the carnage left in the wake of ravenous feeding frenzies. The best saltwater anglers never forget that as far as the aquatic food chain is concerned, game fish watch bait, birds watch game fish, and anglers watch birds - the undisputed masters of fish-finding technology.

What is less clear is exactly how to go about targeting birds with radar, a tool normally reserved for vessel detection and collision avoidance. The first thing to consider is radar antenna beamwidth. The narrower the beamwidth, the more detailed target discrimination you will be able to achieve. For this reason, dome antennas are not as precise at tracking birds as comparable open-array antennas – although they can and do get the job done. As the length of the antenna radiator increases, beamwidth becomes narrower, so a larger, more powerful antenna will invariably offer better target discrimination.

Experience and practice will make you a bird-finding master, but to get there you need to start with the basics. If you are new at this, it is best to practice bird detection on a calm day with clear skies. Ideally, first visually locate a flock of birds that you want to target. Set the radar to three or six-miles, and increase GAIN until you detect “noise” over the display. This will typically appear as a countless number of small specs. You will need to leave the GAIN turned up, thus setting the receiver for maximum sensitivity in order to detect the birds you visually see as well. Tightly packed flocks of birds may look like dense, recurring noise rather than a solid target, but you should be able to see them clearly. Now study the screen while watching the birds. Don’t be afraid to follow them around for a while if you have to. What you see on the screen is what you will be looking for when you don’t have a visual cue as to where the birds are working.

If your radar is capable of operating in TRUE MOTION, do so. You will be stabilizing the display, and you will be able to tell if the flock is traveling or if they have found their target and are actively feeding. When operating in TRUE MOTION, be sure to turn on your target trail function and set it for long trails to help track flocks on the move. Practice these techniques and soon you will be scouting blue-water expanses just like the pros.