courtesy Sid Wales

Here is an area where large boats have a clear advantage . Many times, being able to spot fish on the surface (like a sleeper swordfish or tailing marlin), birds working bait, fish boiling on the surface, or floating debris (such as kelp paddies or weedlines) can make the difference between an epic day and getting skunked. Height is critical, and a small skiff is no match for a larger flybridge sportfisher.

Some things to do to improve spotting abilities:

• Some skiff fishermen have added spotting platforms to the top of their T-tops to get some extra height. This seems like it would be a bit uncomfortable is any kind of swell, but then again, we've never tried one.
  
  
• Good binoculars, image-stabilized or gyros if you can afford them, can really help, especially if you are like us, and are suffering from old eyes...We would recommend as large an objective lense opening as possible, if you do much fishing under overcast conditions, or early/late in the day. Unfortunately, we can't afford image-stabilized binos, so we use conventional waterproof armored 7x50s.
  
  
• Take advantage of big swells - work extra hard when the boat's on top, as you may gain 3 -5 feet of height.
  
  
• Have two or more people share the spotting work . More sets of eyes always help.
  
  
• Become a better spotter - This will be the focus of a future article, just keep in mind that there are lots of nuances to spotting things on the water, such as wind shadows, slick spots, timing swells, recognizing certain types of birds, etc.