The October, 2006 issue of
Pacific Coast Fishing had a couple of interesting articles:
"Tracking Pelagics: Understanding Pacific Currents & Migration Paths"
by Todd Mansur discussed some of techniques that can be used to help locate offshore
fish.
Some great points:
The author recommends the services offered by Ocean Imaging. Ocean
Imaging offers a complete suite of temperature and chlorophyll maps, weather and
current services, all tied together by the company's software. Their software makes overlays and comparison of data much easier.
courtesy NOAA
It is a bit pricey, however - a year's worth of
service will set you back around $1,400.
When offshore, look for salps. These invertebrates look a bit like
jellyfish, but are not. They signal an upwelling from deep water, always a good
place to look
 Petrels
(left) feed on the plankton pushed up
 from
deep water, and are also good indicators of an upwelling area. Terns
(right) indicate feeding fish, and should always be checked out.
The article mentioned something we had heard about before, and seems to be true,
generally speaking: When you see terms working an area, the height the birds
fly above the water is roughly equal to the depth the fish are beneath the surface.
Keep in mind that this is not always true, but is a good general rule.
"Betting on Blacks and Blues" by Bob Hoose.
The article
covers some of the latest trends in fishing for black and blue marlin of Cabo San
Lucas. There were a number of points made, some points worth thinking about:
-
More people are moving to stiff single-hook rigs, rather than double-hook rigs.
Favorite hook models are the traditional Mustad 7691, and the newer
Owner Jobu hook
- About 50% of the boats fishing the famous Bisbee's Black and Blue tournament are
using hi-visibility mono lines
- When there are a lot of boats in the area, the more successful crew drop down in
leader size - going to 400lb test vs. 500lb.
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