courtesy NOAA 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. 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.