OCEAN DATA ON YOUR PLOTTER
Why is OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA so important?
Read the ocean - don't just look at the water temp
Experienced fishermen have always known that finding fish starts with finding the right water. Temperature changes, water colour, current lines, birds and bait have been used for generations. The difference today is that technology allows us to see much more of what is happening in the ocean before we burn the fuel looking for the hot spots.
Altimetry or Sea Surface Height (SSH) is very important for understanding the movement of the food chain and is one of the more useful layers for understanding why productive water develops where it does. It is not that SSH itself attracts nutrients or fish. Rather, satellite altimetry reveals changes in ocean height that allow us to understand currents, eddies, convergence, divergence and vertical movement of the water column. Those processes can bring nutrients into the photic zone and/or concentrate plankton and baitfish, also known as the pelagic zone.Currents also play an important role.
Sea Surface Height - SSH
SSH shows the structure of the ocean where altimetry helps reveal ocean structure, eddies, fronts, convergence, divergence and vertical movement of the water column indicating important information. A low SSH anomaly can be associated with a raised thermocline and upwelling, bringing colder, nutrient-rich water closer to the sunlit surface layer. This can support phytoplankton, zooplankton and ultimately bait.
Sea Surface Temperature - SST
Most tuna fishermen already understand Sea Surface Temperature. Find the right temperature and, even better, find a temperature break where two bodies of water meet.
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll helps show productive water and its boundaries indicating biologically productive water and helps identify the boundary between productive water and cleaner oceanic water.
How do I get Ocean Data on my Plotter?
Good question. TZWeather with Oceanographic data, a feature built into Furuno’s latest range of TZT multi-function displays (TZTMAP, TZTE, TZTXL) brings several of those large-scale ocean clues onto the plotter screen before you spend time and fuel searching blindly.
Do not rely on any single weather layer as a 'fish finder'. The value is in combining the layers to understand where productive water, fronts and bait-concentrating structure are coming together.
One layer is a clue, four layers tells a story: Find the most productive feeding areas by using vital information. Less guesswork, targeted search areas based on more informed decisions.
For more information on how FURUNO plotters with built-in TZWeather or TZProfessional with OceanO can improve your fishing, contact: sales@taylormarine.co.za
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