Scuba Diving for the Best Fishing Spots
October 2022
Finding Productive Fishing Structure
All seasoned anglers know that fish relate to structure. Fishing for most species is more productive near rocks, wrecks, stumps, reefs, etc. Blackfish, Striped Bass, Largemouth Bass and many other fish strongly relate to structure for feeding opportunities. There have been countless magazine articles, conference talks and YouTube videos on the importance of structure for catching fish. Here are articles we wrote on this topic – Finding Secret Fishing Spots and Finding a Good Fishing Spot. The challenge is finding these productive locations and finding spots that are not already over fished.
Common ways to find productive fishing structure include:
- Ask anglers, tackle shops, etc. – This could be successful but often others won’t share their “secret” spots. Fishing reports can be helpful.
- Use sonar/fish finder – This method is great if you happen to have a boat and pass over a spot that holds fish or if your fish finder unit has relief shading capabilities. There is a lot of water and less than 5% is productive for fishing, so it can take a while to find good spots.
- Google Maps – You can use satellite map views to find structure especially on close to shore tidal zones.
- State Fisheries Web Sites – These are useful sources of information especially on areas that the state stocks with fish, but you can expect that these spots are highly fished and might not be the most productive.
Using Scuba to Find Fish
While the above methods to find fishing spots are all well-known and understood, the use of scuba diving to improve your fishing success is not often used. I am not advocating that anglers need to buy diving equipment, get scuba certified and get the water although this could be fun. Anglers can take advantage of the work done by existing dive teams to find productive fishing locations. You can search Google or YouTube for local divers, or dive instructors and often these contacts can provide you locations that are worth exploring.
The diving team – SQUALUS MARINE DIVERS has completed dives in various locations. By reviewing their YouTube videos, you can find locations that might be productive fishing spots. You can also check out BlueWorldTV and Richard Stanage.
GPS Coordinates and Fish Finders
Once you have data such as GPS coordinates, it might be necessary to convert the format so it can be imported into your GPS device or fish finder. There are many different formats, but DMS (Degree, Minute, Second) and Decimal Degrees are the most common. You can use a site such as GPS Coordinate Converter, Maps and Info to convert between data formats.
SUMMARY
Finding productive fishing spots can be fun and extremely rewarding. The fishing location is only part of the solution to being a successful angler. Tides, time of year, bait, water temperature, etc. all play a role in catching fish, so if you find a likely spot try to fish it under various conditions and see what you can catch.
If you have any suggestions or other ways to find productive fishing spots please send me a note. You can contact me by email at [email protected].
Tight lines … Captain P.