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| Subject: Current and temp breaks | |
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Author: Jim Day |
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Date Posted: 1029093344PDT |
 | Often people know things work but not why they work. Temp changes can mark the edge of a current break and current breaks hold fish. Here's my ideas...
What we mostly see are local surface currents. They are bands of warmer water moving around above the thermocline. Thrir movements can be influenced by lots of things: wind, swell, tides, and upwellings from below the thermocline. Imagine it is a bunch of small rivers moving across the surface of the ocean. Here's the deal with current breaks. Ever notice in a real river it's fast in the center but slow on the edge, that's because the water looses it's speed when interacting with the shore. All the debre and junk gets pushed out of the current and in to the edge water next to shore. It's the exact same thing in the ocean but there is no shore. The edges of the currents are other currents. Now depending where they come from they may have different properties. One can be warmer then the other or may be dirtier. The salinity can be different as well. The big deal is the debris and temp difference. Like I said floating debris and junk gets pushed to the edge of a river same with an ocean current. Since the edge is another current the break between the two collects debris from both currents. Everything that's lighter then water ends up here. Garbage, kelp, bait, even oil in the water. You may have noticed oily sheen's on strips of water out there. Those are current breaks showing piled up oil in the water. Even if there's no temp change it still holds debris possibly bait and can hold fish. Bait congregates around junk and fish follow the bait. Look at Catalina on a map. its long and fairly skinny. Now suppose there was a hard current moving from North west to the South east. Some water would be forced to the back side some to the front. The water at the west end, initially part of the same current, becomes separated into different currents. The inside water being in the lee would heat up and both would collect kelp and other junk it pulled from the island. When these two currents meet again at the east end they may be very different. The inside may be cleaner and warmer. The outside due to swell action against the back side will be colder dirtier and full of kelp and other junk. Once separated the don't mix well as their speed or temp may have changed. So as they pull away from the island a break or eddy zone forms between them. This eddy zone is full of junk pulled away from the island kelp scum even schools of bait. The kelp and debris hold bait and the fish come to feed on it as they drift out into deeper water. Ever wonder why the East end is such good fishing for Marlin swords etc... Well there you have it. Close to the island the break is very pronounced but if conditions are right the break or residual debris from it con be found all the way to the 277 or 209. Always finding paddies on the 209 they probably came from Catalina. On the 43 most likely Clemente. Get the idea In the open ocean breaks don't collect Island debris as much but bait by itself ends up there anyway. Anchovies little squid etc... hang in large numbers and are pushed around by the currents. Like kelp they get forced to the edge of the current and end up stuck in the current break. They also feed on diatoms and other little stuff that washes into the break. These things are more then just temp changes they are whole ecosystems holding bait and what they feed on. Little stuff ends up there bait that feeds on them collects and the fish show up to end the food chain. That's why breaks without visible debris still hold fish. The bait and small stuff gets pushed there and the fish come for it. Current breaks hold fish. Temp changes are a mark of a current break. People think the deal is the temp break but they have it backwards. Temp changes are just a way to find a current breaks and the debris and bait they hold. Like I said the two currents have different histories they may have different temps but breaks with no temp change can hold just as much stuff as those that do. We all use signs to find fish. A change of temp on your meter indicates a current break, but so do scum lines and debris fields like paddy chains. If your smart you'll look for them all. Personally I always look for the oil in the water sheen thing. The best time to see these are early in the morning when there's only a slight ripple on the water. Once I see a sheen I look for paddies in it or check for a temp change. If there's a good temp break to the current break I usually change coarse and follow the break looking for paddies. I've found a lot of yellows this way. A good temp change usually means a strong fresh break and the stronger the current break the more junk it holds. Offshore, later in the day I just watch the meter. When I see a good temp change I turn around: try to find which way the break runs and how strong it is. If I meter bait or it just looks good I put out gear and try and hook up. I'd say 90 percent of the fish I catch offshore are on some kind of current break. Paddy yellow's, albies on a temp change they all are hanging on the edges of currents. Understanding these currents how they move and hold bait can make a great difference in finding fish out there and should be a tool in everyone's arsenal. Well those are just my thoughts I'm sure there's lots you guys can add to this.
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