Reading Birds Offshore to Find Fish

Long before electronics, offshore anglers found fish by watching birds. They still do. Seabirds see bait from far above and react quickly when gamefish push it to the surface. Learning to read bird behavior can lead you straight to the bite.

Frigate birds

Frigate birds are large, dark, with long angled wings and a forked tail. They cannot land on the water, so they follow fish that drive bait to the surface. A frigate circling high often marks mahi or a weed line. A frigate diving low and fast is often tracking fast-moving fish such as tuna, billfish, or a school of mahi.

Terns

Terns are smaller, white birds that work in groups. A tight flock of terns diving repeatedly usually marks small baitfish pushed up by tuna, such as blackfin or skipjack.

Shearwaters

Shearwaters fly low, gliding just above the waves. When they sit on the water in a group, bait may be nearby but not under pressure. When they start diving and working, gamefish may be pushing bait.

Boobies and gannets

These birds dive from height into the water. Repeated plunge-diving is a sign of active bait close to the surface, often with predators nearby.

Reading the activity

Birds sitting on the water: bait was there, may come back.
Birds circling high: searching, possibly following fish.
Birds diving in one spot: active feeding below.
Birds moving fast in a line: following a moving school, often tuna.

How to troll birds

Approach from the side or ahead of the birds' direction of travel, not straight through them.
Drag the spread along the edge of the activity so lures pass through the feeding zone.
Avoid running over the school, which can put fish down.
If fish go down, circle wide and wait for the birds to find them again.

Lures for bird schools

Fish under birds are often feeding on small bait. Smaller lures and bullets that match the bait size tend to work best. See best lures for blackfin tuna for small-bait tuna picks.