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StrikeLines Fishing Charts Review

Let's take a closer look at StrikeLines Fishing Charts in this review

StrikeLines Fishing Charts Review

Locating less frequented patch bottom over heavily pressured Florida Keys lobster grounds is a benefit of learning how structure lays out with the StrikeLines chart.

If you haven’t seen the latest 3-D bathymetric charts from StrikeLines and you love to fish, you’re missing out on an invaluable tool for not only understanding terrain features where fishing is productive, but one to be used as a guide to locate new spots based on your past success. If you’re unfamiliar with the technology, these are 3-D high resolution ocean floor maps loaded onto a microSD card that you plug into your Navico compatible MFD unit. (see Florida Sportsman Oct-21)

After having a few months to put these charts to work, I’ve discovered what might be the most useful component of the technology was something I hadn’t originally considered even though it was right before my eyes.  Initially I imagined that seeing the bottom from a 3-D perspective would reveal remote structure in areas I might have overlooked while also painting a better picture of deep water structure for bottom fishing or swordfish that wasn’t very well documented on common navigation charts. Both of these points proved to be accurate but there was more to it after I became familiar with the use of the information.

What ultimately became the most valuable technique for me was putting information already in my arsenal to work in conjunction with the StrikeLines imagery. As an angler who already has a collection of coordinates for bottom fishing- the ability to view a known productive section of snapper or grouper habitat and compare it to other locations for similarities was a light bulb moment. Finding similar or identical features much like looking at pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in areas where I hadn’t previously spent any time exploring opened up a new world of possibilities that produced consistent results. Before too long, locating and identifying similar terrain features was opening up a lot of new doors and my GPS logbook was multiplying exponentially.

Although the 3-D charts are compatible with primarily Navico friendly equipment, there are workarounds to employ this technique with non-compatible brands. First, StrikeLines offers an Android tablet with built-in GPS that you can have them load separately purchased charts of your choice into and take with you anywhere. This also makes it easier to study the charts in your home without the need to be looking at your boat’s electronics display. They also offer downloadable charts to use in conjunction with the FREE OsmAnd Maps app compatible with both Android and IOS devices. Either option alone or combined with the cards plugged into your boat’s system provides anglers many more options when the common reef spots get too crowded. www.strikelines.com

free Fishing Charts
StrikeLines chart coverage for the lower east coast of Florida is comprehensive enough to give anglers a competitive edge over old school chart data.
best Fishing Charts compatible with raymarine
4K resolution is available on many chart screens  which are Navico compatible for highest resolution available.
best Fishing Charts compatible with lowrance
The ability to cross reference high-res 3-D imagery with actual sounder screens allows a better understanding of bottom topography features.
best Fishing Charts compatible with simrad
Coverage isn’t limited to offshore fisherman and locating structure on near coastal water will flatten the learning curve.
free Fishing Charts
StrikeLines also offers GPS waypoint charts for known structure and hard bottom charts for bottom anglers and wreck hopping.
best Fishing Charts
Locating subtle terrain features over obscure underutilized bottom puts trophy fish like this hogfish within reach.

Recommended


StrikeLines Fishing Charts
StrikeLines charts are also available throughout the Gulf of Mexico outside of Florida.
StrikeLines Fishing Charts
The resolution and detail available with the StrikeLines enhanced cartography far exceeds the quality of publicly available data.
StrikeLines Fishing Charts
The NOAA chart available seen here before enhancement  shows very limited detail.

StrikeLines Fishing Charts Review
A host of available public and privately surveyed reef and wreck location waypoints are available from StrikeLines in addition to 3-D bathymetric imagery.
StrikeLines Fishing Charts Review
Deep wreck numbers subjected to less pressure are ther for the taking if you spend the time to study the bottom features before heading offshore.
StrikeLines Fishing Charts Review
The StrikeLines cartography can be viewed on your Navico compatible MFD unit as well as on a tablet or smartphone via web-based downloads for ultimate convenience.



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