FOR DEEPREAD SUBSCRIBERS
Two minutes, once, and the report will make sense every morning after.
DeepRead is a planning aid, not a navigation product. Positions are places to start looking, not waypoints. Check the official marine forecast before you go, and trust what you see over what the report shows. Our Terms of Service explain the limits.
Your free 10-day trial starts when you choose, and the offer doesn't expire until you use it. Tap "Start my free trial" in your welcome email, in any Thursday issue, or on the 10-Day Color Loop page. Your private report link arrives by email a few minutes later. One trial per email address.
Open your link and you'll see, top to bottom:
A link to this guide sits on the report page under HOW TO READ THIS.
DeepRead looks for warm, clean water and temperature edges moving onto and over good bottom structure. Those warmer blue-water edges are good habitat for pelagic species like tuna, dolphin, wahoo and billfish.
Each edge is graded by our proprietary scoring, built on the same things experienced captains look for, measured every night by satellite. Ranks run A to C, with A the strongest.
The Gulf Stream is the main driver of the water in our area, and things can and will move quickly through it.
Ranked zones come from last night's water temperature and color seen in the last 48 hours, over good bottom inshore; offshore past 100 fathoms, along a convergence line instead.
Most mornings have a handful to a dozen; some have none.
Each zone is a numbered dot on the Temperature chart with a letter under it:
A is the strongest. Everything lined up.
B is solid.
C is a real signal with less behind it.
Anything weaker than C isn't drawn, numbered or listed. If it's on the chart, it earned its place.
Some zone lines say "convergence detected." That means our analysis of sea-surface currents (FSLE/FTLE) shows water being pushed together at that spot, which concentrates bait along the edge. When a zone has one, the line says so.
The number on the dot matches a line in the written list. The lines sit under A ZONES, B ZONES and C ZONES by rank, in number order, so find the number under its heading.
Here's a real-format line:
In order, it tells you:
Number. Matches the dot.
Position. Degrees and minutes.
Depth. Feet first, fathoms in brackets. One fathom is six feet.
Rank. A, B or C.
Inlet and bottom. Which inlet it's out of, where on the shelf it sits, and the bottom feature nearby.
Temperature and water on each side of the edge, inshore side first, and the size of the break. The break is what to watch for on your gauge.
Convergence detected, when there is one (see above).
Holding N days. How many mornings in a row this spot has been on the chart. An edge that holds is easier to find.
GPX, at the end of the line. That one spot, for your plotter.
Treat a zone as a strong place to start looking, not a waypoint to troll around. Run to it, then find the edge yourself.
As you get close, look for life: bait, weed lines, birds, rips, slicks and floating debris.
Use your temperature gauge to find the boundary between water masses. Our temperatures are overnight readings, the most stable of the day. The surface commonly warms a degree or more as the day goes on, so watch for the change across the edge, not the overnight number.
Your best indicator is your eyes. Look for the color change and signs of life.
Alternates come from the Model temperature chart rather than from what the satellite saw overnight. They give you a place to start on mornings when clouds hide the water. "ALT" marks alternate zones from the model chart, never ranked above C. For now, every alternate is Rank C.
Some mornings there's a second, shorter list under the ranked zones, headed ALTERNATES. Alternates are numbered ALT-1, ALT-2 and so on, and drawn on the Model temperature chart only, never on the Temperature chart. On the chart, an alternate reads like "ALT-3 C ALT": its number, its rank, and the ALT tag.
An ALTERNATES line reads much like a ranked line:
ALT-3. 28°05'N, 80°04'W | 150 ft (25 fm) | Rank C (ALT) | out of Sebastian Inlet — nearshore ledge | 80.5°F to 82.5°F temperature break (2.0°F break), holding four days
They're listed in number order, each with its own GPX link at the end.
The overview at the top counts them, like "three qualified edge zones and two alternative zones." When there are none, the ALTERNATES list is simply left off. Alternates can still show up on a cloudy morning when the ranked list is empty.
Some mornings the list is empty and one line tells you why. There are three reasons:
Cloud over the whole area. The satellites couldn't see the water.
Cloud over much of it. No break held in the clear water.
Clear night, nothing lined up. The signals were there, but not enough of them came together in one place.
The Gulf Stream distances and the charts still show. We'd rather tell you nothing lined up than send you on a long run for nothing.
On a no-zone morning, check the alternates, and open the last five days under Previous mornings to see where the water was lining up.
Temperature. Overnight sea surface temperature with the ranked zones on it, numbered and lettered. This is the one to study. It's the only chart with numbered ranked zones. Alternates are never ranked above C, and are drawn only on the Model temperature chart.
Daily Color. Water color. Blue is clean offshore water; green is inshore or stirred-up water. No zones on this one. The color edge and the temperature edge don't always sit in the same place.
7-Day Color. Water color from the last seven days of clear looks, blended into one picture, so a cloudy day rarely leaves a hole. It's a picture to read, not a source of zones.
Model temperature. A forecast of this morning's water temperature, drawn every morning, cloud or not. This is where the alternates are drawn.
Below the Model temperature chart is a short loop of up to the last 15 mornings, one frame a day, today's included. It plays two charts: Model temperature and 7-Day Color. Each has small arrows showing which way the surface current was running that day. There are no zones on the loops.
The arrows are a best estimate, not a measurement, and clouds don't hide them. They show the Gulf Stream itself well. Smaller features, only a few miles across, get smoothed out or missed. Use the arrows to see which way the water has been moving, and use the color and temperature to find the edge itself.
Each 7-Day Color frame blends the last seven days, so it shows recent color, not just that morning's.
Each frame carries its date.
Under today's report is a row of the last five dates. Tap one to open that morning's whole report as it was issued: the written report, the charts and, on mornings with zones, the GPX links. Each one says "Previous morning, issued" and its date at the top, so you won't mistake it for today's.
On a morning with no zones, the last five days show where the water was lining up and which way things were moving. Earlier zones are history, not today's call: head that way and look for yourself.
On a morning with zones, the GPX section sits last on the page, and each zone line ends in its own GPX link. Take the one that fits your day:
Today's waypoints (GPX): every ranked spot, named DR-1 B, DR-2 C and so on.
One inlet's spots: "Port Canaveral spots (GPX)", "Sebastian Inlet spots (GPX)" or "Fort Pierce Inlet spots (GPX)". Only inlets with spots that morning get a file.
Today's alternates (GPX): the alternates, named DR-ALT-1 C and so on.
A single spot: the "GPX" link at the end of any ranked or ALT line.
Each waypoint sits at the same position as its line in the list. Tap a link and your phone saves the file.
There are two ways to get the file onto your plotter: through the maker's phone app, or on a microSD card. Menus differ a little by model and software version. If yours doesn't match, your owner's manual will have the same steps under "import" or "user data."
ActiveCaptain app (easiest). Tap the GPX file and choose ActiveCaptain. Tap Import when it asks. The waypoints appear in the app under Chart, then Menu, then User Data. With the app connected to your plotter, they go across to the plotter.
Memory card. Copy the file to a microSD card and put it in the plotter. Go to Info (on some models Nav Info, User Data or Where To), then Manage Data, then Data Transfer, then File Type, and pick GPX. Then go back to Data Transfer, choose Merge from Card, and pick the file. On newer GPSMAP units the path is Where To, then Manage User Data, then Data Transfer.
Choose Merge, not Replace. Replace wipes out the waypoints already on your plotter.
Memory card or USB stick. Copy the file onto it and plug it in. Open the Waypoints & Routes app, tap the import waypoints button, and follow the prompts.
Older Simrad units (GO, NSS evo3 and similar): Menu, then Files, then the memory card. Pick the file and tap Import.
Simrad app. The app can import GPX files and syncs waypoints with your plotter when both are signed in to the same account and you have an internet connection.
Memory card. Copy the file to a microSD card and put it in the unit. Open Files from the main menu, choose the memory card, tap the GPX file, then Import.
Older Elite and Hook units: Waypoints menu, then Load From Card.
Lowrance units older than about 2016 may not read GPX files at all.
Memory card. Copy the file to a microSD card and put it in the card reader. From the Homescreen, go to My data, then Import/export, then Import from card. Pick the card slot and select the GPX file.
Element displays: see User data import in your Element manual.
Clear out old waypoints first. The names repeat every day, so yesterday's DR-3 and today's DR-3 can sit in different places. The same goes for files from Previous mornings: DR-3 B from Monday and DR-3 B from Wednesday aren't the same spot. Delete the old DR waypoints before you import a new file. A Raymarine keeps both, so if you skip this you will end up with two DR-3s.
No zones, no file.
The waypoints are starting points, not navigation waypoints. Check them against your own charts before you run to one.
The charts, the 7-Day Color and the Previous mornings row go up at 5:30 a.m. With them you'll see the line "Today's report text is not ready yet." The written report follows by about 5:45, and the GPX links come with it, by 5:55 at the latest. The whole page is ready by 6:00. Open the page before 5:30 and you'll see yesterday's report, with yesterday's date at the top.
Write to [email protected]. Every question we get makes this page better.