Dialing in Birds with Radar is a Game-Changer for Anglers

When it comes to saltwater fishing, birds are your best friends. Gannets, terns, shearwaters, and gulls have a knack for finding baitfish schools. When you spot birds circling and diving, it’s a surefire sign that predator fish like striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, or bluefin tuna are feeding beneath. But, when you’re more than a mile offshore, it can be tough to spot these birds with the naked eye.

That’s where radar comes in, offering a serious advantage to anglers who understand how to use radar to pick up flocks of birds hovering over bait from up to five miles away — even in low visibility or rough seas. Radar’s high-frequency beam can detect the small, fast-moving targets in the air, allowing you to get a bead on their location long before you can spot them visually. By locking onto birds from a distance, you can head straight for the action rather than wasting time blindly searching for signs of life.

Find the Birds, Find the Fish

Captain Terry Nugent, owner of Riptide Charters in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has perfected the “run and gun” fishing technique using his Raymarine 12kW Magnum open-array radar scanner. “I’ve had great luck catching bonito, false albacore, and even bluefin tuna using radar to find the birds,” says Nugent. “Birds like gannets and terns are common in the coastal waters here, and easily identifiable on the radar.”

Nugent switches the radar into bird mode, which automatically adapts the radar’s gain and sensitivity settings to make bird detection possible. “The flocks of birds are readily apparent on the radar. One of the key things I look for is the motion of the flock. When the cluster of bird targets is expanding, that tells me the birds are still on the hunt. When I see the flock contracting on the radar, I know they are on the fish and that’s the time to get moving in their direction.”

While the automatic bird mode settings are a great starting place, Nugent has found some customized settings that work better for his needs. “On my Magnum radar I’ll normally run the gain setting somewhere between 92 and 94 percent. You want to find that small line between when the radar is near its maximum sensitivity, but just below where it gets overwhelmed with noise,” says Nugent. “Birds are naturally poor targets, so the gain needs to be turned up to detect them. Unless it’s a rough day I’ll try to keep the sea clutter and rain clutter at zero. The radar also has a setting called ‘Power Boost’ which makes my 4-foot antenna behave like a larger radar antenna. I run the ‘Power Boost’ at 100%.”

Understanding Bird Behavior

What should an angler look for on the radar screen when trying to detect birds? Nugent says it’s all about looking for single and clustered targets in the bluish-green to blue part of the color palette. It’s also helpful to know what kinds of birds frequent the area you’re fishing and how they typically behave.

“Gulls are loaners and fly as singles, well-spaced out until one of them gets on the fish. Then their buddies all swoop in on the action. Being larger, the gulls are easier to see as singles on the radar.” Other species of birds behave differently and it’s valuable to observe them whenever you have the chance. “Another common bird here, terns, fly and hunt in tight packs. Their radar signature is a bit more obvious because of this. You’ll see a cluster of small returns that constantly changes shape from sweep to sweep.”

So next time you’re hunting pelagic species, don’t just rely on your eyes—let your radar lead the way. This cutting-edge technology could be the key to turning a good day on the water into a great one.

Picking a Bird-Capable Radar System

What kinds of radar systems are capable of detecting birds? The answer is: all of them. With a bit of experimenting and observation, you can locate (most) birds with just about any radar system. However, certain specifications make radar systems more bird-capable. Here are a few tips if you’re considering what to buy:

Open Array radars have an advantage over enclosed radome antennas because of their larger physical size. The length of the radar’s antenna section does two things. Like a lens, it focuses the outgoing microwave energy into a narrow beam. Longer antennas have better beam-shaping ability. The antenna is also the receiving surface for the very weak microwave pulses returning to the scanner. The larger surface area creates more antenna gain, making it more sensitive.

High-powered antennas offer an advantage just because they put more energy on-target. Small, fuzzy and rounded birds have a natural “stealth” advantage that challenges any radar. By putting more power in the air, you have a better chance of receiving a signal back with small, weak targets. Plus, the higher-power output increases the maximum range to which birds can be detected.

Adjustable rotation speed can be useful if you are attempting to identify the changing shape of a bird flock. Increasing the rotation speed of the scanner can help to make these changes and movements more evident.

Bird Detection Tips for Any Radar System:

Dialing in your radar settings—like increasing gain or adjusting the range—makes it easier to filter out false targets, so you can clearly pick up birds in the distance. With practice, reading your radar becomes second nature, helping you locate productive fishing grounds quicker and more consistently. Here are 5 tips that will help you detect birds with your radar system:

1. Use High Range: Set your radar range to about 3-5 miles for bird detection. This allows you to cover more ground and spot birds that are farther away.
2. Maximize Refresh Rate: A fast refresh rate is important to track birds in real-time. Birds can move quickly, so a higher rate helps you maintain an accurate view of their movements.
3. Adjust the Gain: Increase the gain to pick up smaller, faster-moving targets like birds. Too much gain can create clutter, so fine-tuning is key.
4. Filter Out Clutter: Use sea and rain clutter filters to reduce noise and avoid false targets caused by waves or weather. This makes actual bird targets stand out more clearly.
5. Watch for Clusters: Small clusters of bird returns on radar usually indicate a feeding frenzy. Once birds start diving, they form tight groups, making them easier to detect.

Source: https://onthewater.com/dialing-in-birds-with-radar-is-a-game-changer-for-anglers

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