Chlorophyll

Important notes

• Impacted by cloud cover

What is Chlorophyll?

Chlorophyll is produced by plankton and helps determine the location of blue water versus dirty water.

How is Chlorophyll data recorded?

Chlorophyll imagery is obtained from satellites The data from the satellites is processed to display relative Chlorophyll concentrations. The range displayed on our charts goes from a low concentration of 0.01mg/m3 to a high concentration 30mg/m3.

Different levels of Chlorophyll will be represented by different colors in each pixel.

• Blues/greens can be clear water.
• Yellows/oranges/reds can be dark green cloudy water to muddy water.

How to use Chlorophyll to find fish

Knowing where phytoplankton blooms are concentrated can be an excellent indication of where baitfish (which the targeted fish are feeding on) should be concentrated.

To find the baitfish look for boundary areas between blue and green water (often referred to as color breaks) which will typically stack up bait and hold above-average numbers of predatory game fish.

Not only does chlorophyll data indicate water color, it can be a useful tool to predict water temperature when you can't get a clear satellite image. Cold water generally has higher chlorophyll concentrations than warm water because it contains nutrients that have recently come up from the deep ocean. 

Where can you find Chlorophyll on FishTrack?

1. Hit Imagery & Overlays

2. Choose Chlorophyll under the Imagery header to browse raw satellite imagery. Due to cloud cover, some images may be better than others

3. Select the image you'd like to overlay on the map. Once the image is highlighted, hit Done in the top right of the app screen

4. Navigate around the map, centering your crosshairs over your region of interest. See the chlorophyll concentration level under the mg/m3 heading.