Smart Fishing Spots Crash Course
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
Welcome to Smart Fishing Spots!
The following videos will help guide you through how to effectively use the Smart Fishing Spots software.
Here are the topics that will be covered (you can click on a specific topic below to go straight to the video):
Introduction:
(Click On Any Of the Links Below to JUMP to the video)
Map Layers:
- Smart Spots Layer
- Ocean Current Layer
- Public Lands Layer
- 1 Foot Contours Layer
- Oysters Layer
- Seagrass Layer
- Artificial Reef Layer
- Boat Ramp Layer
- Kayak Launch Layer
- Shaded Relief Layer
- Marine Chart Layer
- Sea Surface Temperature Layer
- Water Temperature Layer
- Satellite Imagery Layer
Tides & Weather:
Tools:
- My Spots
- Waypoints
- Finding Current Location
- Distance Measurement
- Compass
- Creating Tracks
- GPS Settings (Degrees & Decimal)
- Insider Reports & Spot Dissections
Misc:
Smart Fishing Spots Overview
How To Search For A Location
How To Check The Weather
Tide Stations & Strike Score
Smart Spots Layer
Ocean Currents Layer
1 Foot Contours Layer
Public Lands Layer
Oysters Layer
Seagrass Layer
Artificial Reef Layer
Boat Ramp Layer
Kayak Launch Spots Layer
Shaded Relief Layer
Marine Chart Layer
Note: Here’s a Marine Chart PDF that includes descriptions for the various icons in the Marine Chart layer in case needed.
Sea Surface Temperature Layer
Water Temperature Layer
Satellite Imagery Layer
Tides & Weather
Strike Scores & Feeding Levels
How To Find/Save Favorite Tide Stations
My Spots
Creating Waypoints
Finding Current Location
Distance Measurement
Compass
Creating Tracks
GPS Settings (Degrees vs. Decimal)
Insider Reports & Spot Dissections
How Save Pre-set Layers
Updating The App
How To Find Community Reports
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).


What does this number mean? =1017
It is located in the “tides” window at the bottom of the weather section.
Sometimes there is an up or down arrow in front of it.
That is the barometric pressure level… falling is best, and rising is second best.
I have a google map that I created for myself before discovering this app. Is there a way for me to upload that map?
It has all the mile markers from Port Aransas down through Padre Island National Seashore which will help me navigate this app better as I search for potential surf fishing spots.
I just joined. How do I use the app for surf fishing? I understand weather changes structure and current. I want to know how to get some clues on being able to read the beach a bit better to identify the potential for structures like holes and guts. Can you guys point me to any content that would help me?
Welcome to the Insider Club Carlos! The maps can be most helpful for surf fishing by allowing you to find any rocks or permanent structure that may be in the surf zone you’re considering… if rocks, pilings, etc are present, that’s almost always going to be a good 90/10 zone.
Otherwise, the reading of surf spots has to be done on location via your eyes given how frequently the sand bars can shift. Here’s a link to helpful lessons on surf fishing in case you haven’t yet seen them: https://community.saltstrong.com/search?type=article&query=surf+fishing
Great, thank you. Can you tell me which layers to use to help identify the structure?
1) Is there a layer that’s updated more often than others that would show recently new structure?
2) Or, is there a lesson using layers specific to identifying structure in the surf that I can watch?
3) Or maybe something that can show me how to make assumptions based off some of the layers like maybe current, temps, etc.?
4) Knowing when and how often each layer is updated I think might be useful. Is that something I have access to?
The app and the community is awesome, I’m learning how to navigate the wealth of knowledge I now have access to. There’s just so much available it’s almost overwhelming 😜
Sorry, I should have clicked you link first before asking all those questions. I’ll check some of these out today. However, I’d gladly take some help with my questions as well if they aren’t easy to determine in these lessons
Does the map of smart spots Dave a way to function as a moving gps so we can follow along in real time our location Thsnks
Yes, all you have to do is turn on the Current location feature which shows an icon on the screen of your location on the map… it of course moves along as you are moving similar to a boat’s gps.
I am having a problem opening my salt strong app on my tablet. It wants me to sign up for a new account. It opens on my IPhone with no problem. I’ve used it on my tablet in the past.
For your tablet, you should have to log in once on the app, and it’ll remember you from them on.
Note: Please know that you can also use the online version too which is linked here: https://sfs.saltstrong.com/
What are the green outlined areas?
If you’re referring to the tide chart section, the vertical bars (green and blue) show the projected feeding level throughout the day on an hourly basis. The height of the bar is most important (color changes are merely to highlight changes in the height).
Let me know if you were referring to something else.
What are the blue bars on the tide chart
The vertical bars on the tide chart show the projected feeding level throughout the day on an hourly basis. The height of the bar is most important (color changes are merely to highlight changes in the height).
I am trying to enter a waypoint using Lat and Lon but it keeps telling me incorrect format. Not sure why since I entered it the same as the sample coordinates.
Which section are you using? I just tried entering a spot manually using the Lat/Lng section in the top left corner of the screen, and it worked.
All you need to do is click/tap on the Lat/Lng section first which opens up window for each entry number. Once typed in, just click/tap the blue button and it’ll move to the spot you typed in.
How come may app closes every time I get to the water and asks me to join and sign in , and It won’t accept when I’m a member already
Is this issue still happening, Gregg? After signing in once, it should remember you going forward as long as you don’t sign out or do an app update.
What do the fish symbols represent?
Those represent major and minor feeding times (solunar).