Finding Fish with Forecasts
The Technology Behind FishCast
- Raleigh, NC
- May 7, 2026
- By: Taylor Shropshire, Head of Products and Marketing
FishCast started with a simple question: is it possible to predict where large game fish will be in the ocean?
Last year, Fathom Science launched the newest version of FishCast, FishCast powered by ROFFS, at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The launch marked an important step forward for the product through partnerships with ROFFS, Simrad, and C-MAP. Together, these partnerships brought FishCast directly onto touchscreen displays anglers already use offshore, combining ocean forecasts, predictive analytics, and navigation tools all in one place. Today, FishCast provides custom fishing analytics for 133 of the most popular inlets along the U.S. East Coast, Gulf Coast, and Bahamas. But the motivation behind FishCast started much closer to home.
From Ocean Research to Offshore Fishing: The Story Behind FishCast
FishCast is an important piece of our company’s story. Before Fathom Science was a company, its engineers and scientists, including myself, were researchers at North Carolina State University studying ocean currents using computer models. In eastern North Carolina, offshore fishing is part of the culture. The Gulf Stream presses right up onto the continental shelf, creating strong fronts and incredible fishing. The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, one of the largest sport fishing tournaments in the world, takes place every June right in Morehead City, NC.
So we wanted to see if the same ocean forecasting tools used for academic research could also help anglers find better fishing. At first, the answer was humbling. Fish do not simply follow one variable like temperature. They respond to a constantly changing combination of temperature, fronts, chlorophyll, currents, bottom structure, bait concentrations, and many other factors. In addition, each species has their own environmental preferences. Good fishing spots occur where several of these ingredients come together at the same place and time, sometimes referred to as “hotspots.”
How FishCast Identifies Fishing Hotspots Using AI and Historical Catch Data
Over the past couple of years, Fathom Science developed advanced algorithms to identify these hotspots and learned that the best algorithms come from combining forecasts with historical catch information. Along the U.S. East Coast, that meant partnering with ROFFS, a company that has spent more than 30 years helping anglers identify productive offshore fishing areas. ROFFS utilizes satellite imagery to write detailed fishing reports for the US East Coast, Gulf Coast, and other regions. By partnering with them, we were able to use these historical reports as a training dataset to refine our algorithms.
To draw an unobvious parallel, I like to compare FishCast to the movie Moneyball. In the film, the Oakland A’s, a major league baseball team in the United States used statistics rather than relying on experience alone to rethink how baseball players were evaluated. By doing so, they had tremendous success and changed the game of baseball forever. FishCast applies a similar concept to offshore fishing. Instead of using statistics, FIshCast uses machine learning and instead of picking players, FishCast picks fishing spots.
FishCast vs. Traditional Fishing Apps
People often ask how FishCast is different from other fishing services. The answer comes down to two words: forecasts and analytics.
Many fishing products rely heavily on recent satellite images. Satellite data is valuable, but it only shows what has already happened, and clouds can often block the view entirely. FishCast is built on advanced ocean forecasts that predict ocean conditions over the next several days. This allows anglers to plan ahead instead of using old data.
Forecasts are only part of the story. FishCast analytics are the other game changer. Analytics are already used in industries like finance, sports, logistics, and healthcare to identify patterns and support decision making. FishCast brings that same concept to offshore fishing.
FishCast analytics can’t tell anglers exactly where the fish are, but FishCast can help narrow down the search, save fuel, plan more effectively, and give anglers an edge by showing which areas are more likely to be productive. Fishing comes down to three steps (1) finding the fish, (2) having the right rig in the water, and (3) fighting the fish.
No one wants to spend the day doing the first.
Ocean Intelligence Built for the Water: FishCast and Fathom Science
FishCast is one piece of a broader mission at Fathom Science: putting advanced ocean intelligence in the hands of people who depend on the sea. The same AI-augmented forecasting engine that powers FishCast is the foundation of ARMS (Automated Relocatable Modeling System), Fathom’s core ocean forecasting platform. ARMS delivers hyper-local, physics-based forecasts for currents, waves, and weather anywhere in the world’s oceans, supporting not just recreational and commercial fishing, but offshore energy operations, ports and shipping, and autonomous marine navigation.
Whether you’re an angler looking for your next blue marlin or an operator managing assets at sea, Fathom’s suite of products is built on the same validated, real-time ocean intelligence. The ocean is complex, we make it legible.