Gulf Coast - How do I find rig coordinates

I am new to the offshore stuff. I am sure there must be a book or program that can give me the coordinates to various rigs.. Any help would be appreciated. Also, is there a book out there that describes various fish and how to catch and and at what depths?

Thanks,

Dan

hilton's offshore atlas

Mr grand is dead on. Stay away from hook n line, as misstrial enlightened us some time ago the hook n line is ok for rig location but terrible for reefs and underwater structures. Hilton's also is more thorough than hook n line.

I agree. The Hilton's atlas is pretty good. Probably spend just as much on gas, but you can have mine if you want to come get it.

is hiltons staying updated? most of the rigs were gone and dismantled, are they updating the rig coordinates as they disappear? Im just wondering if I need to buy a new one or stick with what I have now.

Mwgoldman, not sure when they printed last. My bet is on Hiltons they are current at the time of printing. Just check the print date. I'll mention it to Tom.

Do they offer online maps that stay current?

You can check out Rod & Reel .com. Go to the GPS tab, simple from there. May not be current, but useful free tool.

hilton's offshore atlas

x 2. Tom Hilton is a THT sponsor. Also, he does a lot of work for recreational anglers fighting the bureaucrats that are trying to take away our right to fish. You can go to his website: http://www.realtime-navigator.com/ (http://www.realtime-navigator.com/) and look at the demo. I have a subscription to his site and use it all the time when planning an offshore trip. It provides useful info such as, Rig Coordinates, 3D Bottom, Sea Temps, Altimetry, Chlorophyll, True Color, Currents and Salinity. There are tutorials on his site to teach you how to use all this info.

Thanks fellas, good info. I will start with the Atlas and then did into the web site.

Howdy,
Thanks for the feedback guys.

I was planning to provide a weekly updated surface platform location service as part of the website to try to keep up with the dismantling as well as new rigs coming in. Unfortunately, the BOEMRE source that tracks this type of activity has not been updated since October 3, 2011 - one hand of the feds can't keep up with what the other hand is doing!

I recently re-printed the La. Delta to Destin Chart (last month) that shows the latest data available to me, and can be found at J&M, Sam's One Stop, and Top Gun Tackle in Orange Beach, Outcast in Pensacola, Keith Maps in Mobile, and soon Puglia's in New Orleans.

The atlas is great since you are able to write on the pages to customize with the latest info - cross out rigs no longer there, write in new rigs, make notes of fish caught on what spots on what days, etc. The Atlas's much larger scale over the chart allows more detailed information, but I re-print charts with more frequency with more recent info.

All the best,
Capt. Thomas J. Hilton

Check out this page. Seems to be spot on and has ALL the platforms listed. Make sure you check the little box in the field you put data in or it won't work
Be sure to save the link once you have opened it. The website is not at all user friendly and I always have a hard time finding the page later.

http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/fastfacts/platform/master.asp

Also, most GPS units are set up for minutes degrees seconds, not decimal so be sure to convert the coordinates.

Good luck!

here they are for Alabama:

http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/saltwater/fisheries/artificial-reefs/DGPSCoordinates.pdf