The Species Habitat Checker tells you whether a sea pin fits a species and technique: it reads depth, Folk-5 bottom and structure under the pin and returns a fit score from Poor to Hot. First check free, no account.
Updated 2026. Place the pin on the sea between Trieste-Ancona, the Slovenian coast, Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia. Open the live checker at algocatch.com/en/tools/habitat-checker. For recreational planning only. Not for navigation. The score is not a catch guarantee.
How to check a pin. Drop a pin, choose a technique and species, then read the habitat fit.
- Tap the map to place a pin on the sea inside Trieste-Ancona, the Slovenian coast, Istria, Kvarner or Dalmatia.
- Select your fishing technique, target species and the season you will fish.
- Press Check habitat and read the fit score, tier, depth, bottom type and score components for that pin.
What does the Species Habitat Checker tell you?
For one sea pin, one technique and one species it returns a fit score with a Poor-to-Hot tier, the depth in metres, the Folk-5 bottom type and the score components behind it. It is habitat suitability, not a catch guarantee.
The inputs are one WGS84 sea pin, one technique, one species and one season. The result card then prints four fields: the Poor to Hot tier, the depth in metres under that pin, the bottom type, and the score components (depth suitability, structure, bottom type). A catch-pin app shows where someone once logged a fish. A chart shows water depth. This fish habitat checker answers a narrower question: does this point fit the species and technique you will actually fish?
It is for the holiday shore angler choosing tonight's beach from the car, and for the rental-boat visitor testing an anchor edge before leaving the harbour. Neither person can see the bottom class from the road.
How you use it stays narrow. Change the pin, the technique, the species or the season and the card changes with that choice. Do the read before you walk the rocks or idle out of the harbour. The gate is first check free, no account. Depth is a planning value from EMODnet Bathymetry, not a promise that fish are there tonight.
How do you check a spot?
Tap the map to place a pin on the sea inside Trieste-Ancona, the Slovenian coast, Istria, Kvarner or Dalmatia, choose the technique, species and season, then press Check habitat. A land pin is refused; move it offshore and check again.
Those three steps are the whole run. Place the pin on the sea between Trieste-Ancona, the Slovenian coast, Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia. The base map may pan further; fishing reads stop at that box. A pin on the beach, car park or mole is refused with "move the pin offshore and check again". Slide it onto water and check again.
The first-time visitor on a phone does not need an account for the first check. After that free check, the page asks for an email for more checks in that browser; checks are rate-limited per network.
Set technique first, then the species that picker offers, then the season you will fish (spring Mar-May, summer Jun-Sep, autumn Oct-Nov, winter Dec-Feb). The card returns only when the pin is on water inside the coverage box.
Which species and techniques can you check?
Gilthead seabream is free. The other species in the picker (seabass, pandora, amberjack, bonito, bluefish, mahi-mahi and more) need a free account and a pass. Techniques in the checker: anchor, shore jigging, surfcasting, with a season selector.
The live picker is the list that counts on publication day. This page does not state a species count. The gate stays fixed: one species is free; the rest need a free account and a pass. After the first check, leave an email for more checks in this browser.
Shore anglers pick shore jigging or surfcasting. Boat sessions that the checker can score pick anchor. If you are still choosing which technique fits the bay, decide that before you read the card, because the picker only scores the three techniques it shows. Pair a species only with a technique the live picker offers for it.
How you should work the controls: technique first, then species, then season. The season selector is spring (Mar-May), summer (Jun-Sep), autumn (Oct-Nov) and winter (Dec-Feb). Depth preference for some locked species shifts with that setting, so a July pin and a March pin on the same rock are not the same check. For the species-by-species gate, see which species you can check without paying.
How do you read the result card?
Read the tier first (Poor to Hot), then the score components: depth suitability, structure and bottom type for your technique and species. A high score means the bottom fits the fish; if no component stands out, compare nearby pins.
The card can look like a single number. It is not. Read in this order: Poor to Hot tier, then the score components (depth suitability, structure, bottom type), then the depth in metres and the bottom type printed on the card. A high tier means the habitat fits the fish you selected. It does not mean fish are feeding there this evening.
This order is for anyone comparing two beaches or two anchor edges. If bottom type carries the result, you are deciding whether that class matches the species. Read what the bottom type means for fishing when you need the class names. If depth suitability is the weak line, move the pin; do not stand on the same rock and fish harder.
How you test an edge: move the pin 10-30 m along the drop or the sand line and run the check again. A seagrass edge and the empty sand 20 m out often split. When the card says no single factor stands out, compare the score components and nearby pins. A flat result is a prompt to move the pin, not a prompt to stay. When you want the model itself, open what the habitat score means.
Is this spot good for gilthead or dentex?
Gilthead: a pin over sand or a seagrass edge in 2-30 m within casting range scores well for shore modes. Dentex: a rock drop-off in 15-50 m scores well for anchor, and the season selector shifts its depth.
The shore read is the one the title promises first. Gilthead seabream (orada) holds 2-30 m over sand or a seagrass edge within casting range; shore jigging and surfcasting are the modes that match that water. On 12 July 2026 at Savudrija I pinned the sand/seagrass line in 8 m, set surfcasting and summer, and the card came back Hot with bottom type carrying the result. I kept the evening session on that edge because the habitat fit the fish; the card did not, and does not, promise a catch.
The boat-or-rock read is the second title promise. The common dentex needs a pass; it holds 15-50 m on a rock drop-off. Use anchor where the picker offers it, and set the season because that species' depth preference moves. On 18 April 2026 off Cres I pinned the drop-off in 28 m, set anchor and spring, and the card came back Hot with structure carrying the tier. We stayed on that edge for the session. Again, habitat fit, not a fish count.
Summer evenings suit the orada shore pin; spring and autumn are when I set the season selector before I trust a drop-off pin.
What happens after one pin?
With a free account, Spot Finder within 2 km of your pin highlights the best-scoring spots, you can save or share the pin, and the same point opens in the map. VIP species unlock with a pass.
One pin checked. The map finds the best ones. That line on the live page means four next actions, each with a gate. First, how Spot Finder scores the water around your pin. Second, save or share the pin; that needs the free account. Third, open the same point in the map on app.algocatch.com. Fourth, locked species stay locked until you hold a pass.
This hand-off is for the reader whose first pin was mute and for the reader whose first pin was good. If the card was flat, create the free account, run the 2 km scan, and open a higher-scoring neighbour in the map. If the card was Hot, save the pin so you can find the same rock after dinner.
How you continue: Create free account, then Open the map at the same point. When you want more species in this checker, take a pass sized to the trip; details live on Week Pass and other plans. More checks in this browser, after the first, need an email. Locked species unlock after the pass, not after the email.
What can't the Habitat Checker tell you?
It cannot promise fish, guide navigation or replace a licence. The score is habitat suitability from a gridded model; depth near shore is mixed-resolution. It works only inside the Adriatic coverage box, refuses land pins and is rate-limited per network.
Three non-claims, in plain sentences. The score is not a catch guarantee. The tool is not for navigation. The tool is not a licence. Depth near shore is mixed-resolution on EMODnet Bathymetry; small differences from a fishfinder are normal. Verify the number on the water before you treat it as exact.
Those limits apply to every user, especially anyone arriving from a catch-pin app that treats a Hot pin as a promise. Read the card as habitat fit, use a plotter and official charts on the water, and buy you still need a fishing licence at ribarstvo.mps.hr. AlgoCatch does not sell or issue licences.
The tool stops outside Trieste-Ancona, the Slovenian coast, Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia, refuses land pins, and rate-limits per network. It always stops at habitat. It never becomes a fish count.
Do not pick tonight's water because the beach looks right from the road. Open the checker, put the pin on the sea you will stand on or drift over, and treat the bottom type plus the 2-30 m or 15-50 m band as the go / no-go. If the tier is Poor, or no single factor stands out, move the pin 10-30 m or change place before you burn the evening. Then buy the licence for that coast. Take a pass only if you need locked species. Start with the first check, no account, then Create free account when you want the same point on the map.
FAQs
How do I know if a spot is good for fishing?
A good spot matches the species and technique you will fish: depth in metres, bottom type and structure under a sea pin, not how the beach looks from the car. Run the Species Habitat Checker on the water you will stand on or drift over, then read the Poor to Hot tier and the score components. If the result is flat, compare nearby pins.
Is there a tool that checks a fishing spot for a species?
Yes. The Species Habitat Checker is a fish habitat checker for one Adriatic sea pin. You choose technique, species and season; it returns depth, bottom type and a Poor to Hot tier. First check free, no account. Coverage is Trieste-Ancona, the Slovenian coast, Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia. The output is habitat fit, not a fish count and not a catch forecast.
Where can I fish for gilthead in Croatia?
It holds in 2-30 m over sand or a seagrass edge within casting range on Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia. Put the pin on the water, not the beach, and run a shore jigging or surfcasting check. A high tier means the bottom fits. It does not list secret beaches or promise a catch on a given evening.
Is this beach good for gilthead seabream?
Only if the pin on the sea in front of that beach sits in 2-30 m over sand or a seagrass edge and a shore mode returns a high Poor to Hot tier. A pretty beach over the wrong bottom or the wrong depth will score poorly. Check the water you will cast into, not the sand you sit on.
How deep should I fish for dentex in the Adriatic?
The useful band is 15-50 m on a rock drop-off, and the season selector shifts that preference between spring, summer, autumn and winter. Use anchor where the picker offers it. The checker reads habitat at the pin; it does not set a safe depth and it is not for navigation.
What does a habitat fit score mean?
It combines depth suitability, structure and bottom type for your technique and species into a Poor to Hot tier. A higher result means the habitat fits the fish better. It is not a catch guarantee. Read the tier first, then the component that carries it, then the depth and bottom type on the card. If no single factor stands out, compare nearby pins.
Is the AlgoCatch habitat checker free?
Yes. Your first pin check is free with no account, and the free species stays free. Leave your email for more checks in this browser, or create a free account for the full map. Checks are rate-limited per network. Locked species need a free account and a pass.
Does the habitat checker work without an account?
Yes. The first pin check runs with no account. More checks in the same browser need an email. Saving a pin, sharing it and opening the same point in the map need a free account. Locked species need a pass.
By Gregor Romavh, co-founder of AlgoCatch, 30+ years of Adriatic shore and boat fishing from the Slovenian coast to Dalmatia.