wilderone - 6-23-2005 at 10:55 AM
I read about these Chlorophyll charts in a fishing mag. Pretty interesting. Indicates likely places for fish, based on the assumption that they're
chasing nutrient-rich waters. You'll note that almost the entire Gulf of Calif. is orange, showing high levels of chlorophyll. These subtle clues
may be more meaningful for Pacific Ocean fishing.
http://www.terrafin.com/sstview/free.htm
Osprey - 6-23-2005 at 11:19 AM
That chart on the site you indicate is for water temperature. Just water temperature. Not plant life or sea life concentrations. Here, near the
cape we use it all the time -- the changes are often more important than the temperature. For example the cold water upwelling that recently came
around the cape, up the Sea of Cortez scattered the fish, put them off the bite.
wilderone - 6-23-2005 at 11:41 AM
I just read about the charts in Pacific Coast Sportfishing, which explained what the colors meant. Here's an excerpt:
"High levels of chlorophyll are represented by the red/yellow colors, low levels ae shown as blue shades to differentiate these charts from the
surface temp charts also offered. ... Lower levels of chlorophyll should indicate cleaner water, and the very low levels indicate clean blue water.
The clean blue water is also most likely very low in nutrients. So the best combination for tuna fishing would be to find where the clean blue water
... meets an area with a higher level of plankton. That area will be more likely to hold baitfish and to concentrate the fish. Essentially ...
plankton breaks ..." It may be that my attached site was a water temp chart, but the chlorophyll charts do exist.
Osprey - 6-23-2005 at 12:53 PM
Wilderone
I can't get those good mags down here. The charts you mention would be very valuable to us in the southland so if you learn a site where we can
download them I would sure be interested. Several months ago I saw a chart (on this board) indicating the fertilizer runoff on the Sonora/Sinaloa
side from the Yaqui mountains or plains showing how much of the gulf had been adversely affected -- it looked pretty ugly and explains another reason
why the 12,000 private fishermen up north on that side of the gulf can't keep body and soul alive by catching fish. Thanks again.
wilderone - 6-23-2005 at 04:44 PM
http://www.terrafin.com/sstview/latest_chl.htm
turtleandtoad - 6-23-2005 at 05:21 PM
It appears that the terrafin site requires you to sign up for $99 to look at their charts.
Can anyone verify that the service is worth the money?
Don Jorge - 6-24-2005 at 08:02 AM
Yes. They are worth it. No serious fisherman should be without this service, or TempBreak, or a similiar service.
I use Terrafin but there are other SST service.
In this day of higher fuel costs and longer runs to the fishing grounds it helps to make a semi-educated plan to find the waters where the most marine
life might be.
Iam going to try and post todays latest info for Loreto. SST and chlorophyl.
Note the temp breaks converging on Loreto. I predict it is going to bust loose their in July when the 2 twains they shall meet!
Chlorophyl
Don Jorge - 6-24-2005 at 08:08 AM
Here is a chlorophyl shot of Loreto, 6-17, last good shot of the area.
These charts are proprietory and if there is any problem I will remove them. They are posted to show the value of such a service. You should get it
if you lare serious about fishing.
Hope this answered some questions.
wilderone - 6-24-2005 at 09:51 AM
hmmmm - why do some of those coastal areas get flushed out - like just north of Agua Verde? Very interesting. No wonder coastal fishing is a dud.
Coastal fishing a dud?
flyfishinPam - 6-24-2005 at 06:39 PM
Our results differ as the coastal fishing since early April here has been dynamite. Currently it remains very good.
On the Terrafin, well worth the money, in fuel savings alone. We rely on these images especially this time of year when the summer species are just
coming in. The savings in fuel took place in less than four trips out and on only one boat.
I'm not so convinced on the chlorophyll a readings though, as the sargasso and the plankton cholrophyll a lambda max are exactly the same. Lambda max
is the peak absorption reading which is what the satellite is picking up. Sargasso is what we're interested in not plankton or algae (lama in
espanol) 
Dave - 6-24-2005 at 06:57 PM
WOW! you guys are serious. What ever happened to throwing a line in the water and taking a nap?
60 dollar a barrel oil
Hook - 6-27-2005 at 11:12 AM
is what happened, Dave. No one can afford to troll on potentially unproductive grounds anymore.
If any are interested, Allcoastsportfishing.com (of which I am a moderator) offers temp charts and chlorophyll charts as part of their 50.00/year
membership fees. If you fish out of SoCal, they also have a service they call REEL TIME REPORTS that is essentially a guy who monitors radio
transmissions from northern Baja to Catalina. He then posts the info in "real time" on the net. GPS numbers often included.
The data for all the SST/chlorophyll charts are NOAA satellites, though the services use proprietary methods of interpreting the raw data.
Terrafin is also an excellent service, IMO.