BajaBruno - 5-3-2011 at 04:16 PM
Has anyone seen a Sea of Cortez current flow chart, similar to this one for the San Francisco Bay?
http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/9/5/5/600_128...
I ask because I'm not sure what direction to expect water flow based on the tidal charts. E.g., if I am at the head of a canyon north of Mulege or
Loreto on an incoming tide, would the water be coming from the south (Pacific Ocean), the north (as it swirled around some visible or sub-surface
obstruction, or from the center-line of the SOC? Maybe that seems like a silly question to those who fish it every day, but I don't know and I be
interested in predicting that current flow independent of the tide rise.
mulegemichael - 5-3-2011 at 08:09 PM
once again, the internet answers all our questions....www.terrafin.com might just do that for you.
BajaBruno - 5-3-2011 at 10:14 PM
I appreciate the suggestion, Michael, but I do not have a membership to Terrafin and current velocity is not in their free area. It does tell me,
however, that someone is collecting the information--I just have to find it.
bajabass - 5-4-2011 at 04:12 AM
Give BuoyWeather a try.
Pescador - 5-4-2011 at 05:24 AM
I have spent years trying to predict the current flow in the Sea of Cortez and it is impossible to accurately predict. There are other factors in
play besides the tide which I watch closely every day. Some days and times when there should be a big tide swing there is almost no current and
othertimes the current is ripping. I have kept numbers read on the GPS and with a sea anchor so that I reduce the influence of the wind and still
have not been able to predict except in very general terms. Terrafin does show the direction but since there are basically only one high and one low
tide per day, the currents are not very indicative.
When you are out almost every day, you sort of develop a second sense about direction and flow which does change in relation to the tide charts but
about the time I think I have it nailed, something changes.
Also, location has a big impact as we find one type of current closer to shore like on the north end of San Marcos Island, but a whole different
current when we are 25 miles offshore at Tortuga.
Yellowtail and Cabrilla like the heavy currents and eat more actively with the current rushes, while bottom fish like Grouper and Baqueta do better
with slack tides.
BajaBruno - 5-4-2011 at 09:04 AM
Thank you, Pescador--I was hoping you would weigh in. The subsurface terrain in the SOC is very convoluted, so maybe that is why predicting currents
is so difficult. I'll be satisfied to believe that if you can't do it after fishing most days, I can't do it on my occasional trips.
Udo - 5-4-2011 at 07:25 PM
My tidal current prediction (which is really good in the Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic), failed me...even when I was in possession of
waterproof charts.
I tried to cross the SOC from San Felipe to Puerto Peņasco and the current literally took me to Guaymas. I was on a HOBIE 16, and that happened about
25 years ago.
I purposely picked a time with the slackest tide effluent which should have equaled slacker current.
Was a good ride anyway.
BajaBruno - 5-4-2011 at 09:44 PM
That was pretty ballsy, Udo! I pitchpoled a H-16 about four times before I gave up and bought a Hobie 18. It was hard to singlehand, but a lot more
stable for me.
The currents in the San Francisco Bay are notoriously complex because of the islands, variable coastline, and underwater contours--so much so that the
US Corps of Engineers built a huge model of the Bay in Sausalito that pumps water in and out to predict water flow. I doubt anyone has the same money
and interest to make a SOC research model.
Pescador - 5-7-2011 at 01:12 PM
I have been experimenting with Hycom.org and they do current charts for the Sea of Cortez that are current or past time, so it is a little difficult
to predict, but with the tide charts and a current review of that Hycom reports I can get a much more accurate picture of current directions. I think
it will be affected by the tide, but I do not yet know enough to say.
I access Hycom through Bouyweather.com because I have a premium membership, but you may find a way to get the information from Hycom without that.