I'm planning to get more seriously into tuna this year (just got started last year). The question I have is - is terrafin.com is really worth the subscription? A few years ago it would appear that was definitely the case. However, now that NOAA is putting up data daily with decent graphics and the chlorophyll charts are available also, it's not clear to me if there is still significant benefit to terrafin.com. So please convince me one way or another.
Terrafin.com vs free data sources
- Thread starter seadna
- Start date
Birdsnest
Well-Known Member
I have only had terafin for a month now and have been watching it daily so I cant really say. Now that there has been an significant event out there(strong NW winds for days) I can say that I am excited to try certain areas according to the sst. Otherwise the cloro chart have been fairly steady. The days that I did fish tuna the water was basically the same temp everywhere so it was hard to notice change in relation to the sst but, I did notice that where the chloro chart was below .5 the water out there in those locations was nice and blue and clear. Above the .5 it had that glacial blue appearance with reduce viability. After this year I think I will have a good idea and I suspect that terafin will get the green light for the years to come.
seadna- would you post some of those link you are referring too?
I also found and interesting way to view the cloro and sst charts. goto your area on the sst and open your choice of chart. Now open a new browser and open the chlorochart. Scrole both pages to the same location on your screen. Now click back and forth between the two browsers. This way I find it easier to pinpoint a location on the chart using both sets of data.
I even get a dry eraser and write on my screen to mark location I know well on my gps as to better understand the spots. I am a bit new to the North/west system.
Cloud free is always generated pretty slow but if it has been cloudy it is better that nothing.
seadna- would you post some of those link you are referring too?
I also found and interesting way to view the cloro and sst charts. goto your area on the sst and open your choice of chart. Now open a new browser and open the chlorochart. Scrole both pages to the same location on your screen. Now click back and forth between the two browsers. This way I find it easier to pinpoint a location on the chart using both sets of data.
I even get a dry eraser and write on my screen to mark location I know well on my gps as to better understand the spots. I am a bit new to the North/west system.
Cloud free is always generated pretty slow but if it has been cloudy it is better that nothing.
Sitkaspruce
Well-Known Member
Go to Bloodydecks. com or Ifish.net and ask this question as those places are tuna freaks.
Not saying you will not get the right info from here, but those guys sleep, dream, eat and work tuna.
Cheers
SS
Not saying you will not get the right info from here, but those guys sleep, dream, eat and work tuna.
Cheers
SS
Birdsnest, here's a few links I've been using -
http://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/coastwatch/CWBrowser.jsp - This is a bit of a complicated site so you really need to read the help but it lets you display a wide variety of data including sea surface temps and chlorophyll maps.
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/contour/index.html - this page has links to nice presentations of sea surface temperatures.
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/sst/contour/washngtn.fc.gif - here's one of the links off the above page.
My sense is that Terrafin.com uses the same data as NOAA but re-processes and re-presents it in perhaps a more useful format.
I'll ask at bloodydecks and ifish also.
http://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/coastwatch/CWBrowser.jsp - This is a bit of a complicated site so you really need to read the help but it lets you display a wide variety of data including sea surface temps and chlorophyll maps.
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/contour/index.html - this page has links to nice presentations of sea surface temperatures.
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/sst/contour/washngtn.fc.gif - here's one of the links off the above page.
My sense is that Terrafin.com uses the same data as NOAA but re-processes and re-presents it in perhaps a more useful format.
I'll ask at bloodydecks and ifish also.
terrafin is totally worth it! It has always put me on the fish and for $100 a year it is cheap. I know that we can run though a $100 in fuel pretty quick offshore so pre planning the location for the days adventure is key. When you look at what we have all tied up in gear its another drop in the bucket. just my opinion.
