Good post. I use it for every trip and it saves a ton in gas and time. I like the new feature of being able to post reports.

 

I've seen a few posts asking how far out is the blue water and what does the water look like at Falcon etc.... --------->....... remember there is a way to......:clover:"Know before you go.":clover:

ditto!......... by the time anyone could get info from the board on conditions to plan their trip, it could (and more'n likely) be a whole-other-ballgame when they get there

makes me think of american express,....... "Don't Leave Home Without it"

the service is just a drop-in-the-bucket (money-wise) when you consider the fish-to-fuel ratio

(btw, where's the shrimp boat?....

)

 

I have to agree with all of the above. Since I first subscribed, there have been many improvements and I'm sure there are more to come. With the current price of fuel, heading north rather than south (or east vs west, depending on where you are on the coast), because that's where the water was last weekend, just doesn't cut it. Knowing the water is better south and heading straight there could more than pay for this service in fuel savings in a trip or two.

 

The free online stuff like NOAA satellites is very crude and will how the entire Gulf or western Atlantic. If you get a service such as Rip's or Hilton's, things come into a huge amount of detail, stuff you'll never see on the cheap stuff.

But one can see the enormous amount of dirty water coming out the SW Pass an coastal Louisiana, truly massive. One strategy is to fish where a tongue of blue water creeps into the dirty, or rips, or hints of a cold eddy. True color rocks because you can see the shrimp boats ... no I mean real blue water!

Plus if you buy such a service, they show show ya how to interpret the spaghetti, and ya get to pester them lots.

 

So, without irritating sponsors or mods or the sensitive, rate the services. I have a membership with buoyweather and althought it is cheap, I find it marginal at best. Half of what I am looking for is either sketchy data or no help at all. I want to click on something and see the data for a specific area. SST, color, clarity, salinity, current et al. Reaaly with buoyweather I get a general clue of the avg wave height and period and very broad area map with some temp changes. Overall, a 2 out of 10 because it saves me time from going to 5 sites to get wave and temp info.

 

yahoo wahoo..

Can't answer for Rip-Charts...hear good things tho...I use Bouy weather and get everything you mentioned...plus some. I use the mariners package..and have had excellent/accurate results each trip...I suggest the tutorial or upgrading..but I to am considering adding Rip-Charts to the arsenol..hwell:
kp

 

Apologies, it looks like I am a little late to the party. Jakers makes a great point. Historically things move somewhat in a predictable manner off of Texas. However, this season with the run-off, it is crucial to understand where the water is before you leave the dock, as it has been moving quickly.

Here is an image that illustrates the dirtier water Mark was referring to over the hilltops, the good rip near BV and a couple of good rips off to the East. Make special note of that blue water rip coming over the top of the flower gardens and follow it as the week progresses into the next weather window. That is the same body of water my that my lunch today (yellowfin tuna salad) came from while fishing offshore last week. Knowing where the water is, definitely makes a difference.

FWIW - Regarding Buoyweather. We spent some time with them at the Pacific Sportfishing show last month, a great group of guys with a great forecasting product. Give Will a call if you ever need help setting up their automated BW alerts, ect. For wave/wind forecasting, they are definitely a great source. We frequently send people their direction for that information. For those interested in fishing tools and custom processed satellite imagery, they send people to us.

Ken, I think you will find that most use both Buoyweather and RipCharts. If you would like a tutorial on the service, I would be happy to walk you through it.

Here is a chlorophyll shot showing a few different rips and the off colored water over the hilltops.

Also, here is a picture of my lunch. I guess there are some benefits of working out of the house

-Philip
713-582-1868

 

The image you see is a really good one. I keep seeing images that dont give me info. I saw the post and went there. This is the one I see. It doesn't help.

I hope that I am doing somthing wrong and it can work for me?

 

The image you see is a really good one. I keep seeing images that dont give me info. I saw the post and went there. This is the one I see. It doesn't help.

I hope that I am doing somthing wrong and it can work for me?

What you are seeing is cloud cover. Unfortunately, satellites shooting photos from space can not see through clouds. Seems like in this day and age of instant gratification some don't have the patients to deal with this sort of issue. Not say this is the case with you but, I've heard many say the same and just give up. Seems like every few days you get a good picture of the area in the gulf you are interested in. You just have to keep an eye on it and extrapolate. After awhile you get pretty good at spotting trends in how things happen and how the same or similar patterns occur each year in the gulf. One other thing you can do is go to the daily summary and you get a couple of photos that overlap. Or, you can go to the 3 day composite to get an even clearer picture. Keep in mind that it is a composite over time and that everything is changing out there so, things may not be exactly what you see by the time you get out there.

This technology is just a tool and sort of like a guitar, you can't expect to just pick it up and play Led Zeppelin the first time you try it.

One thing I have found to be fun, and useful, is after each trip you make, go back and look at the available info from the days you were out there. After awhile you begin to see how valuable of a tool it can be. When traveling a long distance offshore you can actually see the differences in upwellings, downwellings and how the bait and game fish relate to the different conditions. You can also track moving pushes of water and anticipate when it will reach an area that you know will hold fish like a rig or bottom structure. After using it for awhile, you learn to prioritize the various bits of information you gain and relate it back to previous fishing experiences.

Here is an example of one basic observation. Each year we get a push of nice warm water that comes up the Texas coast from Mexico. That water will push all the way up past colt 45 on up to east breaks once it starts getting "all up in there" it may get over run by some dirty water but, it is still there and that "dirty water" may actually help because it holds allot of life. The end result is, after around the first week or two of June, I don't let the off colored water scare me off from that area because, I know that it can be loaded with bait. That is just one basic observation. The cool part is after awhile you will spot many such trends and after you combine it all with time on the water things just get easier to understand.

You ever wonder why the top bass anglers in the world can go to a lake they have never fished before and dominate over the locals who have fished there all there lives? Yes, it is similar to that but, the Gulf is way more dynamic than any lake. Adding this tool to your arsenal can make the over all experience much more satisfying.

Crack a :brew2: at the end of a long day tune out everything else and see what you can learn from it. It will either make you a better angler or just confuse the hell out of you. If the later occurs, hire a guide.

Hope everyone has a great season. It should be a good one once the wind lays. We have an incredible fishery. Enjoy it to the fullest while you can.:brew2::brew2::brew2:

 

Charts

I sure need this tool but I just cant seem to connect. I went there again.
This one has great looking stuff but my area is blanked out.

 

I sure need this tool but I just cant seem to connect. I went there again.
This one has great looking stuff but my area is blanked out.

Nothing like good ole sun glare to mess up a perfectly good image. It can definitely be frustrating at times. However, that is just the nature of what we are up against with the technology available. The satellites we pull data from are constantly circumnavigating the earth gathering data. To get a good shot, you have to avoid things such as cloudcover, fog, time of day (potential sun glares), angle of the scan, ect. Everything has to line up correctly to capture a good image. We are not the only ones confronted with these problems. Research institutions around the world source the data from the same satellites and struggle with the same issues we do. The difference is, institutions typically can wait for a clear image. However, we as fishermen need timely data... So what do we do?

This is where I believe RipCharts differentiates itself from the crowd. We do everything possible to help you mitigate cloud cover/sun glare, ect and allow you to make educated decisions in spite of less than desirable imagery. The tools we provide for this are custom processed composites, altimetry, detailed bathymetry lines, currents and overlays.

The more time you spend with the data, the more you will begin to see patterns and really start to dial in what to look for.

I would be more than happy to spend some time and walk you through the different datasets and show you what I see and what to look for. For instance, the first image you posted (the one with cloud cover issues), I actually see quite a bit of usable data there. That image actually verifies every rip I posted in the earlier image. Granted, there were clouds and little sun glare close to shore, but we already know that water is off color from the day before, so we are not missing much. Plus if you look at the true color from that day, you can clearly see the different rips.

Regardless, give me a call, hopefully I can clear away the clouds(see what I did there ). And if you are still dissatisfied with the service, or if it just is not for you. I will be happy to refund your money. We are definitely not in the business of tricking anyone into buying our service. Our goal as a service provider is to give you the best available data and present it in an accurate usable manner with a few cool tools mixed in.

Anyway, hopefully this helps explain things. Feel free to give me a call anytime.

Thanks,
Philip
Cell: 713.582-1868

 

MAKO see the box that says granule? hit the little black arrow and then hit 3 day composite and see what happens.