Corpusfishing.com

[Tyler]

Billy called me from the Panga just offshore of Mansfield Jetties to tell me how much fun he was having. He says the weed is bad at least to the 50 and he suspects further north. His words "Just tell them about the weed so they can reach for the cyanide capsules"

[crhfish]

The weed is bad at BHP. I went there this morning and theres old weed, new weed with newer weed rolling in. Its actually hard to throw lures at times even from the pier. The pier is loaded with very small spanish, hard to get a keeper. Tons of bait and the water is a little dingy given the flat surf.

[cduke88]

When does all the weed usually disappear?

[rabbit]

[Seabass]

I apologize for all the weed. Maybe its me. I started dedicated fishing trips to PINS in 2001. Spent some time around PINS campfires with oldtimers that haven't seen sargassum this bad in decades. Seems its getting more abundant throught the summers, and lasting longer into fall. A few mats here or there can be good, but that old weed on bottom joined with new weed on top tangling up long lines is awful.

Looks like we are gonna have to deal with this ongoing problem of seaweed for years to come. We're gonna have to come up with some new ways of fishing in these times. Angles and weights have their place. What we need is something to make weed fishing even easier for surf fishermen. Perhaps its already here and I haven't discovered it yet.

Wheels turning,

Seabass

[Rudy]

Its not you Seabass, its all Big Johns fault. Next time I see you on the beach I'll show you a couple of techniques that help fight the weed.

[Hardhead]

It will all be gone in 2 more weeks then 2 more weeks for all the decayed to get ashore. When October gets here I will head down and the fish god's have spoken to me and said wait until Oct. 15th and the stars will be aligned in perfect order. A 30 mph northeast wind,( motor home gets 10 mpg) finger mullet will be in full migration and the reds will be soooooooo hungry and tired of eating weed that they will eat the shoelaces of your old tinny's. Oh yea and they also told me that the Kings will be in the wade gut and all will be over 40" and the bait of choice will be fresh beer tabs. There will be a sun rise every day as the pic above.
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Hardhead
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering "What the hell happened?"

[Rudy]

HARDHEAD,

Can you tell us the Racoon Story just one more time while we sit on a chilly beach over a big bonfire sipping whisky and eating grilled reds?

[Hardhead]

That ole coon tale has some milage on it for sure. And the hellofit is it is the truth. No really it did happen. Now with Dunkin doughnuts going to non fat cookin' I am not sure they will be as aggressive as that time. I still think that ole coon was takin steroids . gonna see if he is still around in November. Bringin' a fresh supply of his favorite treat with me.
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Hardhead
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering "What the hell happened?"

[Ray]

[Hardhead]

Well I kinda figger that we will get one good tropical depression that will take care of all the old stuff and push it up to the dunes just in time for a red run
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Hardhead
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering "What the hell happened?"

[Birdog]

The weed is never goin to go away for good. It always comes back and stays longer ever year.
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#1 on the list have a good time.

[cduke88]

I guess it is just like everything else now, and should be blamed by global warming...

[Ray]

Well for one thing, and this is probably the biggest factor, sargassum grows locally in the Gulf of Mexico, so each year there is an influx from two sources, the Sargasso Sea and the resident population in our Gulf. In that situation, it is actually here, and there is no way its going away. Fishermen of Texas have to learn to live with it and make the best of things or find something else to do other than fish.

The Gulf of Mexico is second only to the Sargasso Sea in the amount of sargassum present in its waters; it lives and grows here just as it lives and grows there.

Sport Fishing NCMC Fisheries Watch
August 2007

RESEARCH SHOWS CRITICAL VALUE OF GULF OF MEXICO SARGASSUM
By Ken Hinman

Anyone who has fished offshore in the northern Gulf of Mexico has likely encountered gardens of sargassum blanketing the surface. But you may be surprised to know that, with the exception of the Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic, the Gulf boasts more sargassum than any other body of water on the planet. Prevailing currents carry broken fragments of the brown macroalgae into the warm Gulf waters, where the plants quickly establish and multiply to form floating rafts and - where water masses converge – the “weed lines” that anglers so value.

Fishermen associate these rafts and weed lines with an abundance of game fish and good fishing. Until recently, however, the extent of sargassum habitat in the Gulf had not been thoroughly studied. Scientists from the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory at the University of Southern Mississippi are completing their final year of the first longterm (seven-year) study investigating the variety of larval and juvenile fish living in the Gulf’s floating sargassum beds.

What the lab’s scientists have discovered is remarkable. So far, they’ve found 139 species of fish associated with sargassum. Jacks topped the list of popular sport fish, followed closely by dolphin (mahi mahi), tripletail, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, and billfish. Many fish, as well as sea turtles, use it as nursery habitat, where they receive protection from predators, shade from the sun and a ready source of food. The investigators were particularly intrigued by the occurrence of larval blue marlin: Future research by the lab will complement other studies underway to gauge the importance of the Gulf as spawning and nursery habitat for this overfished species.

In 2005, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas passed a resolution recognizing the importance of sargassum as critical nursery and feeding grounds for marlin, swordfish and tuna. It asked countries to assess activities that may adversely impact this open-ocean habitat. A year earlier, the U.S. South Atlantic Fishery Management Council had declared sargassum essential fish habitat (EFH) and enacted a ban on commercial harvest from the Florida Keys northward. The Gulf Council, which also made sargassum EFH for dolphin, cobia and other coastal pelagics, has yet to enact similar protections. The research completed by the Gulf Coast lab gives new insight into the complexities of the pelagic ecosystem in the Gulf and provides a strong case for additional measures to preserve sargassum.
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Ray

[Rudy]