06/06/04 High Island report and seaweed question

[BACKLASHED]

Well the seaweed pretty much shut down the fishing. The weather was nice and the current was strong, but the fish were there. We just couldn't keep lines out long enough to give them a chance to hit. I had one hook up with a decent red that we got in close enough to see, but lost him due to an apparent nick in the line at about 30yds out. We had the yak available and the water/wind allowed us to get out close to the green, but the seaweed said NO!

The mullet were plenty available in the shallow surf and plenty of chasing going on, but it didn't help our seaweed situation any.

What conditions dictate when the seaweed will be gone so I don't waste another trip. I need some seaweed info if anyone is willing to offer it. TIA.

[scrambler]

The two ways seaweed affects fishing with surf rods is quantity of weed and the strength of the current. I've seen it where the surf line out 30 feet is solid weed, the beach is covered in weed and there are large patches out in the water. Right now at High Island there isn't a lot of weed but if the current is strong it pushes it down the beach until it catches your line. As long as there is a light to moderate southeast wind it should be fishable. If the quanity of weed increases substancially then it's a problem no matter what the wind direction is.

[SkipJack]

I read an article that stated some interesting points about this weed. I can't remember where but anyways I will sumarize what I read.

The sargassum weed drifts across the top of the water traveling all the way from a place called the sargassum sea which is east of Florida. In the spring the currents carry the sargassum into the gulf and it usually begins showing up on the Texas Coast around Mid April. The seaweed conditions vary with the way the current moves in the Gulf of Mexico. Usually, the Strong southeast winds will blow the weed away from South Texas and push it up to Gorda and Galveston.

The weed never stops growing in the sargassum sea except over the winter the growth slows down. The determining factor is the currents across the South tip of florida and through the Carribean Islands And through the Gulf. The surface current is based upon two factors. The wind and the temperature differences between body's of water. Temperature differences in body's of water can cause small flows of current. Current across the Gulf of Mexico is very hard to predict because it is based upon chaotic events such as wind and temperature. For these sole facts its impossible to predict when the weed will subside. But, its a good bet that by Mid July it should be all gone. Otherwise you will just have to lurk around here peridically to see if anybody has reported the weed conditions.

[Krash]

Is this what you're talking about Skipjack ??

http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/500_Leagues_of_Sea/Sargasso_Sea/sargasso_sea.html

[scrambler]

Good article. I hate the stuff because of what it does to my fishing but my kids love all the strange crabs, shrimp and other critters that you can shake out of it.