# Seaweed



## essayons75 (May 15, 2006)

Went to Galveston State Park today and this seaweed was so bad we couldn't surf fish. I've seen sargassum thick but it does not attach to baits and lines as bad as this stuff. It has the texture of seaweed salad, like at sushi bars. Sort of gelatinous. What is it?

Went to bay side and not one bite over several hours.


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## Solodaddio (Mar 22, 2014)

I feel your pain. 4 o clock today in Surfside I casted out two lines in the surf. Instantly had the lines suffocated with that same mess. People driving by were waving and cheering thinking I was reeling in a fish, didnâ€™t want my line to snap with all the weight.


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## SurfsideShane (Sep 19, 2015)

Not positive but I believe it is bleached _Gracilaria_ species, a type of red algae that agar comes from. I seem to notice it more in the winter months and it can be a real pain.


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## SurfsideShane (Sep 19, 2015)

Follow-up:

I went out to Surfside this morning just to have a look at the beach to see if the cold snap caused anything unusual. Everything appeared normal except the exceptionally low tide. I took a closer look at the "seaweed" and cleaned it up a bit. On close inspection I could tell it wasn't algae so emailed Jonathan Davis who is a marine biologist with the TPWD. He promptly replied:

*This is a very common bryozoan we have along the Gulf Coast. Itâ€™s known as Sauerkraut bryozoan (Zoobotryon verticillatum) *

Not a weed even though it certainly resembles one! Learn something new every day.

-Shane


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## SurfsideShane (Sep 19, 2015)

Sauerkraut Bryozoan

http://txmarspecies.tamug.edu/invertdetails.cfm?scinameID=Zoobotryon%20verticillatum


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## sharkchum (Feb 10, 2012)

It seams to come in almost every winter, but some years are worse than others. It was so bad in Sargent last weekend we couldn't even fish.


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## mtbfreak (Oct 7, 2017)

reminds me of angel hair pasta.


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

Looks like a birdsnest of 150lb mono to me!


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## dchimitt (May 28, 2017)

Has anyone been down lately? Is the seaweed still a problem. What about PINS? I plan to head down tomorrow but I don't want to drive 3.5 hours to catch seaweed.


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## dchimitt (May 28, 2017)

Ended up a corpus near packery. No luck in surf. Some luck on the jetty.


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## mccain (Oct 20, 2006)

that stuff was in the galvez summer surf for about 2 weeks maybe 5 or 6 years ago


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## tennisplayer2 (Feb 6, 2008)

Does anyone know if the seaweed is gone in Surfside or Sargent? Thanks.


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## wingbone (Jan 11, 2013)

Wife and I went to Sargent yesterday, very little seaweed. Fishing was very slow, caught a few whiting, still great to be out.


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