# Matagorda surf



## Brady Mears (Oct 10, 2013)

Anybody fish the surf today thinking about hitting it tomorrow with croaker ?


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## Coyote B (Jul 31, 2012)

Brady Mears said:


> Anybody fish the surf today thinking about hitting it tomorrow with croaker ?


My buddy went this morning. He said it was off color and the weeds were something to behold. He sent me a pic and there is a 3-4 foot wall of red weed. The water isnt even crashing on the beach, it is just hitting the huge wall of seaweed. He ended up going to the bay.


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## Hogslayer5l (Feb 15, 2013)

^ heres the pics... Terrible. Did pick up a few trout in 3 mile. Saw about 30 trout get caught back there.


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## cobra_steven (Jun 2, 2010)

Looked calm enough to set the kayak out on the beach!


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## Coyote B (Jul 31, 2012)

cobra_steven said:


> Looked calm enough to set the kayak out on the beach!


That's what Im going to do tomorrow, but probably in Surfside since its a little closer.


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## spiwonka (Jan 29, 2009)

Crazy weeds, looked nice and calm, but that silly sw wind keeps it sandy..been watching the beach cam and it has been variable with a bunch of west in it!


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## BMowatt (Jun 3, 2014)

That grass is unreal. We had a problem with grass in Fl but not like that.


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## BMowatt (Jun 3, 2014)

how long is the grass around?


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## mertz09 (Nov 15, 2009)

BMowatt said:


> how long is the grass around?


Too long :smile:


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## brant7574 (Dec 19, 2006)

Dude!!! You said croaker!!! huhuhu


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

BMowatt said:


> how long is the grass around?


It used to be around from March to early June at latest years ago. Now it last on and off until September some years. If it continues to get worse and worse over time, I fear surf fishing in Texas will be limited to a few days a year soon. There are ways to help deal with it, but I gave up fighting it and I just go bay or freshy fishing now instead of fighting it. The last 5 years or so it has been gone enough to fish pretty manageably by mid August on most days.There are days in Sept. it is still bad down South. Their are windows of opportunity where it is fishable for a few hours or days sometimes even when it is bad but like I said I gave up fighting it these days.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

BMowatt said:


> how long is the grass around?


 Some years are worse than others, but I think this, by far, is the worse I have ever seen it.

It usually starts to thin out during the summer and finally becomes more consistent to fish when the northers start blowing through again.

It has become worse over the years. 20 or 30 years ago, it would show up in May, sometimes a little - sometimes more, and it would be gone by July.

I used to love fishing the surf for bullreds and I remember when you could cast your lines out and leave them sitting there for hours. Now, you have to work it to keep the weeds off....Too much work for me.


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## Yellow.mouth (May 10, 2013)

We should be about at the peak of the weed season right now. I wonder why it seems to be increasing? I thought some years are just worse than others, but the trend seems to be moving in the wrong direction. Id be interested to know why, and where most of it originates.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

I heard it used to harvested in the Sea of Sargasso and they banned it.


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

Human activity. Increasing sewage discharges, poorly treated or untreated, by third world countries into our oceans is increasing the nutrients in the Sea of Sargasso and the other shallow seas where the weed originates, also climbing ocean temps and global temps of only a few degrees seems to have made a huge difference according to most marine biologist. Of course this is a political hot potato and many will deny human activity can have any impact whatsoever on global and ocean temperatures. AS for me, I don't know what to believe anymore, but I know for a fact it is getting worse and the trend seems to be accelerating. Some scientist also blame global atmospheric green house emissions and the related increase in UV light intensity. Increasing nutrients-temps-more light equals more weed. I predict unfishable conditions March to August 80% of the time by the year 2050 based on my observations over the last 40 years. I really do not know what is making it worse, but the fact it is getting worse is absolutely undeniable. I did not know they quit harvesting it also, makes sense Surfrunner.


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

SurfRunner said:


> I heard it used to harvested in the Sea of Sargasso and they banned it.


Good info- Do you know why they banned it???


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## mertz09 (Nov 15, 2009)

*500 years*

This comes from Wikipedia: It seems that this Sargassum seaweed has been around a very long time.

*History[edit]*

The naming of the Sargasso Sea after the Sargassum seaweed traces back to the early 15th century Portuguese explorations of the Azores Islands and the large "volta do mar" (the North Atlantic gyre), around and west of archipelago, where the seaweed was often present.[2] The Sargasso Sea was first fully crossed by the expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492, who was amazed by the masses of seaweed he encountered.[3][4] However, the sea may have been known to earlier mariners, as a poem by the late 4th century CE author, Rufus Festus Avienus, describes a portion of the Atlantic as being covered with seaweed, citing a now-lost account by the 5th-century BCE Carthaginian explorer Himilco the Navigator

Quote: "Christopher Columbus in 1492, who was amazed by the masses of seaweed he encountered."


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## Sea-Slug (May 28, 2004)

NO one doubts it has been around, it is just getting worse piling up on Texas beaches.


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## SurfRunner (May 22, 2004)

Sea-Slug said:


> Good info- Do you know why they banned it???


 I don't remember where I heard it. Most likely on a forum. But, it's definitely gotten worse over the years. This year being the worse I have ever seen it. I think it might be because the late strong fronts we had kept it offshore collecting and now it has just dumped on us all at once.

I have recently bought a kayak and started fishing in the bays and hope to do some btb fishing. I have also just been going to the piers if I want to catch bull reds. All because the weed has become so bad. There are still fishable days though. Mostly in the Fall, Winter, and early Spring.


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## rjc1982 (Sep 27, 2005)

I read somewhere that it's bad this year because of the late season cold fronts that hit. Said that instead of gradually coming onshore in the early spring, the fronts pushed the weed out and it ganged up in huge mats until the wind and currents finally shifted to the normal onshore flow. Then it all hit at once. Still seems to me like a whole lot more than normal though.


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## mertz09 (Nov 15, 2009)

rjc1982 said:


> I read somewhere that it's bad this year because of the late season cold fronts that hit. Said that instead of gradually coming onshore in the early spring, the fronts pushed the weed out and it ganged up in huge mats until the wind and currents finally shifted to the normal onshore flow. Then it all hit at once. Still seems to me like a whole lot more than normal though.


That seems like a logical explanation.


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## agdodge4x4 (May 30, 2012)

Is there any seaweed up on the beach part at the mouth of the Colorado? Interested in the actual mouth part.


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## FlounderSeeker (Feb 11, 2009)

Man... I've stayed clear of the beach bc of all the reports. I've been watching the beach cams but that's terrible! Hopefully it'll clear out by early next month


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