# Fish Kill?



## LarryG (Aug 12, 2005)

With forecasted temperatures dipping into the teens next week, what is the likelihood of a big fish kill?


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

With water temps in the mid 60s now I'm hoping the change won't be so severe as to catch lethargic fish off guard.

In the 80s fish kill the water temp was in the high 40s when it hit. So those fish were already sluggish and then temps dropped.

I don't think that will be nearly the case here. And its looking like it will be in the 20s Tuesday morning....and 60s the next day Wednesday.

Outdoorsman....forever optimists....


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

There are several things that help the situation, IMO. The water is pretty warm and the water level is pretty high for wintertime. We have like a 3-4 day gradual cool down that is taking place now. The north wind will suck water out of the bays for the next few days as water temp gradually drops. I think a whole lot of fish will make their way to deep water with the falling water, falling temps and rising barometer. At least I am telling myself that. And then we only are supposed to be freezing for 24 or so hours straight.

We might see some kills but I sure hope we don't. And if we do I hope they are limited in numbers and area.


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## Jerry713 (Nov 6, 2019)

I'm sure hoping we don't see a fish kill. If the temps do get into the teens I bet we see some harbors being closed to fishing. I'm as concerned with a big baitfish kill as I am larger fish.


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## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

In 83 and 89 i believe it was the other way around water temps were in the 70s that had alot of fish shallow then we had the extreme drop that trapped fish in the backwater. Westbay was 57 monday and we have already had water temps in the upper 40s and fish have adjusted depth wise. This will be a gradual cool down in water temps that give them time to seek deep water. 89 had air temps below freezing for 5 days and lows in the teens with snow/ice.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

Not all of those fish were shallow, water temp in T- bay, was right at 60 Tuesday, a 25 degree drop is likely with the current forecast, thats enough for some damage.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*negative*

the temp will need to drop below freezing and stay there for five or more days for a fish kill. now will there be fish that get trapped shallow and circume, maybe but not on a large scale. this will fire off a major winter fishing frenzy though, putting them in a good winter pattern. can be easy pickins on solid fish for those in on the know. :texasflag


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

c hook said:


> the temp will need to drop below freezing and stay there for five or more days for a fish kill. now will there be fish that get trapped shallow and circume, maybe but not on a large scale. this will fire off a major winter fishing frenzy though, putting them in a good winter pattern. can be easy pickins on solid fish for those in on the know. :texasflag


That's incorrect, if the water temp drops dramatically to around 35 degrees it stuns the trout that don't get to deep undisturbed water they invert, float, and die. I didn't say this would be an '89 type event, or even an '83 type, when it did not stay below freezing for 5 days, and got warm afterwards. there have been fish kills much more recently, due to cold, as far south as Baffin. There were a lot more fish in '89. I don't expect this event to be catastrophic like those events but after all the flooding and sediment problems from the ship channel dredging every little bit hurts.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*??*

typically this is what it takes for a major fish kill, as i mentioned a few from a drastic drop, but no major. :texasflag


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## Bullitt4439 (Sep 18, 2014)

Hoping with the north wind most of the water blows out and many fish make it deeper. But yes the trout stuck in xmas in 2 feet of water on the sand flat might be in trouble. Hoping for the best.


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## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

C Hook i'm in the know too!lol Hardest part will be not slipping and busting my a** on ice in the boat!


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

Just saw some old pictures today of Oso Bay with big frozen chunks of ice floating around near the shorelines from the 80â€™s. Doubt weâ€™ll see that happen. It must have stayed cold for more than a day or two. Snapper will move back deeper and out of state waters, trout will move deep and should be mostly fine. I hope they shut down the barges for a few days though. Canâ€™t have the majority of the trout population hiding deep in the intracoastal then getting thrusted to the surface from barge propulsion. Havenâ€™t seen it first hand but have heard the aftermath is sickening.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

They will most likely park the barges, and shut down Moses and the usual spots, to fishing, and then the people in the know will put the hurt on the fish, just like during the floods. And with the facepages, there is a lot of those folks.


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## Gilbert (May 25, 2004)

Bullitt4439 said:


> Hoping with the north wind most of the water blows out and many fish make it deeper. But yes the trout stuck in xmas in 2 feet of water on the sand flat might be in trouble. Hoping for the best.


since there isn't any trout in Christmas so it shouldn't be a problem there :ac550:


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## bellaireroad (Aug 20, 2020)

SKIPJACKSLAYER said:


> Just saw some old pictures today of Oso Bay with big frozen chunks of ice floating around near the shorelines from the 80â€™s. Doubt weâ€™ll see that happen. It must have stayed cold for more than a day or two. Snapper will move back deeper and out of state waters, trout will move deep and should be mostly fine. I hope they shut down the barges for a few days though. Canâ€™t have the majority of the trout population hiding deep in the intracoastal then getting thrusted to the surface from barge propulsion. Havenâ€™t seen it first hand but have heard the aftermath is sickening.


83 as I recall. Coming down the Carancahua saw a goose standing in the middle of the river. Dead fish piled up on both sides all the way down.

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## SSST (Jun 9, 2011)

My guess is a few will die, but hoping for the best!


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## Davidsel47 (Apr 10, 2019)

Im gonna go to Pringle and look for big trout floating. It may be the only way I ever get a new PB :dance:


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## cobrayakker (Mar 23, 2006)

From tomorrow to next Thursday highs in low to mid 40â€™s and lows below and around freezing with a lot of wind. Yes there will be a fish kill and probably a pretty substantial one. The killer is it is going to be cloudy most of the days too so not much of a water warm up. I hope Iâ€™m wrong or the forecast is wrong, but gut tells me otherwise. 


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

Every time they put out a new forecast it looks more dire, like watching the cone of insanity, on a hurricane narrow down to your neighborhood.


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## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

This has been a gradual cooling down and gives the fish plenty time to adjust and seek deep water. 83 and 89 had extreme cold and 3 plus days sub freezing with snow that super cooled the water days after the water was near 70 a huge shock that stunned many.Water still hanging around 50* and a normal level will give remaining fish time to seek safety before monday. 3or 4 years ago I remember leaving the ramp with salt slush on the deck thinking we were gonna try a wade and the water was 35* threw down the throttle and headed to deep water and won the FWE (fish were released). Probably will be a substantial kill down south because of shallowness but even there temps have been gradual and mullet pinfish are first to suffer keep the fingers crossed make it thru monday and start the slow warm up!


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Gulf coast waters fishing closures...would have thought there would be more than I see.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/re...oM_AimEvrUJ_Q-83IWbjBaanX2rM-tN14vJp0SvaBI7Bw


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## 45er (Jun 24, 2009)

*I agree*



Salty Dog said:


> There are several things that help the situation, IMO. The water is pretty warm and the water level is pretty high for wintertime. We have like a 3-4 day gradual cool down that is taking place now. The north wind will suck water out of the bays for the next few days as water temp gradually drops. I think a whole lot of fish will make their way to deep water with the falling water, falling temps and rising barometer. At least I am telling myself that. And then we only are supposed to be freezing for 24 or so hours straight.
> 
> We might see some kills but I sure hope we don't. And if we do I hope they are limited in numbers and area.


I think that this is a valid speculation. Had this super cold spell hit within 24-48 hours of 3-4 days in the 70's, it would have been a disaster. The mitigating conditions explained here will hopefully avert that!


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## 2thDr (Jan 25, 2014)

*fish kill?*

Trout are in trouble at 40 degrees, rarely survive 38. Interesting characteristic of water is that it gets denser as it cools, but at 39 it becomes less dense and rises to surface where it can freeze. So deep water keeps them barely alive unless it is stirred up by wind or props, or the temperature gets much colder and stays there long enough. Ones that get trapped in shallow bays are doomed. Reds are tougher. Mullet and menhaden not so much.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

ok sub freezing temps for 5 days what do ya' ll not understand?


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

Not in Galveston. Will likely only be subfreezing for 30 hours or less.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

In my opinion, this fishery was already in trouble for a lot of reasons, this event is going to exsacerbate what was already happening, I am no crazed conservationist, far from it, I like fried fish as much or more as anyone. This event is serious, please be aware, of the consequences, catch and release on a fish that is already in distress, is deadly, if you are in a spot where people in the know congregate, and trout are being scooped up in a landing net, don't participate, if you think this is a crazy, scenario, I was here in, '83, and '89.


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

We are going to see a major fish kill.


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

45er said:


> I think that this is a valid speculation. Had this super cold spell hit within 24-48 hours of 3-4 days in the 70's, it would have been a disaster. The mitigating conditions explained here will hopefully avert that!


It was 80 until noon yesterday in Corpus.


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

Fished some canals today, water was still 59 degrees in there. Gives me hope. Helicopter did a flyover, probably TPWD scouting for dead fish or counting boats/anglers. Shortly after, they announce canal closures. I love fishing as much as the next guy but Iâ€™m glad they are closing them down. I shutter to think what the temps in the bay are right now, couldnâ€™t imagine many places suitable for survival out there.


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

When we talk about water temperature, I think most measurements are taken close to the surface. I wonder what the temperature is at 12-14 feet, and if it makes a big difference?


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## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

I've done this test before in the winter in some channels with depths to 7-8 feet of water and found it close to 1 degree per foot. In the 2018 freeze the water surface temp was 47* and 54* at the bottom of 8ft mud. These fish have had plenty time to seek refugee my biggest concern would be oxygen depletion when that many fish get stacked together.


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## 45er (Jun 24, 2009)

*Wow!*



bigfishtx said:


> It was 80 until noon yesterday in Corpus.


I live 70 miles west of Houston and we weren't anywhere in the 70's here. 80's in Corpus on Feb 12 is not good news


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## SSST (Jun 9, 2011)

bigfishtx said:


> We are going to see a major fish kill.


I agree, hope like hell i'm wrong, but i just don't see how we won't.


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

txflats said:


> I've done this test before in the winter in some channels with depths to 7-8 feet of water and found it close to 1 degree per foot. In the 2018 freeze the water surface temp was 47* and 54* at the bottom of 8ft mud. These fish have had plenty time to seek refugee my biggest concern would be oxygen depletion when that many fish get stacked together.


Already 42 at packery and its not even hear yet, not looking good.


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## Davidsel47 (Apr 10, 2019)

Guess I need to learn how to Bass fish sad_smiles


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Here's an animated prediction, hit the play button at the lower left. It shows two surges of violet color, that's like you see in Greenland all the time. It makes two surges Monday and Tuesday night almost to the Texas coast, then recedes back up north by Wednesday. It shows a low of 15 degrees in Port O'Connor and 0 degrees in North Houston. Sunrise on Tuesday looks the worst.

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=30.50;-98.12;6&l=temperature-2m


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## burl123 (Aug 2, 2020)

I was in Lavaca Bay a little while ago and the water temp was 39.8. Up the river was 44-43 degrees.


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## Rockfish2 (Sep 1, 2017)

I know some places where they will almost certainly stack up, but I personally donâ€™t find that type of fishing very sporting or enjoyable, but itâ€™s perfectly legal.


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## therocket37 (Jun 12, 2013)

NOAA is showing 46.9 right now at Galveston south Jetty, the next 36 hours look brutal. hoping for the best along the coast, you have to imagine water temps hit 38. I guess the question is how long do they stay there, The next front coming behind it on Thursday won't help.


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## 45er (Jun 24, 2009)

*Not this week*



Rockfish2 said:


> I know some places where they will almost certainly stack up, but I personally donâ€™t find that type of fishing very sporting or enjoyable, but itâ€™s perfectly legal.


TPWD has shut down many areas along the coast for just that reason. Too easy to access fish concentrated in deeper areas. Trying to give them some protection.


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## 45er (Jun 24, 2009)

*You can blame it on me*



bigfishtx said:


> We are going to see a major fish kill.


After a 20 year hiatus from kayak fishing due to back problems, I bought a new peddle kayak with a good seat and was planning on doing a lot of fishing on he coast this season to make up for lost time. Figures this would happen!

LOL


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## Huntandfishaggie (Nov 8, 2016)

Port oconnor water temp is reporting 32.5 degrees. Any ice out there on the bay?


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

Already see trout floating in padre canals.


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## cobrayakker (Mar 23, 2006)

Lone-Star said:


> Already see trout floating in padre canals.


Thatâ€™s about the right time frame unfortunately. In 83 we were on the river intending to fish a little less than 36 hrs from the time the cold hit and everything was already belly up.

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## cobrayakker (Mar 23, 2006)

This wind ainâ€™t helping nothing either. 


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## Shalor96 (Jul 26, 2016)

Trout floating in the padre canals already? That is not good. I thought the canals would be relatively safe. Some of them are really deep.


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## SSST (Jun 9, 2011)

Just saw a video of the POC little jetties, ice probably about 100 yds out now...


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## cobrayakker (Mar 23, 2006)

This is the boat ramp at Cape Carancahua. Close to hwy 35 bridge where it crosses the mouth of the river. 
That donâ€™t look good at all.

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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

a friend posted this on FB

Looks like weâ€™re gonna have a significant fish kill due to the freezing weather. This is in Copano bay. So far Looks like mostly young yellow tail croaker and a few trout mixed in. Right now they are mostly stunned and trying to swim upside down.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Lots of free snapper bait, if you're allowed to dip them out. 
I have doubts the trout population will recover from this epic freeze, for
a few years. I wonder what TP&W will do about this.


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## Jerry713 (Nov 6, 2019)

Trouthappy said:


> I wonder what TP&W will do about this.


Me too. I'm guessing there won't be immediate actions but their pocket book is or could be directly affected too. They should be preparing to initiate a population count as soon as the weather allows. I expect a change in regulations if the fish kill is bad.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

Big trout may not float up in the bays, until the water warms up and they begin to decompose. TPW has a massive job ahead of them, counting up the damage. If it's bad enough, maybe big trout tournaments should be canceled this year.


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## 45er (Jun 24, 2009)

Lots of focus on trout here. I guess redfish are somewhat hardier and more tolerant of these low temperatures. Can't remember whether or not they were affected severely in the 1980's fish kills.


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## cobrayakker (Mar 23, 2006)

45er said:


> Lots of focus on trout here. I guess redfish are somewhat hardier and more tolerant of these low temperatures. Can't remember whether or not they were affected severely in the 1980's fish kills.


I donâ€™t remember seeing any reds in 83 in the Tres Palacios. Trout, panfish and bait fish. Donâ€™t remember any flounder either.

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## acoastalbender (Jul 16, 2011)

txflats said:


> I've done this test before in the winter in some channels with depths to 7-8 feet of water and found it close to 1 degree per foot. In the 2018 freeze the water surface temp was 47* and 54* at the bottom of 8ft mud. These fish have had plenty time to seek refugee my biggest concern would be oxygen depletion when that many fish get stacked together.





Lone-Star said:


> Already 42 at packery and its not even hear yet, not looking good.





burl123$$ said:


> I was in Lavaca Bay a little while ago and the water temp was 39.8. Up the river was 44-43 degrees.





Lone-Star said:


> Already see trout floating in padre canals.





Shalor96 said:


> Trout floating in the padre canals already? That is not good. I thought the canals would be relatively safe. Some of them are really deep.





Trouthappy said:


> Big trout may not float up in the bays, until the water warms up and they begin to decompose. TPW has a massive job ahead of them, counting up the damage. If it's bad enough, maybe big trout tournaments should be canceled this year.


Was just outside (NPI canal) and only checked water at about 6 inches below surface but it was at 37 degrees ... 
.


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## Shalor96 (Jul 26, 2016)

Wonder what the water temp is at the bottom of those NPI canals? I know some of them are deep.


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## BFI-TX (Nov 26, 2016)

The canal behind my house here on demi john has a few scattered fish laying on bottom. Doesnt look good at all. It'sxbeyond our control, I know, but heartbreaking none the less.


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## SSST (Jun 9, 2011)

Just saw a video of Pringle Lake, it is bad.


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## POC-Plugger (Jul 20, 2016)

we need to see this video please...that sucks to hear


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## gigem87 (May 19, 2006)

POC-Plugger said:


> we need to see this video please...that sucks to hear







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## Kenner 23 (Sep 14, 2009)

Texted with a well know guide on Calcasieu today and he has seen no fish floating.


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

Iâ€™ve seen quite a few barely alive trout floating by my deck on padre, but you donâ€™t see them stacked up anywhere so they must be sinking to the bottom and we wonâ€™t know just how bad it is until they start floating up.


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

This is terrible. Most likely, any trout that didnâ€™t leave the bays and go offshore are going to be dead. Even the canals are gonna be a total loss. 12ft of water just isnâ€™t enough of a blanket for these fish. Hopefully some reds and drum survive but I wouldnâ€™t count on it. Mother Nature gives, and then she takes


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## [email protected] (Aug 21, 2018)

Do yâ€™all have any facts of fish kills from the past years? I remember it snowed in Galveston 2018.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

Any reports, from Galveston or Trinity, how bout chook, your "in the know"?


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*??*

haven't heard anything local, i think we will be ok, with minimal fish kill. But only time will tell. :texasflag


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

A very knowledgeable buddy messaged that he was on Galv Bay somewhere and only saw two dead fish. Sand trout and one other. So maybe the Galv complex wasnâ€™t hit so hard.


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## DUKFVR2 (Sep 12, 2018)

Galveston being deeper will no doubt come out a little better, but the fish may be dead on the bottom & you can't see them. Gonna take awhile for them to float if there.


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## txtan (Aug 12, 2013)

RB II, thanks for the update. Praying for a decent outcome when this is all over and done with.


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## LouisianaHall59 (Dec 18, 2019)

Man, I can not help but feel for you guys. The Texas bay systems are such incredible fisheries that I have enjoyed spending time in over the past couple of years. Praying for limited damage and a quick recovery.


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## BFI-TX (Nov 26, 2016)

That Pringle video makes me sick to my stomach. But true...the Good Lord gives yet taketh away!


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

G bay and trinity was already in dire straits, just can't afford more environmental damage.


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

Really bad.


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## Tetonguy (Jun 23, 2013)

45er said:


> Lots of focus on trout here. I guess redfish are somewhat hardier and more tolerant of these low temperatures. Can't remember whether or not they were affected severely in the 1980's fish kills.


Per TA&M Corpus, Trout begin to stress and become susceptible to dying when water temps dip below 45 degrees for more than 24 hours. Reds about 5 degrees more cold tolerant, as process doesnâ€™t start until temps dip below 40 for more than 24 hours. It is helpful if the decline has been gradual, but beyond a certain point, even that doesnâ€™t matter much, as the metabolic processes just slow too much to sustain life.

To put above in perspective, you can go to the NOAA site, and click the Home button. Brings up map of US. Click on Texas and it will show all station sites along Texas coast. On right hand side, select Water Temp button to see current SURFACE water temp for those so equipped. Yesterday morning, most stations on middle coast, from E Matty to far down into LM were showing temps well down into the 30s (low 30s in several spots). Appeared to have come up a few degrees by this morning, though still well below stress points.

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/


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## cobrayakker (Mar 23, 2006)

Also redfish breeders are in the gulf. 


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## JAG_361 (Oct 25, 2013)

I was in powderhorn lake earlier this evening. There are alot of redfish, drum, and trout lying on the bottom and some starting to float. There were none on the beach front but I can only imagine there soon will be. Most dead fish are still on the bottom. As they fill with gases and the temperature warms there will be more and more coming ashore. Such a sad thing I can only hope for a quick recovery. 

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## GooseCommanderozz (Feb 17, 2012)

I would think Galveston Bay would be ok because of the deep ship channel. Down south to my knowledge fish donâ€™t have many places to go deeper than 10-12ft.


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## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

2018 freeze was bad also I remember water temp between N and S Deer Island being 35* and water back in the harbors and ICW 44* and no big fish kill. I've been through 5 big freezes and this is the first where the previous week got gradually colder and allowed adjustments. Still holding out hope! Down south this will be devastating.


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## Marker 54 Lures (Dec 28, 2015)

Capt Caleb did a report from East matty area and said water temp mid bay was 32 and water temp harbor was 34 .. trout die at 45 and below reds die below 40 .. 

Wonâ€™t see the floaters until the water warms up but itâ€™s probably itâ€™s going to be a pretty big fish kill 

Also heard the barges were still running the inter costal waterway .. anYone know if thatâ€™s true ? Any fish that moved to the ditch to stay warm canâ€™t survive a prop wash from those tugs


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## Bullitt4439 (Sep 18, 2014)

Lady I know in corpus that lives on a canal posted a video around midnight of her canal packed with trout, ribbonfish, and reds swimming through her green light. Hope some make it.


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

You would hope that eventually these fish could evolve to survive some colder weather but it would need to be consistently cold every year for that to happen. Only thing I could think of that could help save these fish is digging giant holes somewhere accessible in the bays. But at the end of the day Mother Nature is always gonna win.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

There's an old saying that Nature Bats Last.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

Marker 54 Lures said:


> Capt Caleb did a report from East matty area and said water temp mid bay was 32 and water temp harbor was 34 .. trout die at 45 and below reds die below 40 ..
> 
> Wonâ€™t see the floaters until the water warms up but itâ€™s probably itâ€™s going to be a pretty big fish kill
> 
> Also heard the barges were still running the inter costal waterway .. anYone know if thatâ€™s true ? Any fish that moved to the ditch to stay warm canâ€™t survive a prop wash from those tugs


Yes, they were running like usual yesterday and the day before.


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

Here is the long version of that Pringle video. Sounds like it was the worse case, and the other back lakes fared better...




__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2740830686227712


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

Fish have been here longer, than humans, there are species of fish, walleye, pike, bass, almost all the fresh water, trout, and salmon, that due quite well, they don't live in the bays, but have evolved, spotted sea trout, or weak fish have not, and will not in any of our, or any of your offsprings lifetimes will.


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## Tetonguy (Jun 23, 2013)

*At Least a Few Left*

Live by GISP N of Rockport. Took a walk around our canals and did see 3 trout and 1 red slowly swimming. Supposed to get down to 27 here tonight, then warm-up starts. Hope all that have survived so far make it through the night.

Didnâ€™t see any floaters, but thatâ€™s not a surprise. There were about 30 pelicans gathered. From the calling cards theyâ€™re leaving all over the place, itâ€™s obvious theyâ€™re eating well ....... anything that floats up is getting chowed down immediately.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

bad sentence structure, but you get the picture.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

That side up is good don't **** with em'


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

Salty Dog said:


> Yes, they were running like usual yesterday and the day before.


What a joke. Cutting off fishing to the canals wonâ€™t help protect these fish as much as shutting down barges in the intracoastal would


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## cobrayakker (Mar 23, 2006)

SKIPJACKSLAYER said:


> What a joke. Cutting off fishing to the canals wonâ€™t help protect these fish as much as shutting down barges in the intracoastal would


Pretty sure the ICW is federal jurisdiction. Donâ€™t think the state can shut it down. They can make requests. Commerce trumps fishing in the eyes of most people unfortunately.

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## Stevie_A (Feb 1, 2005)

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3608667545837166&set=pcb.3608671229170131


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

Saw 3 dead juvenile red snapper next to Billings in Corpus. Pretty wild. Saw a few sheepshead a mangrove snapper too from N padre island to fish pass at mustang island and to the beach. Lots of dead turtles too. Dead hard heads up and down the beach. No dead trout yet though. Iâ€™m sure weâ€™re about to find out soon enough with the cold snap finally ending.


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## Tightlines1984 (Mar 28, 2014)

Any updates?


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## bellaireroad (Aug 20, 2020)

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## Gilbert (May 25, 2004)

Its not all doom and gloom

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4012379858781357&id=1722578164428216&__tn__=*s*s-R


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## Eastxhunter (Jan 14, 2014)

bellaireroad said:


> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Yo we need facts not some random guy talkin


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## T-Muney (Aug 12, 2005)

Eastxhunter said:


> Yo we need facts not some random guy talkin


Ha ha was thinking the same.


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## Thestork (Dec 4, 2018)

He's got a redfish gold chain though.......


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## Stumpgrinder1 (Jul 18, 2016)

txflats said:


> 2018 freeze was bad also I remember water temp between N and S Deer Island being 35* and water back in the harbors and ICW 44* and no big fish kill. I've been through 5 big freezes and this is the first where the previous week got gradually colder and allowed adjustments. Still holding out hope! Down south this will be devastating.


I agree. We had a gradual chill down with this one and hopefully lots of fish went deep ahead of the brutal cold. Ive seen these things before ( 79, 83 and 89 come to mind the most) In 83 it went from nearly 80 degrees to less than 30 in 24 hours. The fish kill was massive on that one


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## Tetonguy (Jun 23, 2013)

stumpgrinder3 said:


> I agree. We had a gradual chill down with this one and hopefully lots of fish went deep ahead of the brutal cold. Ive seen these things before ( 79, 83 and 89 come to mind the most) In 83 it went from nearly 80 degrees to less than 30 in 24 hours. The fish kill was massive on that one


Just to put a picture on it, mid coast surface temp profile looks like 2 days to go from mid 60s to low 40s, then pretty steady for 2 days before dropping into the 30s.


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## Stevie_A (Feb 1, 2005)

This is a good report from Capt. Caleb, thanks Captain.
Redfishross isn't a random guy.


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## fishcatchr (Apr 8, 2009)

Back end of Jamaica beach today. Thereâ€™s a lot more than what this pic shows. I think a lot of fish died that people canâ€™t see


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## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

That's discouraging. Was that near deep water or shoreline?


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## saltwatersensations (Aug 30, 2004)

fishcatchr said:


> Back end of Jamaica beach today. Thereâ€™s a lot more than what this pic shows. I think a lot of fish died that people canâ€™t see


Looks like mullet.


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## Trouthappy (Jun 12, 2008)

We had a minor freeze in Florida about 12 years ago, it only affected mullet and snook. But I counted about 200 big snook laying dead on the bottom, from 30 to 40 inches long. All dead. None had floated yet. The water was clear that time of year, you could see 10 feet down. This was in Yankeetown on the Gulf Coast, the main river and house canals.


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## Notenoughtime (Mar 7, 2011)

I ran the North shoreline of West Galveston Bay yesterday and didn't see any floaters or anything washed up. Water wasn't very clear though so couldn't see if anything was still on the bottom.


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## corykj (Oct 30, 2008)

Stevie_A said:


> This is a good report from Capt. Caleb, thanks Captain.
> Redfishross isn't a random guy.


Maybe it was too early for him to tell, but we rode down to Baffin Saturday and it was a graveyard. We counted at least a dozen 25"+ trout dead on the bottom, as well as many more over 20" and even more juvenile trout all in roughly a half mile distance. We did see signs of life though. Plenty of big reds and drum were cruising and trying to warm up. Water temp was in the low 40s when we launched and had warmed up to the mid 40s by the time we left around 1pm or so. It looks pretty dismal right now and it's only gonna get worse.


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## Jerry713 (Nov 6, 2019)

Eastxhunter said:


> Yo we need facts not some random guy talkin


I'd put Redfish Ross up against many local guides in terms of middle Texas coast knowledge. This man knows what he is talking about. FYI


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## sabiki (Aug 21, 2005)

Jerry713 said:


> I'd put Redfish Ross up against many local guides in terms of middle Texas coast knowledge. This man knows what he is talking about. FYI


i think i see more guys that enjoy seeing themselves on the internet than i have seen dead fish...


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## Jerry713 (Nov 6, 2019)

sabiki said:


> i think i see more guys that enjoy seeing themselves on the internet than i have seen dead fish...


Lol yeah I definitely hear what your saying. That or just to get views. Ross is far from that tho.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*??*

there have been several pics and reports of dead fish in large quantities. it could be spotty but we had a serious fish kill any way you look at it. :texasflag


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## sabiki (Aug 21, 2005)

Jerry713 said:


> Lol yeah I definitely hear what your saying. That or just to get views. Ross is far from that tho.


i dont know "ross" im sure he is a great guide...i just cant comprehend why guides would make a video telling everybody all the fish are dead and its all doom and gloom. i posted on another thread that im betting MOST of our fish were already in deep water. i fished for a couple of days before this thing hit and there were no fish on the shorelines. if everybody remembers it was pretty cold and windy the sat and sun before. the only fish i did catch ahead of this freeze were within a half mile of the ICW-- which makes me feel alot better about it.
in '89 i remember vividly it was pushing 70 deg the day before the temp started dropping. i also remember dead fish piled on top of one another for miles...and the stench for days.-- we dont have that right now.


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## LouisianaHall59 (Dec 18, 2019)

Some anecdotal evidence but every single fish in the redfish farms off of turtle bay are dead. Only 5% of the fish actually floated to the surface. I am afraid we still havent seen the impact this freeze had on some of the shallow bays.


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

someone posted this elswehere

Fish Kill Update (Texas Parks & Wildlife):
* TPWD is still in the assessment mode regarding the extent of the fish kill both coastwide and in the local area.
* Initial assessments indicate the majority of fish impacted were non-recreational species including pinfish, spot, silver perch, gulf menhaden, mullet and other forage fish.
* Recreationally important species that have been seen include spotted seatrout, sheepshead, grey snapper, snook, and tarpon. Proportionally, these species accounted for less than 10% (by number) of the total mortality event.
* Six bay systems most impacted by the event are: Matagorda Bay, San Antonio Bay, Aransas Bay, Corpus Christi Bay, Upper Laguna Madre, and Lower Laguna Madre.
* The majority of the kills were located along the southern shores and undeveloped areas such as the back sides of the barrier islands).
* TPWD are in the field this weekend continuing to assess this event and that will continue into next week. It must also be noted that to help place this event in perspective TPWD will look to their routine monitoring (gill nets, bay trawls, and bag seines) to be able to detect differences between the upcoming samples and previous years. For many of the key game species those relative trends in abundance changes can start to be seen as early as the spring and fall gill nets.


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## Jerry713 (Nov 6, 2019)

sabiki said:


> i dont know "ross" im sure he is a great guide...i just cant comprehend why guides would make a video telling everybody all the fish are dead and its all doom and gloom. i posted on another thread that im betting MOST of our fish were already in deep water. i fished for a couple of days before this thing hit and there were no fish on the shorelines. if everybody remembers it was pretty cold and windy the sat and sun before. the only fish i did catch ahead of this freeze were within a half mile of the ICW-- which makes me feel alot better about it.
> in '89 i remember vividly it was pushing 70 deg the day before the temp started dropping. i also remember dead fish piled on top of one another for miles...and the stench for days.-- we dont have that right now.


To clarify Redfish Ross is not a guide. I hate to put the "ole salt" tag on someone I don't know well but that's what I view him as.

I sure hope it's not as bad as it seems in some areas. Thing is right now water temps along the middle coast are still in winter mode for the most part so we won't start seeing floaters until the water warms up. What worries me is reports of water temps in the ICW down south on one of the cold days at 39 degrees at the surface and 39 degrees 10 feet deep.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

Still a lot of douchebags on here, not surprising. Just because it might hurt your guide business or inhibit you from meat hauling every trip and killing trophy trout for weigh ins all summer doesnâ€™t mean you should minimalize this fish kill. I was around for the â€˜83 and â€˜89 freeze kills, the â€˜89 kill froze the Lavaca River over and we were busting ice with our boat. This freeze was as bad or worse in many places. 
Iâ€™m going to drop something on you guys and you should spread it around. Iâ€™m sure at one time we all filled an ice chest or stringer or even killed a trophy trout for a tournament or skin mount. That **** has to stop, should have stopped a long time ago despite what the TPWD regulations state. 
BE PROACTIVE NOT REACTIVE! That means you donâ€™t wait until **** hits the fan to do something. When fishing was great we shouldnâ€™t have been guiding and boxing two limits of fish a day every trip. We shouldnâ€™t have multiple kill tournaments every Saturday for 5-6 months. We shouldnâ€™t have CCA STAR putting a bounty on 8 pound plus trout for four months with no live weigh in option. You guys, we all better wake up because this is our resource. I want my six year old son to have good fishing the rest of his life and his kids too. Stop being ignorant and greedy! 
Iâ€™ll pop in in a week or so, I donâ€™t get on here much any more. Flame away and call me names. Iâ€™m not just â€œsome guyâ€ and you young punks better know who you are referring to before you talk **** online. We all need to grow up as fishermen and protect the resource.


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

What worries me is there are likely just as many if not more dead fish in the bottom that you will never see so people will discount the severity of this hit.

I for one, being an outdoorsman, am forever an optimist. Hard core patient optimist. Its an affliction.. I didn't think it would be that bad. I was wrong. Its worse.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Nov 4, 2011)

c hook said:


> there have been several pics and reports of dead fish in large quantities. it could be spotty but we had a serious fish kill any way you look at it. :texasflag


Some people just canâ€™t accept reality, especially if itâ€™s going to inconvenience them. Iâ€™m about to open a boat shop and Iâ€™m guiding so itâ€™s not like Iâ€™m some googan in Michigan preaching about things that wonâ€™t affect me.


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> I was around for the â€˜83 and â€˜89 freeze kills.


Lol says the 39 yr old. Guy was 1 yr old but acts like he was already releasing trophies back then. Since youâ€™re the best fisherman on the coast and have gained so much knowledge in such little time, Iâ€™m sure youâ€™ll have no problem locating 10 pounders every outing still. â€œI donâ€™t get on here much anymoreâ€. Probably bc you donâ€™t know how to act and get banned on a regular basis from this site. This is about the fish, not your ego


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

Come awn Skipjack. I wasn't salt water fishing in 83 or 89 so this is my first and I can agree with Smacks message. Yall don't start acting like that. Its common sense. And we need to be cognizant of the fact that this resource is not infinite. One bad year and we are in trouble. Simple. This chest bumping helps nothing. Just share your experience and opinions for discussion.


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## Stumpgrinder1 (Jul 18, 2016)

Well, I was born in Galveston. Have been fishing the salt since 1965. Was alive and 23 years old in 83 and lived in Bayou Vista on a canal yada yada yada . My bona fides are solid as it applies to Texas bay fishing.

You fellas hash it out. Im gonna do what we've always done. Im going to allow TPWD to set the rules and Im going to honor them


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## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

it's true we really dont know the true outcome of the event... even the state won't fully know although they will attempt some calculations, how long that will take...

In the end, will we end up like Florida with a great day being a 'slam' or a limit of 2 ... with big trout 'gators' with pictures of 18" trout. 

There really arn't a lot of fishermen out there feeding their families with these fish we're boxing. Sure, they are a few... but mostly the cost and time of catching these fish far outweighs the cost of buying fish in the grocery store... except for the guys that fish bait on the bank. But thats a very low amount and those aren't the guys taking 2-3 limits of fish. I see a lot of us 'marketing' catching and keeping fish to give away filets to the sweet old lady next door or a lot of business clients because we already have a freezer full. Being generous like that is great and a good feeling but at some point we're going to have to be forward thinking or we will end up like Florida. 

Now where's my popcorn.


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## 348473 (Apr 12, 2017)

Sandbar sharks should be moving back , plenty of chum in the water that I saw. 

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

Sgrem said:


> Come awn Skipjack. I wasn't salt water fishing in 83 or 89 so this is my first and I can agree with Smacks message. Yall don't start acting like that. Its common sense. And we need to be cognizant of the fact that this resource is not infinite. One bad year and we are in trouble. Simple. This chest bumping helps nothing. Just share your experience and opinions for discussion.


Iâ€™m all for catch and release. But the keyboard commando doesnâ€™t understand simple concepts. You start belittling and typing insults to people and it just doesnâ€™t bring a good response, probably start killing fish just to fire back. You attract way more flies with honey. Boats in the shop, and when it gets out, stringers will not be on board. But at the end of the day, TPWD is gonna make the rules. Take it up with them instead of attacking ppl online. The biggest names in the game are still gonna pile fish on the deck. Until that changes, and TPWD makes some changes, youâ€™ll have the same result. Mocking these weekend warriors isnâ€™t gonna make any difference. My take: save these fish during windows in springtime and any other spawning events to keep the bays full of life. We do it for flounder, do it for trout. A realistic goal right now would be to not kill any trout until after the springtime spawn. Talking smack to Joe Schmoes on 2cool fishing wont solve a **** thing


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## DUKFVR2 (Sep 12, 2018)

I know for sure I won't have a problem or losing sleep over keeping a few for dinner.


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## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

First spawn from the bigger fish will be this next full moon ... then they'll ( a variety of age classes) spawn thru the end of summer and into September. 

It is a renewable resource that we're blessed to manage.


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

SKIPJACKSLAYER said:


> Lol says the 39 yr old. Guy was 1 yr old but acts like he was already releasing trophies back then. Since youâ€™re the best fisherman on the coast and have gained so much knowledge in such little time, Iâ€™m sure youâ€™ll have no problem locating 10 pounders every outing still. â€œI donâ€™t get on here much anymoreâ€. Probably bc you donâ€™t know how to act and get banned on a regular basis from this site. This is about the fish, not your ego


Iâ€™ve never given RED except to return the favor, but youâ€™re very close.


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## Gilbert (May 25, 2004)

WillieT said:


> Iâ€™ve never given RED except to return the favor, but youâ€™re very close.


Oh my, not red....... :rotfl:


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Gilbert said:


> Oh my, not red....... :rotfl:


lol

Iâ€™m sure you never got one.


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## nikki (Apr 14, 2011)

Any updates as of 2/18?


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## fishingjordan (Jan 20, 2015)

Quite a few dead juvi tarpon in west Galveston bay 


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

Not looking good in the ULM. Most of the dead fish are still sitting on the bottom and a few are starting to float to the shorelines, but if you run around the shallows you see way more on the bottom than what you can see floating, not good any way you slice it.


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## fishingjordan (Jan 20, 2015)

Lone-Star said:


> Not looking good in the ULM. Most of the dead fish are still sitting on the bottom and a few are starting to float to the shorelines, but if you run around the shallows you see way more on the bottom than what you can see floating, not good any way you slice it.


You heard anything about LLM down to South Bay?

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## fishin shallow (Jul 31, 2005)

fishingjordan said:


> You heard anything about LLM down to South Bay?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Not good


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## Thestork (Dec 4, 2018)

For those whining about people eating or mounting fish. Can we agree that the fishery was pretty healthy prior to the freeze? I believe it was, despite all the mass eating and mounting. The freeze killed a lot of nice fish and while that sucks it also means that there were a lot of nice fish. Maybe you just need someone to whine about....not sure. 

The limit for trout has been lowered to 5, with only one big one. I think that's a good thing but we shouldn't cry about people keeping fish if it's within the rules set by TPWD. Do you need a tissue....or bandaid?


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## PRIMETIME PLUGGER (Apr 23, 2018)

SKIPJACKSLAYER said:


> Lol says the 39 yr old. Guy was 1 yr old but acts like he was already releasing trophies back then. Since youâ€™re the best fisherman on the coast and have gained so much knowledge in such little time, Iâ€™m sure youâ€™ll have no problem locating 10 pounders every outing still. â€œI donâ€™t get on here much anymoreâ€. Probably bc you donâ€™t know how to act and get banned on a regular basis from this site. This is about the fish, not your ego


:cheers::rotfl:


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## joe78 (Nov 6, 2019)

Smackdaddy53 said:


> Still a lot of douchebags on here, not surprising. Just because it might hurt your guide business or inhibit you from meat hauling every trip and killing trophy trout for weigh ins all summer doesnâ€™t mean you should minimalize this fish kill. I was around for the â€˜83 and â€˜89 freeze kills, the â€˜89 kill froze the Lavaca River over and we were busting ice with our boat. This freeze was as bad or worse in many places.
> 
> Iâ€™m going to drop something on you guys and you should spread it around. Iâ€™m sure at one time we all filled an ice chest or stringer or even killed a trophy trout for a tournament or skin mount. That **** has to stop, should have stopped a long time ago despite what the TPWD regulations state.
> 
> ...


Let me know when there's not any more tournaments!!!!!!!!

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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

stumpgrinder3 said:


> Well, I was born in Galveston. Have been fishing the salt since 1965. Was alive and 23 years old in 83 and lived in Bayou Vista on a canal yada yada yada . My bona fides are solid as it applies to Texas bay fishing.
> 
> You fellas hash it out. Im gonna do what we've always done. Im going to allow TPWD to set the rules and Im going to honor them


Yep, TP&W has always acted after these major kills, no reason to believe they wonâ€™t this time around

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_e0100_1144.pdf

Link is to what actions TP&W has taken after past freeze and red tide kills.


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## Shalor96 (Jul 26, 2016)

After the 89 and 83 freezes they found some absolute hogs, like 32 and 33 inch fish in Baffin and the Landcut. The biggest dead trout I have seen pictures of are 28 or 29 inches this time. That would make me think there just arenâ€™t as many this time around(or maybe if you are still yet to float up from the bottom). Which would go along with what most of the old guides on Baffin that I know say...There are still a lot of good fish. But not near as many hogs, like 30+ inch fish. And certainly less after this stupid freeze. I think everyone should mostly practice catch and release on trout down south this summer. Maybe the Reds and drum did well enough that we can keep them without hurting anything.


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## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

Yeah it's mostly about that 'clickity click click' for a lot of them.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*fishery*

we all have our gripes, but IMHO the regular weekend tourneys, and number of guides raping our bays day in day out, it's amazing the bays are in as good of shape as they are. Can you imagine if we didn't have this going on, what we'd have as a fishery?? It'd be nice to see a different mind set, it sure changed the bass world. :texasflag


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## fishingjordan (Jan 20, 2015)

I know we lost some tarpon in one of the back bayous/canals in west Galveston bay. 

Been running another hole further west every day for the past week which holds hundreds of juvi tarpon and some snook and have only found one redfish dead. Gets up to 26ft deep in a few of the holes, trout, redfish, snook, and tarpon seemed to be alright in that area. Hate seeing the pics and hearing the stories of the trout but it is good to see the Galveston common and fat snook population, which has been growing, seemed to make it out alright. 


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

Shalor96 said:


> After the 89 and 83 freezes they found some absolute hogs, like 32 and 33 inch fish in Baffin and the Landcut. The biggest dead trout I have seen pictures of are 28 or 29 inches this time. That would make me think there just arenâ€™t as many this time around(or maybe if you are still yet to float up from the bottom). Which would go along with what most of the old guides on Baffin that I know say...There are still a lot of good fish. But not near as many hogs, like 30+ inch fish. And certainly less after this stupid freeze. I think everyone should mostly practice catch and release on trout down south this summer. Maybe the Reds and drum did well enough that we can keep them without hurting anything.


Theres been a few 10+ posted from baffin area, but not many as many as you might expect from their sheer # of dead trout, goes to show what a small % the big fish are and how truly special those 10 lbers are. I will be drastically reducing the # of fish I keep this year.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*right*



Lone-Star said:


> Theres been a few 10+ posted from baffin area, but not many as many as you might expect from their sheer # of dead trout, goes to show what a small % the big fish are and how truly special those 10 lbers are. I will be drastically reducing the # of fish I keep this year.


an awful lot of heat on Baffin year round, winters are extra heavy on the traffic. It's a lot for a bay to endure, combined with the freeze, hopefully catch and release will be the talk of the town. :texasflag


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## Sabinekid09 (Feb 28, 2017)

Went running around the north end of Sabine yesterday and we definitely didn’t go totally unscathed. Found 5 solid trout belly up as well as seeing a absolute pile of pelicans and birds sitting and messing around on the north shoreline but I couldn’t get close enough to see if it was dead fish. I would imagine it was due to our south winds this week.


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## Huntandfishaggie (Nov 8, 2016)

Did I read somewhere that fish kills can be followed by brown and red tide algae blooms or am I misremembering as Roger Clemons would say?


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## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

algae blooms. ... They can be.. it's due to the high nutrient load. But it's not a sure thing.. most freezes it won't happen. 

Jordan, I think that hole should be ok... the one further east is much shallower. Good to see the snook and juvi tarps though. It's a good sign; they'll be back.


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

Huntandfishaggie said:


> Did I read somewhere that fish kills can be followed by brown and red tide algae blooms or am I misremembering as Roger Clemons would say?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The freeze of 89 was followed by the bad brown tide that afflicted baffin/ulm during the early 90s, was that the real cause? who knows but thats what the old timers say caused it. The rotting fish as a source of nutrients to set off a bloom seems plausible, the padre canals definitely have the look of some type of bloom as all these fish rot.


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## Csafisher (Nov 16, 2010)

What are your opinions on the mangrove bushes? They look really toasted around rockport. I hope they come back.


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## TexasRon (Feb 13, 2021)

Fish kill is bad. Thereâ€™s no sugar coating it. Guides here will try and tell you different because their lively hood depends on it and I donâ€™t blame them. But we have to face reality and take action to limit the damage. Without the plethora of guides, yahoos and commercial fishermen the population would rebound very fast and be better for it in the long run. But because of the aforementioned, itâ€™s going to take years. The guides arenâ€™t going to stop. The yahoos arenâ€™t going to stop. No one is going to stop. Itâ€™s going to be a rough few years.


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

This is whatâ€™s going on in the padre canals, smell is something else.


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## mccain (Oct 20, 2006)

wow. that's terrible. any plans to clean it it up? troll around with a fine net and dump it in a land fill? are those mullet and/or other baitfish?


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## Huntandfishaggie (Nov 8, 2016)

Tough day in matagorda. Very sad.

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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

The recent great fishing in Matty just came to a screeching halt.


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## playinhooky (Dec 6, 2008)

crabmeat should be cheap this year.


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

Count how many limits are just in that camera frame.... dang

OH WAIT!!! I've seen similar fish kill pics on the docks with a bunch of smiling people.... not all that dissimilar from the picture above.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*right*



TexasRon said:


> Fish kill is bad. Thereâ€™s no sugar coating it. Guides here will try and tell you different because their lively hood depends on it and I donâ€™t blame them. But we have to face reality and take action to limit the damage. Without the plethora of guides, yahoos and commercial fishermen the population would rebound very fast and be better for it in the long run. But because of the aforementioned, itâ€™s going to take years. The guides arenâ€™t going to stop. The yahoos arenâ€™t going to stop. No one is going to stop. Itâ€™s going to be a rough few years.


agreed 100%, it will take time. :texasflag


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## Totally Tuna (Apr 13, 2006)

I would hope that we would all try and understand the varying points of view, follow your own conscience, and TPWD's regulations. There have been some pretty nasty comments on this thread, and it is really uncalled for. One thing this should prove, the resource was in pretty good condition before the freeze, and it shouldn't take too long for it to recover. I was catching limits of trout a year after the '83 freeze. Of course the limit had been cut in half, but I was catching the same number, just keeping half as many. Zero redfish, however, until the spring of '87. I was living in Tulsa in '85 - '89, but I was returning several times a year to fish with friends.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*right*



playinhooky said:


> The recent great fishing in Matty just came to a screeching halt.


gorda was in good shape and really coming around in spite of the non-stop guided winter gangbangs. i'm 59 and used to fish E gorda heavy, have completely quit fishing it because of the guides. completely out of control is a understatement. :texasflag


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

c hook said:


> gorda was in good shape and really coming around in spite of the non-stop guided winter gangbangs. i'm 59 and used to fish E gorda heavy, have completely quit fishing it because of the guides. completely out of control is a understatement. :texasflag


How do you figure that? I don't see that at all. Spring, summer or fall the guide business is brisk but in the winter? It's pretty much a ghost town. Just a handful of guys fishing for big trout and that's about it.


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## karstopo (Jun 29, 2009)

Best case scenario is that the fish kill isnâ€™t nearly as bad as it might now look, but yet half or more the fishing population perceives it is not worth fishing anymore and just abandons inshore fishing for the next few years. Half or less the traffic on the water and with most or plenty of fish still to catch. Too much to ask or hope for? Probably so.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*??*



Salty Dog said:


> How do you figure that? I don't see that at all. Spring, summer or fall the guide business is brisk but in the winter? It's pretty much a ghost town. Just a handful of guys fishing for big trout and that's about it.


hasn't been my experience, last few times I've been there it was a complete zoo, winter time out of control. i couldn't get close to any areas i wanted to fish. there were 2 or 3 guides parked behind oyster farm, people wading everywhere, with boats running through the back, it was a wild site. gorda isn't anything like i had it back in the day. but glad you experience is different. :texasflag


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## GooseCommanderozz (Feb 17, 2012)

karstopo said:


> Best case scenario is that the fish kill isnâ€™t nearly as bad as it might now look, but yet half or more the fishing population perceives it is not worth fishing anymore and just abandons inshore fishing for the next few years. Half or less the traffic on the water and with most or plenty of fish still to catch. Too much to ask or hope for? Probably so.


Sounds great to me. Let them sell their boats since the inshore fish population will never recover. Less traffic at boat ramps and on the water for the rest of us

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## DUKFVR2 (Sep 12, 2018)

Hopefully putting 5 in the boat tomorrow. Ready for some fresh fish.


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## KeithR (Jan 30, 2006)

DUKFVR2 said:


> Hopefully putting 5 in the boat tomorrow. Ready for some fresh fish.


I am jealous, kill a couple for me and please post a death report with pics.


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## SKIPJACKSLAYER (Nov 19, 2013)

KeithR said:


> I am jealous, kill a couple for me and please post a death report with pics.


Careful, if you post pics / reports of fish youâ€™re going to legally keep and eat you risk getting death threats from the saltwater fishing police on here and other social media platforms. Not to mention the greedy hypocritical tournament fishermen that complain about too many fisherman and boats being on the water while they boast boat, gear, tackle sponsors, and informative videos and podcasts out the wazoo to promote the sport. They need you buy lots of products, but also to stay at home and not fish, and if you do fish, stay out of sight and release anything you catch so they can kill it in the name of tournament fame and sponsors... how ironic. Did I miss anything?


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## txtan (Aug 12, 2013)

Iâ€™m planning on going Friday to Galveston. I just downloaded Reef Recon so Iâ€™m pretty excited to put it to use. I was almost afraid to say I was going fishing but Iâ€™m glad Iâ€™m not the only one.



SKIPJACKSLAYER said:


> Careful, if you post pics / reports of fish youâ€™re going to legally keep and eat you risk getting death threats from the saltwater fishing police on here and other social media platforms. Not to mention the greedy hypocritical tournament fishermen that complain about too many fisherman and boats being on the water while they boast boat, gear, tackle sponsors, and informative videos and podcasts out the wazoo to promote the sport. They need you buy lots of products, but also to stay at home and not fish, and if you do fish, stay out of sight and release anything you catch so they can kill it in the name of tournament fame and sponsors... how ironic. Did I miss anything?


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## Eastxhunter (Jan 14, 2014)

SKIPJACKSLAYER said:


> Careful, if you post pics / reports of fish youâ€™re going to legally keep and eat you risk getting death threats from the saltwater fishing police on here and other social media platforms. Not to mention the greedy hypocritical tournament fishermen that complain about too many fisherman and boats being on the water while they boast boat, gear, tackle sponsors, and informative videos and podcasts out the wazoo to promote the sport. They need you buy lots of products, but also to stay at home and not fish, and if you do fish, stay out of sight and release anything you catch so they can kill it in the name of tournament fame and sponsors... how ironic. Did I miss anything?


Show us on the doll where the fisherman hurt you


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*lmao*



Eastxhunter said:


> Show us on the doll where the fisherman hurt you


right :texasflag


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## GigUm (Jun 20, 2018)

Galveston didn't get hit too hard but Rockport got hit pretty hard. It seemed like the bait fish (mainly mullet) were the most abundant to get killed.


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## Rockfish2 (Sep 1, 2017)

Eastxhunter said:


> Show us on the doll where the fisherman hurt you


Now thatâ€™s funny. The demand for butthurt cream is still strong!


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## corykj (Oct 30, 2008)

Good info from Caleb, Dr. McKee and Mr. Murray


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

I watched that yesterday.. 
good info


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## Jerry713 (Nov 6, 2019)

I thought Capt Caleb made a great point. If we all do our part and conserve now maybe we won't have to have new regs forced on us after TPWD completes their gill net survey's.


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

personally, I think we need to look at the long term.. I love fresh fish as much as anyone..


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## Captain Marty (Jul 14, 2006)

*91 percent were nonrecreational fish*

3.8 million fish were killed by frigid weather

Last monthâ€™s winter freeze that led to fish kills across the Rio Grande Valley and all along the entire Texas coast caused the death of 3.8 million fish, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

This fish kill consisted of at least 61 species and 91 percent were nonrecreational species like silver perch, hardhead catfish, pinfish, bay anchovy and striped mullet. The other nine percent of the dead fish included: spotted seatrout, black drum, sheepshead, sand seatrout, red drum, gray snapper, and red snapper.

Parks and Wildlife said fish that canâ€™t make it to a refuge in deeper, more temperature-stable water during cold weather then die when water temperatures get too low.


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## yellowmouth2 (Aug 16, 2005)

Of the 9%, Trout consisted of 48%. That's a pretty significant number. It also states estimated minimum of 3.8 million. But there is some good news in this report.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20210310c


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## ReedA1691 (Jan 29, 2018)

yellowmouth2 said:


> Of the 9%, Trout consisted of 48%. That's a pretty significant number. It also states estimated minimum of 3.8 million. But there is some good news in this report.
> 
> https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20210310c


That's roughly 164,000 trout that died over 367 miles of coast, or about 447 per mile of coast. When you think about how many square miles of bays we have here, the numbers aren't as bad as some have made it out to be. TP&WD is saying this is nothing compared to '83 and '89. I think '83 was 14 million


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## Jerry713 (Nov 6, 2019)

Good to see some info on this. The numbers may look good at glance and I do think we dodged a bullet in many areas. When compared to the 89 freeze the fish kill numbers this year are only half of what they were in 89 and roughly a quarter of the number in 83. BUT I'd bet there is easily twice as many people fishing along the Texas coast now as there was in 89 and probably a lot more than that. The amount of fishing pressure is a factor now. 

I'm still going to catch and release most of what I catch. I may keep a red for a meal but not going to keep any limits for a while. TPWD is still encouraging catch and release.


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## whaler76 (Aug 12, 2005)

Jerry713 said:


> Good to see some info on this. The numbers may look good at glance and I do think we dodged a bullet in many areas. When compared to the 89 freeze the fish kill numbers this year are only half of what they were in 89 and roughly a quarter of the number in 83. BUT I'd bet there is easily twice as many people fishing along the Texas coast now as there was in 89 and probably a lot more than that. The amount of fishing pressure is a factor now.
> 
> I'm still going to catch and release most of what I catch. I may keep a red for a meal but not going to keep any limits for a while. TPWD is still encouraging catch and release.


This along with probable lower numbers of fish to begin with than the 80's are what people don't think about when they just look at the numbers of fish that died.

From the article:
"Both the Upper and Lower Laguna Madre bay systems were hit particularly hard by this event. The Lower Laguna Madre had the highest mortality of Spotted Seatrout with anestimated 104,000 fish killed. That comprised 65% of the total estimated Spotted Seatrout killed and when combined with the Upper Laguna Madre, it comprised 89% of the total estimated Spotted Seatrout mortality along the Texas coast."

The lower coast took a major hit and it is going to be a while before the big trout and trout in general bounce back. I hope people realize this and would consider releasing trout the rest of the year down there.


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## corykj (Oct 30, 2008)

ReedA1691 said:


> That's roughly 164,000 trout that died over 367 miles of coast, or about 447 per mile of coast. When you think about how many square miles of bays we have here, the numbers aren't as bad as some have made it out to be. TP&WD is saying this is nothing compared to '83 and '89. I think '83 was 14 million


It was a different coast line back then compared to what it is currently. I would argue that fishing is much more popular today that it was in the 80s. Technology was certainly not near what it is today. There's many more hooks in the water today compared to 30-40 yrs ago. Seems to me that it would translate to less fish in the water, but that's debatable and I'm not here to do that. I just want to point things out. Also, it's worth noting that all of these numbers are preliminary numbers. We won't know the real impact until spring gill net surveys are done or maybe even later.


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

corykj said:


> It was a different coast line back then compared to what it is currently. I would argue that fishing is much more popular today that it was in the 80s. Technology was certainly not near what it is today. There's many more hooks in the water today compared to 30-40 yrs ago. Seems to me that it would translate to less fish in the water, but that's debatable and I'm not here to do that. I just want to point things out. Also, it's worth noting that all of these numbers are preliminary numbers. We won't know the real impact until spring gill net surveys are done or maybe even later.


I grew up on the coast, left Rockport in 85, I can sure remember fishing was a LOT easier back then... look at how many boats are on the water, any boat ramp has a lot of trucks, amount of guides (take Seadrift, two lodges with multiple multiple guides running every day) and a lot of these things are cooperate events with guys that are going to take every legal fish they can back home

there is no way that doesn't effect things.


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## corykj (Oct 30, 2008)

ccoker said:


> I grew up on the coast, left Rockport in 85, I can sure remember fishing was a LOT easier back then... look at how many boats are on the water, any boat ramp has a lot of trucks, amount of guides (take Seadrift, two lodges with multiple multiple guides running every day) and a lot of these things are cooperate events with guys that are going to take every legal fish they can back home
> 
> there is no way that doesn't effect things.


Yessir, I agree. I'm too young to remember the freezes in the 80s. This is the first one I've been through that hit really hard. But from what I've been told and what I've read, things back then were a lot more simple and seemed easier. Because of how world has evolved, there's no way that it doesn't have a larger impact on our fisheries.


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

corykj said:


> Yessir, I agree. I'm too young to remember the freezes in the 80s. This is the first one I've been through that hit really hard. But from what I've been told and what I've read, things back then were a lot more simple and seemed easier. Because of how world has evolved, there's no way that it doesn't have a larger impact on our fisheries.


I see you are in Portland.. my dad started Portland Marine when I was a kid..
very active outdoorsman, lived to hunt and fish.. he fought against illegal gill netting and didn't back down to death threats and threats against burning our house and business down..

https://tacticalgunreview.com/glen-coker/


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

ccoker said:


> I see you are in Portland.. my dad started Portland Marine when I was a kid..
> very active outdoorsman, lived to hunt and fish.. he fought against illegal gill netting and didn't back down to death threats and threats against burning our house and business down..
> 
> https://tacticalgunreview.com/glen-coker/


Those commercial fishermen were a piece of work.
You could find them at the local bar after lunch in blue jeans and white tee shirts wearing white rubber boots. (Seadrift Noconaâ€™s)


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## troutsupport (May 22, 2006)

From what I'm seeing, catching, and hearing caught by guides in the areas I fish, I'm not putting too much stock in TPWD numbers... its an estimate and it's 'at a minimum'. 

We're catching 3-5lbers where we normally catch 7-9's and where we normally catch 18-24" trout we're catching 10inch-11inch trout.. it's pretty thinned out where I'm currently fishing and I'm fishing one of the bays that is within the purported highest hit area (not in the lugana madre)


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## Lone-Star (Dec 19, 2009)

troutsupport said:


> From what I'm seeing, catching, and hearing caught by guides in the areas I fish, I'm not putting too much stock in TPWD numbers... its an estimate and it's 'at a minimum'.
> 
> We're catching 3-5lbers where we normally catch 7-9's and where we normally catch 18-24" trout we're catching 10inch-11inch trout.. it's pretty thinned out where I'm currently fishing and I'm fishing one of the bays that is within the purported highest hit area (not in the lugana madre)


Rumor going around is that the initial "raw" data painted a much worse picture for the lower coast than what has been revealed to the public.


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## glennkoks (Jun 24, 2009)

I have very distinct vivid memories of the fish freezes in 83' and 89'. On Saturday February 20th 2021 I put about 30 miles on my boat starting from Chocolate, into the tri-bay area and well into West Galveston Bay. There were very, very few dead fish.

Clearly the lower coast did not do as well. But there is no way this freeze will compare to the massive kills in 83' and 89'. Fish will migrate and trickle back in from the upper coast and gulf as the spring turns into summer. 

This was not the case in both 83' and 89' as we struggled to catch fish. We are already bouncing back and will continue to do so this summer.


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## corykj (Oct 30, 2008)

ccoker said:


> I see you are in Portland.. my dad started Portland Marine when I was a kid..
> very active outdoorsman, lived to hunt and fish.. he fought against illegal gill netting and didn't back down to death threats and threats against burning our house and business down..
> 
> https://tacticalgunreview.com/glen-coker/


Your old man sounds like someone I would call a friend. When I had my Shoalwater/Etec, I would buy bulk oil from Portland Marine. Good people. Much nicer and easier to deal with than the people I bought the boat from.

It's a sad day when people that have good and honest intentions get harassed like that.


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

corykj said:


> Your old man sounds like someone I would call a friend. When I had my Shoalwater/Etec, I would buy bulk oil from Portland Marine. Good people. Much nicer and easier to deal with than the people I bought the boat from.
> 
> It's a sad day when people that have good and honest intentions get harassed like that.


Thanks, he was a great man.
I believe he sold it in the late 70s and moved to Rockport...
One of his main employees was Ronnie Hubbell who started Ronnies Marine in Aransas, dad managed the corpus store in the mid 80s. We got reconnected with Ronnie (brother and I) a few years ago and bought his Gulf Coast 18 and we stay in touch.. Great guy. Had breakfast with him last week when I was in Rockport for business.

Sue Foley runs it now after Richard passed away.. good people


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## corykj (Oct 30, 2008)

ccoker said:


> Thanks, he was a great man.
> I believe he sold it in the late 70s and moved to Rockport...
> One of his main employees was Ronnie Hubbell who started Ronnies Marine in Aransas, dad managed the corpus store in the mid 80s. We got reconnected with Ronnie (brother and I) a few years ago and bought his Gulf Coast 18 and we stay in touch.. Great guy. Had breakfast with him last week when I was in Rockport for business.
> 
> Sue Foley runs it now after Richard passed away.. good people


a guy I work with is either related to or close to Sue. Small world. haha

but yessir, they seem like good people.


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

small world indeed.. she sent my brother some handwritten receipts from the 70s.. 
fully rigged out 21ft Rabolo with a 200 Yamaha for like 7500 bucks..


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

Santana said:


> I have very distinct vivid memories of the fish freezes in 83' and 89'. On Saturday February 20th 2021 I put about 30 miles on my boat starting from Chocolate, into the tri-bay area and well into West Galveston Bay. There were very, very few dead fish.
> 
> Clearly the lower coast did not do as well. But there is no way this freeze will compare to the massive kills in 83' and 89'. Fish will migrate and trickle back in from the upper coast and gulf as the spring turns into summer.
> 
> This was not the case in both 83' and 89' as we struggled to catch fish. We are already bouncing back and will continue to do so this summer.


I hope youâ€™re right, but you may have been a little early in your ride. Five days after the freeze I had seen no dead trout reds or drum in a harbor I frequent. I started seeing dead fish on about the seventh or eighth day, and I saw more dead fish every time I checked for about 5 days.

A man that stays on a boat there told me he saw the pelicans having a feast for a couple of days, that I didnâ€™t see half of what died, and Iâ€™m sure heâ€™s correct. Some very large trout were lost, as well as some reds, which I was surprised about. The harbor is 16 feet deep.


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## JJohnson34 (Jun 27, 2018)

*TPWD: At least 3.8M fish were killed on the Texas coast during the February winter storms* Nearly 4M fish died on Texas coast during February storms | khou.com

This fish kill consisted of at least 61 species. Recreationally important game species accounted for 9% of the total kill.

Of that 9%, the dominant species included Spotted Seatrout (48%), Black Drum (31%), Sheepshead (8%), Sand Seatrout (7%), Red Drum (3%), Gray Snapper (2%), and Red Snapper (<1%).

On the up-side: The February 2021 event impacted a large area of the Texas coast, the overall number of fish killed in this event appears to be lower than any of the three freeze events in the 1980s.
Below is a breakdown of each event in the 1980s:
â€¢	December 1983: 14.4 million fishes killed with a geographic extent of the entire coast
â€¢	February 1989: 11.3 million fishes killed with a geographic extent of East Matagorda Bay south to the Lower Laguna Madre
â€¢	December 1989: 6.2 million fishes killed with a geographic extent of the entire coast

The Feb. 2021 freeze event appears to have been larger than any other fish kill event seen since the 1980s, including those in the 1990s and 2000â€™s. The 1997 freeze event saw 328,000 fishes killed but had a significantly higher percentage of game species killed (56%) than in 2021.


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

Wonder where they got the numbers?


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## TheGoose (Jan 22, 2006)

New LLM Regs

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...mporarily-changing-specked-trout-16049795.php


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## kumar0raja (Mar 30, 2021)

I have doubts the trout population will recover from this epic freeze, for
a few years. I wonder what TP&W will do about this.


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## ccoker (Mar 26, 2018)

kumar0raja said:


> I have doubts the trout population will recover from this epic freeze, for
> a few years. I wonder what TP&W will do about this.



I would have to agree
I personally wouldn't mind the trout regs statewide following what they are doing down south
Might ruffle some feathers but keeping barely legal 15.1" trout isn't great in my opinion.. not a whole to eat unless you catch a limit of them.


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