Possible Effects Flooding on Gulf

[Uncle Russ]

Well, it always happens--just when I have lapsed into thinking it is a perfect world, I'm sitting in my recliner last night, doing my daily exercise (by rocking back and forth) when Fred (gimmedeal) calls. "This is lining up to be a perfect trip. So I got to thinking, what could possibly go wrong?" My anxiety level and blood pressure started to rise. "What I was thinking is: what will the effects of all this Mississippi River influx into the Gulf have on the fishing?" I went on high alert but tried to act like it was no big deal. After tossing and turning all night, I did a little investigating on the internet and some of the scientific studies made my hair hurt.

So I though it would be an interesting discussion to toss out to people with practical offshore experience.

What I did learn is that this time of year, fresh water from the Louisiana area normally is wind-driven down the Texas coast and that in some years, this water was detected as far south as Port Aransas. Nothing I saw, however, addressed the question of how far out into the Gulf there is likely to be low salinity and/or mud. During the record flooding of 1993 from the Mississippi and Atchefalaya rivers, the wind was from the west and the flooding was driven toward the Florida straits, both by wind and by a northward extension of the loop current that revolved clockwise right along the Louisiana coast.

Louis (Drifter) and two ne'er do well friends will be fishing Venice in a couple of days and if we hear back from them that their boat was able to make it back upstream to the marina, that may tell us something. If they report that the fishing is bad, that won't be particularly helpful--they always encounter bad fishing when I'm not along.

In any case, I'm almost certain this flooding is due to global warming--if we could only have convinced Al Gore to cut his energy consumption, this would never have happened.

So the question is--what effect, if any, do you think this will have on the Firecracker Big-E trip? Will the Captain head further out or further South? Inquiring minds (and Fred ) want to know.

Russ

[DeepBlueGulf]

No effect.

But I've been wondering where the Big E will go too, especially since Boomvang and Nancen seem really hot right now! Three days is a long time, so it'll be interesting. Personally, I think we ought to cull the YFT to have a minimum weight of 65lbs., and keep no blackfin! I'm predicting three YFT over 150lbs on this trip! One for Gres, One for Bellyup, and the other for, well, who knows.

As for things going wrong, be careful with the milkcrate, if it falls on your foot and breaks it, you could miss the trip.

DBG

[Uncle Russ]

DBG:Fred and I were talking about that--our thoughts were--nothing under 50 pounds--I definitely think a non-binding gentlemen's agreement to that would be in order. My personal best are a couple of non-braggable 70 pounders, and I have more interest in exceeding that than meat.

Russ

[Snagged]

When those deckhands gaff those fish they will die and all your minium size will do is waste fish.

[rtran]

Originally Posted by Snagged

When those deckhands gaff those fish they will die and all your minium size will do is waste fish.

It would seem very difficult to lip gaff or net from such a high boat if you were jigging or popping to get your lure back. Chunking - you could cut it off at boat side and leave the fish with a new piercing.

[Snagged]

Actually on a lower boat you could use assist hooks on poppers as well as jigs and cut them loose when the fish is boatside.