Fish kills?

[GoBears870]

What do some of you coastal guys think this cold stretch will do to the reds and specs? When was the last time it got this cold down there? I see the Port O’Connor water temp is already 46 with more cold on the way.


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[Capt.Brown]

Most of the fish kills are when we have a huge swing in temps and they get caught in swallow water.
It’s been cold long enough hopefully the majority of them have moved to deeper mud bottoms, I’m sure some will still die but my guess we won’t see a huge die off.

[glen]

Like Capt said not a quick change. I bet places like Shoalwater Pass and Army Hole have fish piled in so thick you could catch them on bare hooks

[GoBears870]

Is this not fast enough of a swing? Not trying to be a smart@ss, I’m genuinely curious


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[kevin nicholls]

I've lived on the coast and fished it my whole life. I hope I'm wrong but I think bass fishing is about to get crowded. This could be bad.

[DUKFVR]

I've lived on the coast and fished it my whole life. I hope I'm wrong but I think bass fishing is about to get crowded. This could be bad.

Definitely worried. I remember after the 80 freezes where you grinded all day for 2 or 3 specks & called it a great day afterwards.

[kevin nicholls]

The number of boats and the better equipment these days will make recovery slower. It was tough fishing after the freezes in 83 and 89. It took years to recover. Below 45 degree water temps start affecting trout ( I know that graph is surface temp) and it's not going to take long to get to that. Reds were already getting shallow so l know there will be some trapped in the back lakes. I'm hoping for the best, we'll know soon enough.

[Leemo]

Snook and Mangrove Snapper will kick the bucket first.....when temps hover around 40’ specks will get stressed, then as it drops they’ll kick the bucket next.
Redfish are more resilient, but sustained temps below 39’ will get them too

[Pope]

Reds will be fine. It could be rough on the specs. There will be lots of fish in the rivers and ship channels.

[Pope]

This may boost the founder fry survival rates. They need cooler water, especially for sexy ratios to favor females. Water temp determines the sex and the fry and cooler temps will skew the ratios for females. We’ve been skewed for males for years.

[RifleBowPistol]

There will likely be fish killed. The longer this cold last, the more that will die.

Years ago, we used to fish Conn Brown Harbor when it got down in the 20s or lower for two or three days in a row. Conn Brown Harbor would be packed with fish, it was crazy. Even with that deep harbor, there were a lot of fish floating after two or three days, of the cold. They are trapped in there and can't get out. If they do leave the harbor, they will die very quickly, so they will be stuck in there packed together, with little food. Not sure about the oxygen content of the water, in conditions like those, that could be a factor, where there are a lot of fish packed in one area for numerous days. There could easily be other factors that cause problems I am not aware of, with that many fished packed together for multiple days.

Years ago when it was in the 20s or colder for two or three days, areas around the bays, would have the shores on the side the waves were going to, lined with thousands of dead fish. The fish that do the best, are probably the ones who go over to places like the power plant turbine outlets, along the ship channel in Corpus. That water is much warmer. That or swim out to the gulf. Most likely the small bait fish and likely shrimp will be hit pretty hard.

The bigger channels like the Port of Corpus Christ, are probably big enough that the fish in there will do fine, plenty of oxygen, plenty warm and possibly plenty of food. The fish in the more rural areas, where there are not any deep man made channels in the area, those areas will likely see high fish kills.

Hopefully this does not kill many fish.

[rut-ro]

Was is the freeze of 83 when east bay froze and then they did a no fishing for “x” amount of time ? I could be wrong.

[SM69]

https://www.facebook.com/kelleywigglers/videos/d41d8cd9/3944968372234679/

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[Pope]

Was is the freeze of 83 when east bay froze and then they did a no fishing for “x” amount of time ? I could be wrong.

I remember that. I was 9 years old. I have photos of slushy ice along the shore somewhere.

[Andrew Aguechee]

Definitely worried. I remember after the 80 freezes where you grinded all day for 2 or 3 specks & called it a great day afterwards.

Agreed. Fishing for trout in the year following the 83 freeze was about as productive as fishing my swimming pool. That cold snap lasted about 2 weeks. Hopefully, this event won't be close to that one as far as trout devastation.