If it wasn’t a brutal storm, then let it be sub-freezing temps… this winter we can’t seem to catch a break. Our prediction for this week’s fishing is below average, unless you have the ability to run 100+nm to get to the warmer water in the MS Canyon or Green Canyon.
SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE
To get a good idea of the SST this week, you have to go back to Monday’s shot that did not have much cloud cover. The MS Canyon water has warmed up a touch from the past week to be between 71-72 degrees. The rigs over here will be holding tunas for the entire winter, but finding a weather window to get out to them is the biggest challenge. The rest of the northern gulf is falling in the 68-71 degrees range, which is the very far low end of the spectrum that you can catch pelagics on. We believe that it is not worth it to go troll closer in at these temperatures. It is better to wait for a weather window when you can reach the warm water in the MS Canyon than to “just go”... especially in the cold and wet temperatures we are seeing right now.
ALTIMETRY
Man do I love a good altimetry shot. This week’s shot shows three separate upwelling events, with one of them an area of interest that is closer than in previous weeks. This upwelling event should bring much needed nutrients to the surface that will allow for great “future fishing” opportunities due to the SST being on the far cold end of the spectrum. You will also see that there are two constant upwellings south of the MS Canyon that have been there for two weeks or more. These two will be fun to track once we start to move into more prime time fishing season of March/April/May.
CURRENTS
There is not much to write about for this week’s current shot. We have slack current over the MS Canyon and the two constant upwelling events shown on here.
CHLOROPHYLL
There is not a great report on the Chlorophyll chart right now and it has remained this way for the past 7 weeks. We will start monitoring the changes in Chlorophyll when we have our first meaningful change this year. Below is the most recent satellite shot.
