We are back with our week 45 synopsis of the Northern Gulf. The team went fishing this past week on both Tuesday and Wednesday, in which the forecast was spot on for each trip. We focused on fishing good bottom structure from 150-400 feet of water and it came up with 4 wahoo, 1 yellowfin tuna, 1 blackfin tuna, countless kings, and a handful of other trash species. The oil rig bite has also stayed consistently hot and we are expecting that the bite stays hot as long as the upwelling stays present over the MS canyon floaters.
Week 45 should be a great week of fishing if you have the ability to reach the strong current lines running over near the squiggles and north to the Ozark, or targeting good bottom structure nearshore in 150-400 feet of water. The MS canyon rigs should remain hot for the next week as well.
SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE
Cloud cover this week is proving it difficult to accurately forecast where there may be places of interest. The best shot that we can see right now is the WED NOV 8, 2023 18:10 UTC shot where we are showing the colder water near land has started to push between 15-25nm offshore, which is normal for this time of the year. There are no rips or temperature breaks to write home about this week due to the cloud cover.
ALTIMETRY
The altimetry this week has slightly shifted from last week, with the upwelling that was present near the MS Canyon starting to dissipate and move southeastward toward a massive upwelling event happening beyond Lloyds Ridge. There is an area of interest that continues to build over the FADs and looks like it has improved since last week’s synopsis. It remains an area of interest for us as we head into the fall fishing season.
CURRENTS
The currents this week have slowed down a touch from last week, with the same strong northward current running through the squiggles and bending to the west between the fads and the shelf. The currents that were running through the MS Canyon rigs had started to move off to the southwest with most arrows showing very light currents near the rigs. This is the same for the elbow, nipple, 131 hole area. The arrows here look a bit confused as if there was a slack current. We would search out areas with more current if you are running out of Destin or PCB.
CHLOROPHYLL
The chlorophyll charts this week are showing the majority of the northern gulf being covered in clear, blended blue/green water. This water is still conducive to catching nice fish, so there is nothing on here that is screaming to avoid. There is a nice push of blue water due to the stronger current lines moving north starting at the squiggles and this push ends at/near the Ozark. This is an area of interest and targeting bottom structure in this area should yield good results.
