Seasonal Fishing Forecast for the Gulf of Mexico – Looking Very Good and Likely to Get Better
Introduction:
Many people know about the Gulf of Mexico as having the third U.S. coast, the “redneck Riviera,” part of the “American Mediterranean Sea” and from it’s reputation related to good food, music, hurricanes, oil wells, the Deep Water Horizon oil spill, spring break parties, and good ole’ southern comfort. It shares its borders with Mexico and Cuba and has an international mix of all the cultures including the U.S. south, central American, U.S. north and Canada. However, we also know it as a great place for fishing action with blue and white marlin, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, wahoo, mahi, sailfish and swordfish (all the highly migratory pelagic species), as well as, snapper, grouper, king mackerel, shrimp, cobia and tarpon. If you have never fished the Gulf of Mexico, you are missing an entire wonderland of world class fishing. I believe that if someone had put a blindfold over your eyes and delivered you to many of the marinas along the coast and then removed the blindfold, you would think that you were in Palm Beach, FL, Fort Lauderdale, Newport Beach, CA, Atlantic Beach, NC, Ocean City, MD or Cape May, NJ. Below shows only part of the Orange Beach (AL) Marina one of the many similar marinas with big fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico region.
Big fish are also caught in the Gulf of Mexico and below are just a few large fish caught and landed (state records) on rod and reel gear by ROFFS™ clients.
Oceanographically, the Gulf of Mexico is fed by the Yucatan Current that brings Caribbean Sea water northward where the current turns right or loops eastward and then southward to flow through the Straits of Florida between the Florida Keys and Cuba. The Loop Current which is part of the Gulf Stream system is named after this turning. Like other locations where the Gulf Stream Current occurs, the Loop Current is a significant source of dark blue water and highly migratory fish, as well as, many fish eggs and larvae from the south. Other fish like the bluefin tuna enter the Gulf of Mexico as part of their life history to spawn and then migrate out. Others spend much more time there. Like so many other locations around the world, we need a variety of tagging studies to better understand the movements into and out of the Gulf of Mexico. Numerous larvae of many marine species in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys such as “Florida” lobster (spiny crawfish), stone crabs, and probably bonefish migrate northward from Central America and Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico. The Loop Current forms a variety of eddy features and much of the blue water fishing is dependent on the size, location and history of these biologically important vortices. We would be not be providing an adequate description without mentioning that the Mississippi River, the chief river of the largest drainage system in North America, flows into the Gulf of Mexico bringing a tremendous amount of nutrients (probably too many) that contributes to the Gulf’s productivity. The additional productivity stems from the numerous bays and bayous, as well as, from the wind and current generated upwelling. Figure 3 is a false colorized infrared – sea surface temperature image derived for the Gulf
of Mexico from U.S. and European satellites over February 15 – 16, 2014. This is provided to show some of the significant ocean features two months ago. Click HERE to read the entire 2014 Gulf of Mexico Seasonal Fishing Forecast on our website…
Recent Tournament Winners
1st Place Dolphin (34.4 Lbs.) in the Halifax Sport Fishing Offshore Challenge from client Tom MacDonald
2nd Place Overall in the 2014 Final Sail – boat “Get Lit” with Clients Kitt Toomey and Peter Miller
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