Corpus Christi Caller-Times Outdoors by David Sikes

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David Sikes

David Sikes, Caller-Times outdoors writer specializes in hunting and fishing. David's columns are published Thursdays and Sundays. David also compiles a fishing report on Saturdays. He can be reached at sikesd@caller.com.

Thursday, September 6, 2001

Rain comes to the rescue for Coastal Bend fishing

Rush of freshwater good for local hatchery, wild marine life

Recent rains could boost fishing success in the Coastal Bend, while helping to revive a poor spawning season at our local hatchery.
   Officials at the CCA/CPL Marine Development Center had been suffering through their worst production year ever - before double-digit rainfall lifted hopes and lowered salinity levels, said Texas Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist Paul Silva.
   The salt concentration of Laguna Madre water that emptied into the hatchery's rearing ponds in August averaged 51 parts per thousand. Seawater is about 30-32 ppt and Laguna Madre water generally stays within a range of 40 to 50 ppt in summer.
   At 45 ppt, the survival rate of larval redfish and trout plummets. Last week, before the rains came, the intake water at the hatchery was at a lethal 56 ppt.
   Just how many tiny fish didn't make it is anybody's guess.
   "We had to try to produce anyway, but needless to say, our return wasn't very good," Silva said.
   At this point in the spawning cycle, the hatchery has produced about 1.4 million fingerling redfish and trout for release into local waters. Typically, the hatchery raises and releases about 7 million fingerlings during a season.
   With only one more round to go for this season's hatch - even though salinity levels are at 47 ppt and dropping - the fingerling total still will represent the worst year ever at the hatchery.
   But thanks to two other coastal hatcheries - Perry R. Bass Research Station at Palacios and Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson - the entire Texas coast will reach or exceed its usual dose of young redfish and trout, Silva said.
   One reason the hatcheries are spread out along the coast is to offset poor production at any one facility. That thinking certainly paid off this year.
   The rush of freshwater into other Coastal Bend bay systems will start a chain reaction that should have both an immediate and future benefit to marine life:

With the rains come nutrients that will trigger the production of microorganisms.

These will serve to feed larger organisms, shrimp and small fish, which will, in turn, be eaten by larger fish. I'm guessing that better fishing will follow.
   Freshwater inflows in summer are particularly good for white shrimp, crabs and oysters.
   A bonus benefit could be fewer jellyfish in our bays, said TPW biologist Karen Meador. Jellyfish thrive in hot, salty water.
   Meanwhile, lower salinity should drive redfish and trout back into their usual haunts, possibly making them easier to find, said Larry McEachron, director of the TPW Marine Lab in Rockport.
   This should be especially noticeable in the Laguna Madre/Baffin Bay system, he said.
   In the long term, summer rains generally benefit the fall redfish spawn by producing better conditions for high survival rates, just as freshwater did at the hatchery.
   Let me know if fishing improves for you.

Talk about fishing in the Coastal Bend

Outdoors writer David Sikes' column appears Thursdays and Sundays. He can be reached at 886-3616 or by e-mail at sikesd@caller.com

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