Low Tides of Summer

I had a great question from member Sfulp about why tides are lower in the summer even with a full moon. I’ll do my best to explain this and hope you can learn something. 

First, is the earths position from the sun, which in summer is farther away. With less gravitational pull it results in weak tidal ranges. They’re weaker during the last quarter moon after the full moon and first quarter moon after a new moon. 

Second, we’ve had strong southeast winds the past two weeks. Since tides are wind driven in the Upper Laguna. Water is blown into Baffin or the west side of the ULM and the water drops on the east side. If they’re straight south, water is blown north into Corpus Christi Bay. 

Third, is high pressure settling over the coast like this weekend. The increased pressure squeezes down on the atmosphere, which further pushes water out of the bays. Also, you’ll notice there’s hardly any clouds and temperatures soar. During low pressure, it’s the opposite as the atmosphere lifts up. Combined with southeast winds, water is allowed to move back into the bay. Cloud cover, chances of rain, and though it’s still hot, temperatures can be cooler by 2 or 3 degrees.

Fishing Thermoclines During Summer

If you've been wading recently, you've likely encountered colder pockets of water near the bottom. This transition layer between the warm surface water and cool, dense water below is called a thermocline. For example, if the surface water temperatures are 88 degrees, the layer below can be two to three degrees cooler. 

During the hottest parts of the day, fish gather along ledges and drop-offs to escape the heat, holding close to the bottom where it’s cooler. Here, they conserve energy and won't chase down their prey aggressively unless it’s within close range. Knowing this, slowly working soft plastics on the bottom will produce strikes from trout, redfish, and flounder.

My son decided he couldn’t wait till next week, lol. Dylan Andrew Sanchez was born last Friday! My wife and him are doing great!

Here’s a good example of what redfish predate on during spring in the Laguna Madre. This one in particular had 30+ mud crabs and one lug worm in its stomach.

After listening to Capt. Hillman’s podcast, I wanted to share a graphic I created for the Sportfish Center's social media. I hope this information helps you learn about slicks and how they're formed by fish. Yes, even Gafftops...

If you have ever gone fishing on the coast, you have probably seen a fish slick on the water's surface. It has a sweet and pungent smell akin to watermelon or fresh-cut grass. This slick is a telltale sign that helps anglers locate fish in the area. Spotted seatrout are often the cause of these slicks. However, they can also form from other fish such as red drum, black drum, southern flounder, ladyfish, hardhead catfish, and gafftopsail catfish.

Two scenarios can explain how slicks form. First, a predatory fish will consume a prey item such as mullet, menhaden, pinfish, bay anchovy, or shrimp. During consumption, the prey can be torn apart and release oily body fluids. Second, after a heavy meal, a predator will regurgitate its food (e.g., like a person burping), releasing fragments of its prey and even digestive juices. In either case, the contents are less dense than the surrounding saltwater environment and float to the surface, creating an oily slick. These slicks start small and can quickly expand in size, depending on the strength of the wind or current. If you come across a sizable one, it has had time to spread out, and you should position yourself upwind where the fish that created it will be holding.