The Menace and Its Benefits

Our evolving sport introduces loads of new anglers to the splendor of our Texas beaches. Over recent years we've reached a new zenith in this modern era of shark and surf fishing. During this time frame, our tackle technology became redefined and optimized. Both reel and line choices have come to accentuate our favored way of fishing. Fishing overall has been exceptional lately, interrupted by minimal red tide and other destructive natural events.

We have no idea how long our luck will last. Anyone familiar with fishing our beaches for more than a few years has been introduced to one truly menacing aspect of the endeavor. This nightmare can render a stretch of beach unfishable for days, even weeks on end. This ravaging plague comes in the dark form of sargassum seaweed suspended in upper parts of the water column.

Due to the variable nature of ocean currents, we've largely avoided this troublesome weed for most of the last decade and a half. But all should remain aware; the menace once wreaked havoc on surf fishermen, with no capacity to care about the consequences, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Much of our sargassum makes its way into the Gulf after being spun out of the Sargasso Sea, a body of water with no boundaries, which fluctuates in size relative to the proliferation of its blooms.

Though it cannot really be accurately measured, the Sargasso Sea is considered to be roughly half the size of the continental United States. The clockwise circular currents in the area generally keep its contents contained within its imaginary boundaries, but on occasion, winds or currents shift enough to send large amounts of the weed into the Gulf of Mexico. Systems like hurricanes can fling massive patches of sargassum our way. Sometimes the beaches of the Caribbean islands catch most of it, but at other times the rafts roll right through the Straits of Florida and into the Gulf.

Once in the Gulf, sargassum, a floating type of brown macro algae, rides the currents of the Gulf Stream all the way to the Texas beaches. During traditional peak surf fishing months we always run the risk of being pummeled by miles and miles of the noxious weed. Alarmingly, we had unusually high amounts of sargassum floating onto our beaches this past winter. At the beginning of spring we saw some of the weed consistently, but only at moderate levels. I'm hoping all this doesn't mean we're headed for an all-out blitz of the stuff once warmer weather arrives.

When sargassum weed rolls in thick enough, fishing the surf becomes impossible. I've seen mats of this monstrous weed the size of football fields come ashore, one on top of the other. When that much sargassum blankets the beach, the waves can't push anymore onto the sand. Any new rafts rolling in get stuck in the water, filling the first and second guts from top to bottom. When I got my start in the beach fishing scene over twenty years ago the sargassum seaweed terror was considered a springtime norm.

Back then, we fished the few days we could, then waited until summer, when the weed finally relaxed and disappeared. At its worst, I saw sargassum stacked four-feet thick along the beaches of Padre Island. South Texas receives more of the weed during the late-spring, while the upper coast can get heavily impacted during the summer. Both the timing and the degree of harshness are relative to when and where the mass concentrations get pushed into the Gulf.

For folks casting out baits, and sharkers fishing with baits deployed hundreds of yards out from shore, a few small clumps can completely hamper the effort, by snagging on lines. In order to best deal with sargassum, I converted to using all braid on my shark reels many years ago. Braided line is smaller in diameter compared to monofilament, with nearly zero stretch. This means you can run lines at an angle straight into the current. If weed gets onto a line that is tight and facing into the current, it usually slides up the line, which is tolerable, to a point.

It's important to note that the presence of sargassum is not all catastrophic; the floating algae plays a vital role in the health of our marine ecosystem. The amount of life taking refuge in the rafts, including shrimp, crabs, fish and many other organisms, is simply stunning. Anyone can verify this by picking up a handful of the stuff and shaking out a variety of life-forms. I've done this to obtain triggerfish and other species for my aquariums.

 Anglers tossing lures can work around the rafts better than those deploying baits on leaders, and this allows them to catch some unusual fish in the surf at times. When we have thick, springtime weed events, I've noticed more cobia and tripletail in the waters lying close to shore. While it's rare, I've caught both these species from the sands of our beaches. Most likely, this happens because the floating rafts of weed bring an abundance of small marine critters close to land. Predators like cobia, tripletail, mahi-mahi and others feed readily on these.

While we do currently have a good amount of sargassum washing in from offshore, only time will tell how the next couple of months will go. I expect at least a minor amount to be present on all my upcoming surf fishing trips. I'll work around small amounts of weed, but will leave a badly affected stretch of sand in search of cleaner waters, always remaining positive, remembering the fact the weed does support copious amounts of life. I'll also remind myself of a welcome fact—the plague usually subsides early in summer, just in time for the peak of big-shark season.