BigBendFishing.Net

Versus following other threads with folks questioning where the red tide has spread, opening this post FOR ACTUAL FIRSTHAND location reports from those on the board OR shares that can be followed / substantiated (i.e. satellite image updates from FWC, etc.)

Simple as that... hard information sharing that will be useful to others. Please DON'T use this thread for anything else or I'll do my best to get Bman to remove them... not the thread to question causes, argue over impacts to polar bears, or attack / defend Famous Jameis. Please also avoid sharing, "Heard from a friend of a friend's friend" updates.

In the interest of sharing hard information, here's the last satellite image FWC posted on 9/19/14. Using Google Earth, looks like we very likely are having some fish killed about 18 miles southeast of St. Marks / 15 miles or so southwest of Econfina. Here's hoping it doesn't spread much more before it's over and that this thread ends up being blessedly absent many additional updates.

My wife's husband's uncle's nephew says that the water should start cooling off pretty soon and this whole red tide fiasco will be but a memory.
Now, if only we can get Congress to....... Just Kidding

red_yakker wrote:My wife's husband's uncle's nephew says that the water should start cooling off pretty soon and this whole red tide fiasco will be but a memory.
Now, if only we can get Congress to....... Just Kidding

There are polar bears in the bigbend area?

Thanks BBG for the information

THANKS JARHEAD, GOOD TO KNOW ALTHOUGH I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GO FISH ANYWHERE TIL THIS HIP HEALS UP A LOT MORE, DOC SAID ABOUT 3-4 MORE WEEKS AND I SHOULD BE LIKE NEW.
PA
SEMPER FI

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for the next three days show strong offshore movement of surface waters and slow onshore movement of bottom waters for the bloom patch located at the coast near Levy County. The patch located south between Wakulla and Taylor counties and ESE of Franklin County is predicted to continue to move west. Offshore of Pasco and Hernando Counties, the surface patch is predicted to move NW, and bottom waters are predicted to move NE along the coast.

Today's map

Danibeth, many thanks for the updated map.

If you are interested or if things start to go badly, you can go to the source page where the FWC map is posted Red Tide Status scroll down a little below the static map and you will see a link for a Google Earth map, link title is listed as current Statewide Google Earth map for September 19, 2014., it allows for scrolling, zoom, point to point distance and it lets you click on the sample flags to get location specific sample details. Appears that the Google Earth data is not being updated until the Friday after the midweek update.

The medium flag showing up on the 09/19 Google map, not far from Pepperfish Keys is about 4.5 miles off the grass line and according to the new static map that area is sampling much higher now than last week.

Sure wish the satellite images weren't so obscured by cloud cover. Looks to me like there's a good bit more red indeed offshore of the Dixie/Taylor line, as well as westward movement as predicted earlier by FWC. Just hard to see if much northern movement occurred towards our nearshore waters because of the cloud cover / gray on the map. Maybe we'll find out with the next image post. Meantime, anybody actually running offshore who finds evidence of the bloom, please share here.

Red Tide Status Reports (September 26, 2014) per http://myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide/

Surface bloom starting approximately 5 to 35 miles offshore, dependent on location, between Franklin and Citrus counties, and less than 3 miles offshore of Cedar Key (Levy County). Concentrations of the red tide organism in these areas range from background to high.

Fish kills were reported last week off Rocky Creek Channel (Taylor County), Horseshoe Beach (Dixie County), and approximately 9-12 miles offshore of Keaton Beach (Taylor County), as well as offshore in the bloom area. No respiratory irritation has been reported alongshore the west coast of Florida; however, respiratory irritation is possible in the bloom areas.

Updated map.....


It is a little too close for my comfort.

I was out Wednesday 10-1-14. I fished from the Lighthouse to just past Palmetto Island and out to Grey Mare rock. I did not see any evidence of red tide or dead fish.

Latest map. Thankfully this one has less cloud cover so can see a bit more what's going on closer to shore in our area. On a positive note, looks like a good bit of the red that was approaching us offshore off of Dixie county has quieted down (compare to 9/26 map) apparently shifting further westward (not so positive for those who fish way offshore out of Carrabelle / St. George Island). Got excited when I first saw the map but then did notice that there is a thin band of low concentrations inshore off of the northern portion of Taylory county's coast, with spots of even higher levels possibly evident (looks like a few orange and red blips). Fingers AND toes crossed that it keeps calming down in general so that our area can dodge the bullet.

Anyone fishing out of Fenhollway, Econfina, or Aucilla this weekend sure be appreciated if reports are shared be they good news or bad.