Hello from Matagorda, Texas. Folks we are getting closer to the start of bluewater fishing time here on the Texas Coast. Since my last editorial, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) has made the determination that the Amberjack quota has been reached and the Gulf of Mexico Amberjack season closed on March 24, 2017. What that means is that the recreational harvest of greater amberjack will remain closed until January 1, 2018. NOAA fisheries is required to close the recreational sector for greater amberjack when the recreational annual catch target is reached, or is projected to be reached. The 1,255.600 pound whole weight recreational annual catch limit for 2016 was exceeded, requiring the 2017 annual catch limit and annual catch target to be reduced by the amount of the overage in 2016.
Here is the problem, the folks in Florida are the ones who have been catching the gulf wide portion of the Amberjack quota because of the good weather and close proximity to the Amberjack waters. So we here in Texas are penalized because of the folks in Florida catching so many Amberjack. Isn’t that ridiculous? We need to split the Gulf of Mexico into 2 separate regions so it can be managed better. I can tell you, our area of the Gulf of Mexico has an abundant amount of Amberjack population. The offshore weather here in Texas has been horrible since Amberjack season opened January 1st, 2017 so Texans have not been able to catch many Amberjack at all.
We made a trip offshore the weekend of April 8th. It was a short weather window, but this time of year we don’t have many opportunities to go offshore. Made our way out to some bottom area around 70 miles out to do some deep dropping in 1000 plus feet of water. Ended up with several Barrel fish, Tilefish and Hake. If you haven’t had the opportunity to eat Tilefish, you don’t know what you’re missing. Deep dropping is gaining popularity because of the tighter regulations that the fisheries services has placed upon other fish.
Good news is that we seen several weed patches that were forming and also lots of scattered weeds. This maybe a good year for the weeds to return and bring in some mahi mahi.
Speaking to other charter captains and word around the marina is that kingfish are starting to show up as well as ling. Hopefully the wind gods will decide to take it easy on us this season and we can all get out and enjoy the bluewater.
Captain Mark Holland | Matagorda Sportfishing and Offshore Tackle | www.matagordasportfishing.com