Winter continues along the East Coast this morning. For those living in the south they too now know what winter, and snow, really feels like. Since the beginning of the year we have had three snow events before this weekend's "Bomb Cyclone". I'm no weather geek but "bombogenesis" occurs when there's a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure which creates strong winds, rain, snow, and blizzard like conditions. While I'm waking up to just more cold air temps, both inside and outside the house, snow, ice, and low temps have wreaked havoc from Virginia down through Florida, and to interior states as well.
While this winter has seen the death toll rise from accidents to exposure the story out of Gloucester, Massachusetts has hit the local fishing community extremely hard. On Friday the F/V Lily Jean, a commercial fishing trawler, went down with seven souls on board.
On board was a crew of six plus a NOAA observer who was tasked at overseeing fishing operations while the Lily Jean was out at sea. While there are no images of the six crew members who are missing and now presumed dead the story and images of the NOAA observer are now being released and reported.
Jada Samitt was 22 years old and had recently graduated with a degree in environmental biology and this was her first job at sea. Officially, the observer is not part of the vessels crew, so on board the Lily Jean was a crew of six plus her. This tragedy is reminiscent of the story of the F/V Andrea Gale who went down with six crew members in 1991 and was featured in the movie "A Perfect Storm" in 2000. Early reports speculate the Lily Jean went down due to storm related conditions which may have included being iced over which would have caused the 72-foot boat to capsize and sink. To date one body has been recovered. RIP to the crew plus one and their families, as well as the commercial fishing community.
While human suffering and sacrifices always first and foremost, I wonder what this rapid change in the weather will do to the fishes up and down the East Coast and around the tip of Florida into the Gulf of America, duly named by National Park Service. Up north fishes are used to the swing of water temperatures and do a pretty good job of finding those deep holes in the bays and rivers or take the ride out off the coast to ride out the winter. Sometimes though they don't fare well during the hot summer months, as we see with the massive menhaden die-offs from summer to summer here in New Jersey.
The last time I've seen a fish kill was when I was down visiting my Mom in Florida and a "Red Tide" had hit the shores along the Gulf Coast. A Red Tide, also known as a HAB, or harmful algae bloom, which can either release toxins or rob the oxygen in the waters which kill the fish.
Recently I was was talking to renowned guide Paul Dixon and we were talking about how the tarpon and bonefish fishery was doing down in Florida. As he explained the ebbs and flows of that fishery he mentioned the catastrophic fish kills due to low water temperatures. The last major fish kill event occurred in 2010 when inshore waters went down to just above 50 degrees. While some fishes may move out of the shallow estuaries to seek warmer weather, many do not and die. That also may occur from Virginia down to Georgia where many species come into the warmer waters in the shallows during the winter months. Just a week or so ago we were down
in South Carolina snooping around the low-tide waters looking for redfish that are active inside during the winter months. It's on the flood tides during the summer months where those fish are most active.
And as far as fishing. These conditions are am ice-fishermen's happy times. From the Adirondacks down to Maryland anglers make their way out onto the ice with shanty's and tip-ups looking for those ice through fish like bass, perch, walleyes, muskies, trout, and even striped bass.
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| OTW magazine photo- from Maine |
But ice fishing can be a dangerous hobby. On Facebook recently I saw a post just warning people about the Delaware River in Easton where some had made their way out onto the ice to fish.
Knowing the waters, and ice depths, are paramount for safety while ice fishing. And doing it with water that moves underneath calls for more awareness and safety precautions. Angles shouldn't fish alone, have a cell phone handy, and have a throwable device at the ready. Falling through the ice is bad enough, but falling through and going under the ice would be deadly. Ice fishing, and ice fishing on rivers, has been around for centuries, you just have to aware and smart.
So those are just some of the things that the cold weather brings to us. Add to that frozen pipes and high electric and oil bills and spring can't arrive soon enough. But as far as the waters where fish live these cold events, which bring snow, can be beneficial. Below is a drone shot by James Loesch. It shows a partial
James Loesch. It shows a partially frozen Delaware River in Trenton. Hopefully some flowing and open water will remain to reduce the chance of the river being frozen over, where ice dams would form leading to dangerous flooding when they thaw out.