# How does salinity effect fishing?



## Red Fly (Jan 23, 2008)

Does anyone know of a study or had experience in the effects of the change in salinity on fishing in the bay area. With all the recent rain (and understanding that is also muddy as heck) does the change play an effect. Do the the fish tend to move farther out into the bay or even out the pass? 

Just a question, one of those wake up in the morning and "I wonder...."


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## BloodyWaters (Nov 22, 2008)

i got the answer, but man i dont want to post it for all to see. some secrets are better left secret! Capt Ollie, Team Bloody Waters Kayak Fishing Team.


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## FishAddict (Feb 2, 2009)

It sure does, it is what you are thinking. Some species can tolerate more fresh water than others, some not so much.


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## 90mph (Mar 7, 2009)

I talked about this very subject with Dr. Bob Shipp recently. He convinced me enough that I bought a Salinity Refractometer to keep a check on my fishing waters. Specks and redfish prefer a salinity of 27 - 32 parts per thousand and a temp of 72 - 76 deg F. This is not to say they won't be in waters outside these parameters but they will seek out the water closest to their preferences.


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Capt Wes said on the OUTCAST show that specks get run out toward the passes when we get a lot of rain. The salinity gets lower around the rivers and bays. The salinity is obviously higher nearer to the gulf. The trout prefer a higher salinity, at least to a point. Then, when it doesn't rain for awhile the trout move back toward the rivers because the salinity increases up near the rivers.

In about 15 years of flats fishing I've come tobelieve he's probably right. But I still try to prove him wrong with my own particularfishing techniques.:banghead:banghead:banghead:banghead

Jim


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## mdrobe2 (Oct 12, 2007)

I sat on my dock at the mouth of Escambia River and saw the following- alligators, gar, croakers, reds- some over slot, specks- most legal or just shy, bass- legal, stripers/hybrids- large, flounder- most were the size of a leaf and floating- spawning anyone? or just legal for the adult fish- 12-15 inch. My buddy would let his freelined live shrimp sink and catch flounder regularly.Salinity is a funny thing- the salt water seems to lie beneath the freshI assume due to density. We would dive and feel the tempdifference- we had 10-15 ft. of water. Muddy bottom. We caught sheepshead at Gulf Power while we watched beavers and river otters. Don't believe? Don't care- we were there, but it was pre Ivan. Don't know what it is like out that way now. I'm a Perdido regular now. All I can say is, we used to feed our dock fish live shrimp because we got tired of catching them. Bass eat live shrimp. My Mom had a pet bass that always hung around one of the dock pilings. My Dad andI got into the rum and cokes and the bass ate a live shrimp my Dad had on a line. He/she never came back! We never told my Mom what happened. I think she just assumed it left! Bottom line, I don't think the fish move a whole lot, they just adapt, as we anglers should, and do. Our crab traps always had crabs in them, but they weren't real big!


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## pb&jellyfish (May 1, 2008)

I caught a few small reds near the lower part of the bay yesterday and they sure looked dark for being caught in that area.


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