Big fish kill at Sabastion inlet Fla

[Seajay]

Me and Willa decided we should go out to the inlet and catch some more Blues. We loaded up the ''For Play'' (our little boat) with water and crackers and fishin' stuff and headed for the inlet. On the way out we saw several Menhaden floating on the surface like someone had dumped their bait bucket. (note, Menhaden are small bait fish). We chugged along and came across more Menhaden floating on the surface. Hummmmmmmmm? We got about a mile from the Sabastion Inlet and we could see many bait fish on the surface of the water and seemingly hundreds on the bottom in shallow water. We got out to Number 8 marker and tossed over the ''Gator lures'' (silver spoons) and started tolling toward the bridge still seeing more bait fish floating on the surface. We got down to 1A marker and made a turn and the south shore of the inlet was at least 6 inches deep in Menhaden fish. ALL DEAD..... The bottom was littered with dead fish also. There were guys out there with five gallon buckets scooping the bait fish up. They were going to sell them for ''cut bait''.... One guy said it was probably ''red tide'' that had killed the fish and we heard on TV that nite that it was too many fish in too small an area and they had depleted the oxygen in the water and they all died.

Our campsight is at least three miles from the inlet and we are getting dead Menhaden on the shore out here. I rake them in a pile and bury them in the sand but I am running out of ''places'' to bury then.

If the ocean dont take those dead fish off the shore over at Sabastion Inlet I bet the campground over there will be empty by now. They dont smell like roses after a while .......

God keep our troops safe ........

[JohnJoanW]

We are headed to Longpoint Campground tomorrow. Do you know if it will be a problem there?

[Seajay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnJoanW We are headed to Longpoint Campground tomorrow. Do you know if it will be a problem there?

We are at Long Point CG now. We are getting some ''wash up'' of dead Menhaden but not bad. We are so far from the inlet that very few are coming in over here. Most folks are simply raking them up and burying them in the sand. I need to do the same right now. The dead fish are maybe six inches wide and not very thick at all. They are kinda ''stinkie'' to say the worst and they will probably all be gone over here by tomorrow. I do not see any more floating on the water.
Word to the wise ...... I really hope you have reservations for a spot over here because this is a really popular place and it is usually full or very nearly full this time of the year. Maybe the fishin' will come back soon.

Lets all support our troops and tell them THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

[JohnJoanW]

Yes, we have a reservation and will be on site 163. The fishing has been good near here at Manatee Hammock this week. We have been going mostly over to the NWR. We hope it will be good there while we are there, but weather forecasts are not great.

[seajays lady]

In my entire life I have never seen anything like the massive fish kill at Sebastian Inlet. It looks like a scene in a disaster movie. Dead fish are everywhere! Everyone knows what happens to fish when they are not refrigerated. It is going to be warm tomorrow. I figure that by tomorrow night there will be a stench that will be almost be unbearable. BUT, I have a plan! I have decided that the best way to solve the problem is for all the RVers to dump their black and grey tanks on the ground so things will smell better around here! ( now before someone sends me a feisty message, I am just joking. BUT it would work!)

[mick]

Well, sailors do that every day. Marines dig holes.

[Wayne M]

Thanks Mick.

[JohnJoanW]

Thankfully, between tides and wind most of the dead fish have left us and the fishing will be good again, hopefully. This would have been much worse without the wind keeping the smell to a minimum.

[Texun1]

I was born and raised in FL. That is a common occurance with Menhaden in the winter. They are excellent Redfish bait