SORD HILTON’S WEEKLY SYNOPSIS
WEEK 11
Spring came a week early this year in the northern Gulf. This past week we have seen some beautiful weather as the air and sea temperatures begin to rise. We got a great report from the FADS of an abundance of blackfin and even a blue marlin getting caught there this past weekend. As we move west it is easy to see why Louisiana is one of the top spots for catching wahoo, and a lot of them! If you scroll through your instagram or facebook we can guarantee you will see a board of wahoo that will almost make you want to run 5 hours on a 31 contender in 3ft chop.
Sea surface temp
The best shot that we got this week came on Thursday the 14th. We are seeing the sea surface temperature continue to rise with pockets of 74-76 degree water popping up near the FADs as well as a large pocket sitting on top of the double nipple. It’s crucial at this time of year to keep a sharp eye on your water temperature while trolling open water or even structure. 1 degree or even half of a degree can make all the difference in the world to pelagics.
Altimetry
The Altimetry this week is showing that the upwelling we focused on last weekend in the MS Cannon is in fact pushing to the north east. An area of interest that we will be keeping an eye on is the double nipple as we are hoping that the upwelling will continue to push this direction. As was mentioned last week it is a great time of year to troll the “highways” between the upwelling and downwellings.
Currents
The currents this week have stayed pretty consistent, however, the strong currents that we were seeing to the east by the Squiggles have slowed down. An area that has caught our eye is over by that upwelling that we previously mentioned in the MS Canyon. We are seeing strong currents just south west of the former Independence Hub location that seem to be working their way up to the Appomattox and neighboring rigs.
Chlorophyll
The Chlorophyll charts this week are still showing a majority of the Gulf being covered in blended blue/green water. As we mentioned last week, this water is still conducive to catching nice fish, so there is nothing on here that is screaming to avoid. There is a pocket of blue water just south of the double nipple that we are going to keep an eye on, as this pocket can very well push east and cover up the western FADS. Unfortunately the blue water push that we saw at the squiggles last week was short lived just like the currents in that area.
Week 10
The Gulf of Mexico keeps getting better and better. We’re feeling like a kid right before Christmas… except Christmas is 3 months long. We’re talking about April, May, and June… the second best three month stretch in the Gulf, outshined only by October through December. We received reports back from quite a few different places with blue marlins, plentiful small YFT, and of course the jumbo bite off of Louisiana.
We are forecasting a great week of fishing in the Northern Gulf if the weather allows you to get out there. There should be plenty of fish to be caught in the MS Canyon, especially 50-70# yellowfin tunas, and the jumbos should stick around closer to the shelf off of Louisiana. The backflow eddy that spun off the loop current has now started to rescind, but the plus side here is that the nice water reached the FADS which are in reach for many from the Northern Gulf.
Sea Surface Temperature
There was a clear shot from earlier today that we are doing our analysis on. You will see an almost distinct line running from the Ram Powell across the FADS and then ending just west of the Madison Swanson. We expect the warm side of this line to be holding pelagics. Once you hit 75 degrees, start looking for contours to fish or floating structure. This temperature is a great temp for most pelagic species.
Altimetry
The altimetry this week shows a downwelling that is starting to move to the south. This downwelling is associated with the backflow eddy that had moved into the area and is now rescinding from the area back to the loop current. The upwelling that is over the MS Canyon right now is moving to the northeast and hopefully bringing in nutrient rich water to the shelf. This time of the year I love to troll the “highways” or the lines between upwelling and downwellings.
Currents
The strong backflow eddy that had moved into our area has started to veer to the east rather than still pushing to the north. This will continue to rescind back to the loop current and we should see current levels go back to normal in our area. You will see that the edges of the upwelling moving into the MS Canyon are being shown here in the currents shot. There are still current lines running west to east through the fads right now in that area of interest that we outlined last week. We would still highlight this area as an area of interest and if you find any rips or sargassum lines there, it would be worth it to stop and troll for a few minutes.
Chlorophyll
The chlorophyll shot has been covered by clouds north of the FADS so we drew in roughly what we expect to be there… green water. The backflow eddy pushed in some great blue water all through the MS Canyon reaching as far north as the Petronius and then it stretches east to FAD7. If you can find areas where the blue water meets the green, spend some time trolling through this area. The bonus of this clear water is that we should begin to see more bait moving into our area and we tend to see a hotter swordfish bite when the water is clear and blue.
WEEK 9 SYNOPSIS
The Gulf of Mexico keeps getting better and better. We’re feeling like a kid right before Christmas… except Christmas is 3 months long. We’re talking about April, May, and June… the second best three month stretch in the Gulf, outshined only by October through December. We received reports back from quite a few different places with blue marlins, plentiful small YFT, and of course the jumbo bite off of Louisiana.
We are forecasting a great week of fishing in the Northern Gulf if the weather allows you to get out there. There should be plenty of fish to be caught in the MS Canyon, especially 50-70# yellowfin tunas, and the jumbos should stick around closer to the shelf off of Louisiana. The backflow eddy that spun off the loop current has now started to rescind, but the plus side here is that the nice water reached the FADS which are in reach for many from the Northern Gulf.
Sea Surface Temperature
There was a clear shot from earlier today that we are doing our analysis on. You will see an almost distinct line running from the Ram Powell across the FADS and then ending just west of the Madison Swanson. We expect the warm side of this line to be holding pelagics. Once you hit 75 degrees, start looking for contours to fish or floating structure. This temperature is a great temp for most pelagic species.
Altimetry
The altimetry this week shows a downwelling that is starting to move to the south. This downwelling is associated with the backflow eddy that had moved into the area and is now rescinding from the area back to the loop current. The upwelling that is over the MS Canyon right now is moving to the northeast and hopefully bringing in nutrient rich water to the shelf. This time of the year I love to troll the “highways” or the lines between upwelling and downwellings.
Currents
The strong backflow eddy that had moved into our area has started to veer to the east rather than still pushing to the north. This will continue to rescind back to the loop current and we should see current levels go back to normal in our area. You will see that the edges of the upwelling moving into the MS Canyon are being shown here in the currents shot. There are still current lines running west to east through the fads right now in that area of interest that we outlined last week. We would still highlight this area as an area of interest and if you find any rips or sargassum lines there, it would be worth it to stop and troll for a few minutes.
Chlorophyll
The chlorophyll shot has been covered by clouds north of the FADS so we drew in roughly what we expect to be there… green water. The backflow eddy pushed in some great blue water all through the MS Canyon reaching as far north as the Petronius and then it stretches east to FAD7. If you can find areas where the blue water meets the green, spend some time trolling through this area. The bonus of this clear water is that we should begin to see more bait moving into our area and we tend to see a hotter swordfish bite when the water is clear and blue.
WEEK 8 SYNOPSIS
Week 8 Synopsis
We just had the two of the best weather days that the Gulf of Mexico has seen in 2024. This allowed for people to make overnight trips, multiple day trips, and run just about everywhere that is in reach. The reports that we have been getting back are that the schoolie tunas up to 70 pounds are abundant around the MS Canyon rigs. The Venice giant tuna bite has slowly died out after a hot start at the beginning of this week and the swordfish bite was not on for people out of Louisiana either. We did not receive any meaningful reports from the FADs or areas off of the shelf like the Nipple, Elbow, Steps, 131 Hole, etc.
This week we are forecasting a strong tuna bite at the floaters in the MS Canyon. Try and find rigs that are on the edges of the strong current push and between the upwellings and downwellings. Warm water continues to move north and we are expecting that it will bring pelagic species with it. If you focus on finding areas where there is either floating structure, bottom structure, or both we believe you will be successful in finding pelagic species. The theme for this time of the year is to find where the water is warmer and where the bait is, even a 2 degree warmer surface water can make all the difference in if you have a great day or a bad day. =
Sea Surface Temperature
There was a clear SST shot earlier today and we are starting to see this giant backflow eddy move even further north. It currently has hit the FADs and continues to move north. This warm water is similar to what we saw last year when the wahoo bite was the strongest it has ever been at the FADs. You will see that the MS Canyon and shelf rigs are all in warmer water now and this temperature is what we are looking for in the winter and spring when chasing pelagics.
Altimetry
You can see on here that we marked a few areas of interest that border the lines between the upwelling and downwelling. These would be great areas to start, especially the ones that overlap where there are oil rigs, fads, or shelf structure.
Currents
The current is continuing to move into our fishable area and it looks like some stronger currents are beginning to hit the fringes of the MS Canyon in the old Independence Hub location. We are hopeful that this strong current continues to move north, bringing with it warm water and pelagics not to far behind.
Chlorophyll
The chlorophyll has continued to improve in the fishable area of the northern GoM. We are seeing the blue water move in with the warm backflow eddy. Conditions should continue to improve as the current continues to bring warm, blue water from loop current into our area.
WEEK 43 SYNOPSIS
This week for the Alabama region in Hiltons we are forecasting an excellent week of fishing for when the weather gives you a chance to go fishing. The cooler temperatures that we are feeling on land are also being felt by the fish as a welcome relief to what was an incredibly hot summer. This time of the year we are not focused on finding rips or temp breaks as much as we are looking to fish structure.
SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE
If you click the THU Oct 26, 2023 07:40 UTC sea surface temperature (SST) shot, you will want to adjust it to be a max of 79 and a minimum of 75 to see what we are talking about. There is a push of warmer water that has settled from the nipple area working its way north to the southwest ledge and then across to the Ozark. This warm water push extends as far south as the double nipples and the FADs and we are seeing the temp being right around 79 for most deepwater oil rigs. If you go back to Tuesday’s (TUE Oct 24, 2023 02:40UTC) completely clear shot, you will see there is a temp break starting around the Viosca Knoll area and ending at the yellow gravel area. This area matches up with the bluewater push that we see on the chlorophyll chart and is worth monitoring into the weekend to see if it continues to come together.
ALTIMETRY
The latest altimetry shot for the day shows an upwelling happening at the deepwater oil rigs, which makes sense because there has been an extremely hot bite at the rigs for the last two weeks. This nutrient dense-water is being pushed to the surface near these structures which is the start of the food chain for pelagic predators. We expect these deepwater oil rigs to be holding fish for the next few months as long as the good altimetry stays on top of them.
CURRENTS
The latest current shot for the day shows the currents moving in a counterclockwise rotation in the same area that we are seeing the blue in the upwelling. You will also see where the currents break off of the counterclockwise direction and are headed north northwest towards the elbow and nipple area. The nipple and yellow gravel area would be an incredible place to fish this weekend for wahoo and blackfin if you can find a good bottom structure to troll. There are also strong current lines (For the Alabama Region) running through the squiggles straight north for guys fishing out of PCB that might want to hit the shelf in that area for wahoo and blackfin also.
CHLOROPHYLL
The latest chlorophyll shot (select 3 day shot) shows a big push of deep blue water that starts near Viosca Knoll over off of Louisiana and extends east northeast all the way to the nipple. The Gulf north of that bluewater push looks to be a clear green or blended blue green water, which is still ideal for chasing pelagic predators. We would expect that if you headed straight south from Orange Beach or Pensacola it would gradually go from green, to blended, to blue and we would not expect to be fishing a rip this time of the year as stated above. We would still choose either to run to the oil rigs for marlin and yellowfin tunas or to fish structure in 200-300 feet of water for wahoos and blackfins.