South well fluke

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Duffman

The surface temp swings I’ve seen this year are the weirdest I’ve ever encountered.

I’ve seen 80* at the dock, 75* mid bay, 68* at the Hook then 57-62* around Scotland and East. All on the same day!

Some crazy fluctuations for sure.

Temps in the shrews and navasink been holding at almost 80.
Coldest I have seen has been 78 last few weeks .
Don’t understand how it’s possible with incoming at 60.
Guess the mud flats are holding the heat

[Broad Bill]

Originally Posted by Duffman

The surface temp swings I’ve seen this year are the weirdest I’ve ever encountered.

I’ve seen 80* at the dock, 75* mid bay, 68* at the Hook then 57-62* around Scotland and East. All on the same day!

Some crazy fluctuations for sure.

Lot of warm water pouring out of the Hudson, Raritan, Arthur Kill, Navesink and Shrewsbury from heavy rains combined with some very warm days with heat indexes approaching 100. Once that water hits the cold ocean upwelling water, it won't mix with the colder ocean water. It'll stay on the surface and be pushed offshore the result of the southerly wind upwelling effects and be replaced by cold water being pushed in from deeper, colder offshore water. Remember cold water weighs more than warmer water and the warm water on outgoing tide stays on the surface and is pushed offshore. The water you're reading in the ocean, especially on the bottom, isn't the warmer bay water it's the colder water being pushed in from offshore. In other words, you're comparing two different bodies of water between the dock and the ocean.

I'm sure many have heard this but this is what upwelling does. Take your index finger and thumb on your right hand and place them in an "L" shape. Point your index finger in the direction the wind is coming from and whatever direction your thumb is facing is where the warmer surface water is headed. Point south, surface water is heading offshore. Don't ask me how, just the way all the contributing factors influencing water movement work. That's how upwelling impacts water movement. Lighter warmer surface water gets blown offshore and displaced with colder offshore water which is what we're experiencing. They don't mix. Think of it the same way as the offshore guys looking for warm eddie's that broke off from the Gulf Stream which are surrounded by colder water. Eventually the water will mix and the warm eddie will disperse but inshore that displacement happens a lot further offshore than at the mouth of inlets and bays.

[bulletbob]

well stated.. Here in sweetwater land, we see a similar phenomenon. When the thermocline sets up in summer, there is virtually no "mixing".. The cold water stays on bottom despite the wind, no matter how strong, how long , or what direction.. It only mixes when the warm surface water cools down and starts to sink, and temps become uniform ... I would imagine the huge mass of the oceans react differently to prolonged wind direction than inland lakes do, no matter how large the lake is


The warm water from the shallow bays and the tributaries won't "warm up" those cold ocean temps .. We have seen several seasons over the years, when that strong southerly flow kept ocean temps cool all summer, and fishing was just not what it should be.. Still a lot of time.. Once the westerlies become more prominent the ocean temps will shoot up quickly.. They tend to make up for lost time. I was thinking something was "off" a bit when I was still seeing reports of some Whiting still being caught inshore in mid to late June... bob

[Broad Bill]

Bob I remember a few years back people on the beach were frying on 100 degree days in July but refused to swim because the water was frigid. Same as what's happening right now.

[bulletbob]

It happens some years.. Decades ago we fishermen didn't really understand what was going on.. The first people that made us aware of it really was party boat captains. I imagine they have understood it for a very long time... Again, to compare fresh and salt water, some years the thermocline sets up very early, other years it barely sets up at all.. The guys here troll relentlessly, for most locals thats all they do. Guys scream when the Tcline is late. The salmonids are concentrated right around the Thermocline, and when its not there, they can be anywhere from the surface to 200 feet deep...

[Broad Bill]

It's all about forage, water temps and overall conditions. If these southern winds stop before the July full moon and fish flood in from the east, the fishing should turn on otherwise it'll be a shorter season.