Texas is so different than what I'm used to...the water is normally 60F or above...and that is what the fish are acclimated to. Having fished only the Oregon coast, high mountain lakes and rivers, and Montana lakes, it never occurred to me that cold water could kill off game fish.

We're having a cold snap this weekend, with the highs dropping to the low 30s and the lows dropping to the low 20s, so the water temps will be falling also.

In 1983, there was a severe cold snap that killed off as many as 20 million sea creatures in the bays here, and, just as the fisheries were recovering, in 1989, there were 2 more episodes of severe cold weather that killed off millions more fish. One of the cold snaps even froze the bays!

Having fished only cold waters before we came here, it seemed strange to me that Fish and Game would close the waters to fishing due to cold weather...but looking at it logically, it makes sense that fish that are fully acclimated to nice warm water would have difficulties when it gets cold.

So, no fishing for at least a few more days...for the fishery's sake.

Another interesting point...I was watching a tv show about Texas Fish and Game and the ranger was heading out in his boat during a cold spell to a bay not very far from here. He was heading out to net sea turtles in the bay. I didn't know that if the water temps dropped below 50F, that sea turtles become stunned and can't keep themselves afloat to breathe, so they sink and drown. So the rangers were netting them, taking them to a facility to keep them warm, and then releasing them into the warmer waters of the Gulf when the weather got a little better.

I like learning about new places...I hope you do, too!