Mississippi Gulf Fishing Banks, Inc.

Partial Activity Report for the Period
June 10, 2004 thru July 14, 2005

Summary
During this period, there was 1 Reef Monitoring Trip. On June 30, a trip was made to the Kay Eckstein Tug in FH-13 and the Miss Peggy in FH-2. Spotter operations may be covered by the DMR (Department of Marine Resources) under a different report.

050520 Kay A Eckstein, 431F13
Position: 29°59.552'N / 88°29.700'W

This large 150 foot Mississippi River Tugboat was sunk on May 20, 2005 in the southeast corner of FH-13 in about 88 feet of water. On June 30, some early video footage was obtained as a baseline for comparison with future video. Observations showed the vessel was sitting upright, facing east, and had a minimum depth reading of 61 feet measured at the top of the railings near the bow. The uppermost deck had been cut off and was sitting on end, just off the stern. The vessel’s name was very legible on the stern and read “KAY A ECKSTEIN” on the first line and “PORT OF ST.LOUIS” on the second line in smaller letters. The stern had apparently landed first plowing into the bottom. There are mounds of sediment and trenches around the stern area. Fish observations included enormous schools of cigar minnows estimated at over 50,000 count, perhaps a dozen spadefish and a half dozen or so juvenille red snapper. Perhaps 3 dozen Spanish Mackerel along with a few King Mackerel were seen in the mid-water. While presently not producing any gamefish worth mentioning, this reef looks very promising as a future diving and fishing site.





041122 Miss Peggy, 430F2
Position: 30°05.185'N / 88°34.542'W 12427.2/47043.7/29602.5

This 53 foot steel hull shrimp boat was sunk toward the west end of FH-2 on November 22, 2004. The vessel had originally sank just south of Deer Island and was salvaged, prepared, and deployed as a reef by John Ludwig. Observations on this trip showed the vessel to be sitting upright and had a minimum depth reading of 40 feet over the booms and rigging. There was a severe murk layer extending up off the bottom, preventing any hull observations. Fish observations included large schools of cigar minnows estimated at over 1,000 count, a few dozen blue runners and spadefish, along with a lone sheepshead, a lone mangrove snapper, and a lone Goliath Grouper estimated at around 40-50 pounds. No gamefish were sighted. The Goliath Grouper was friendly and should be able to be visited and fed by divers. Divers and fishermen are reminded that this species is a protected fish species and should not be harassed or harmed in any way.



http://primofish.com/        http://mgfb.org/        PRIMO's Link Page

EMail Author: Info@primofish.com