[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he offshore fishing seascape of November will be shaped by the seasonal arrival of cold fronts that will push down into the Florida peninsula from northern environs.
These fronts typically have a windy character and frequently present strong velocity winds that often times blow for several days on end. “Fresh” breezes of 20 knots will create a rough and choppy ocean during this calendar month, prompting fishing crews to use discretion on marginal or prohibitive weather days. User-friendly weather “windows” will open and allow for offshore surgical strikes in between the passages of these frontal boundaries. Air temperature changes and the resultant temperature transitions in the ocean, east of Stuart, will allow the water column to become populated with the first wave of winter fish visitors. Snapper, grouper, king mackerel, sailfish, and mahi (just to name a few) will shuffle positions along area reef zones in search of baitfish, cover, and quality water conditions. Several species of grouper and snapper will lead the target species hit list and be found tight to reef structures in 50-to-150-feet of water. Naturally occurring reef lines in 70-to-140-feet will be the go-to-zones for fishing during this period, and will become more desirable as these structures are enhanced by current edges, temperature changes, and/or baitfish that develop over top, or along these reefs. Surface condition like these, that coincide with “structure”, will be one’s best bet for successful fish catching throughout the water column, during the month of November.
