November is a great month for offshore fishing out of Sebastian. The winds and tropical storms of October are gone, and winter fishing is easing its way in. Bottom fishing will really perk up out on the reefs as the cold fronts push down. Those pesky red snappers really fire up, but there will be lots of mangroves, trigger fish, and grouper that can be taken home for dinner. Mangrove snapper fishing will be especially good, but you must use the right gear to fool the big smart ones. Fluorocarbon leader is great but more importantly keep your leader fresh. The slightest scrape on your leader can make it look like anchor rope to those big mangos. Imagine the visibility difference between a glass window and one that has been scratched up. Lively live bait is always more effective because the fish will attack quickly, disregarding that cautious instinct to examine the bait. Spend the time to catch that bait in the morning. Check outside the inlet for flipping bait or clouds of bait on the sonar screen and through those small sabiki rigs at them. Or better yet, fill the well with pinfish and pigs the day before and get out there for the early bite.
Trolling in November will be on the upswing too. Dolphin, wahoo, blackfin tuna and sailfish will be taken by those who get out and drag baits where the water clears up. There will be less fishing pressure this time of year. Out of Sebastian, the edge of the Gulf Stream usually falls at about 180 feet (give or take a couple miles). This is a good area to work over thoroughly. As usual, look for sargassum weed and a color change. The best type of sargassum weed is that which forms a clear edge on one side. This gives away the location of a current rip and the fish will feed here. Try adding a small feather, or feather and strip bait to your spread for blackfin tuna. Drop it way back and keep it clean of weeds by checking it frequently.
Best of luck out there!
FORECAST BY: Capt. Randy Lang
Sebastian Gypsy Fishing Charters
Email: gypsycharters@gmail.com
Website: www.sebastianfishingcharter.com
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: We want to thank Capt. Randy Lang for providing the Sebastian Offshore Forecast for the past three years. Capt. Randy is “retiring” his Coastal Angler pen and plans on enjoying a slower pace and spending more quality time on the water. Fair winds and fair seas Capt. Randy! We hope you’ll still share some great photos and fishing stories/techniques when time permits.
