By: Capt. Terry Fisher
The last couple of months have prevented many from fishing due to excessive heat, tropical depressions, hurricanes, rains, high winds and limited harvesting of inshore and offshore species. I am looking forward to this month as hurricane/storm season winds down and sub-tropical temperatures fade away. The fish are active and remain in good numbers. Know the rules for harvesting fish. Tide levels still allow access to ‘skinny’ locations, docks and seawalls prior to the coming winter months.
Look for things to begin to ‘chang-up’ in late November as we approach the first month of our winter in December. Early November should continue to offer great opportunities for redfish, snook, seatrout and mangrove snapper for inshore anglers on the higher tides. Weather permitting, offshore anglers will have a better chance at nice size groupers and snappers in water depths from 50-100 ft. as opposed to the deeper summertime depths of 130-160 feet. Numerous ‘pods’ of bait fish are offshore and proof the waters of Southwest Florida are healthy. Grouper, snappers and other reef species are plentiful. Look for the pelagic permit and king mackerel to be coming through our waters as well.
October yielded a good number of redfish with big bull reds. The snook bite was good as were the seatrouts and mangrove snappers. Throw the arrival of triple tail into the mix this month to make scouting and catching them fun experience(s) for anglers, not to mention fishing guides as well. November will be one’s best chance of scoring a ‘redfish of a lifetime’. The strategies to find and catch these fish rarely change but there are a variety of ways for both artificial presentations, live or dead baits.
My Recommended Strategies for Catching Big Redfish;
1) Fish the top half of the higher of the two daily tides around points of spoil islands and oyster beds. Fish in close!
2) Be quiet when moving in on a ‘spot’ to fish, as the bigger Redfish spook easily, they did not get ‘big’ by being ‘lucky’. Change locations frequently after 15 minutes or so if they are not biting, odds are they are not there or on a break.
3) Fish when the wind direction is in your favor for making a presentation.
4) Do not hesitate to re-fish previous locations that were non-productive earlier in the day or night. Fish move with water levels, water temperatures and to areas with food and protection.
5) Fish will bite on artificial, live, or dead bait presentations. Artificial presentations require the ability to move around and cover a lot of ground. Live bait or dead bait presentations, on the other hand, give anglers the opportunity to sit and wait a little longer in an area. However, both methods require moving to and from several areas to find the fish.
6) There are a number of live and dead baits that work, such as pilchards, pinfish, ladyfish and finger mullets. They may be presented live or ‘cut’. Some of the best artificial presentations include gold spoons and paddle tails, scented or unscented.
7) Do not arrive to fish the mangroves too early or too late. Most of our tides are in six (6) hour increments. Fish 3 hours before tide tops out or 3 hours after high tides. During a moon phase that supports a very high tide, allows the fish to seclude themselves deep into the mangroves. Conversely, the fish will be swimming out to the potholes on a low tide when there is not enough water to house them under the mangrove and other debris, thus making them harder to locate. It Is common sense That on a high tide they will be somewhere under or close to the mangroves as there is both food to eat and protection from enemies such as birds.
The Annual Fort Myers Boat Show is scheduled for November 14th -17th this year. 1ST Mate Vicki will be inside the Convention Center to greet clients and guests as they peruse the booths in search of any products that are marine related. I’ll be presenting fishing seminars at a location inside the convention center and invite everyone to checkout the times and subject matters for inshore, offshore and tarpon fishing. This year I will be joined by my fishing friend and counterpart, Captain Jay Rodriquez of Salty Native Fishing Charters here in Cape Coral and Ft. Myers. We will be rotating on an hourly basis discussing inshore and offshore fishing techniques that guarantee catching fish. The hourly seminars are sponsored by Coastal Angler Magazine, and will start daily at 10:30 through 3:00 PM.
I am available as ‘Captain for Hire’ on your vessel by the hour for safety, navigational, fishing techniques and locations. Check out my website at www.fishfacecharters.com. Contact me by phone at 239-357-6829 or email me at fishfacecharters@yahoo.com with any questions or to confirm a date on the water on your vessel or mine. This is Captain Terry Fisher wishing you ‘tight’ lines!