By Capt. Jamie Thrappas, Yellow Dawg Fishing
November is a welcome change for a few reasons including lower temperatures and the wrap up of hurricane season! I hope everyone made out ok and are safe with the storms of October, we saw lots of damage in Volusia but I was impressed with the amount of local support I seen with family and community members all helping each other. That being said November is a really good month for fishing!
Early November it will still be a hot fall bite at the inlet with a good number of bull redfish being caught and a lot of good snook fishing to be had! If you’re fishing from a boat around the inlet or from the jetties or shore, try using live blue crab. For whatever reason in November they really want this for their meal, maybe they have become sick of mullet as the fall run comes to an end. I like to pop the shell off and halve these baits before putting my 3/0 or 4/0 circle hook through the back fin knuckle. These baits should be on the bottom with 2 ft of 30-40 lb fluorocarbon leader. I also like to swap these baits out every 15 min or so to keep them fresh. If you can find fish drop ahead of them and they will pick up on the scent in no time!
Big stud slot and over slot snook are fun to target in November. I’ve had some of my best night dock light fishing for big snook this time of the year before water temperatures start to fall. Especially those first couple cold fronts with cooler nights. If you can time one of these fronts with an outgoing tide you should be able to score! I prefer select shrimp with a longer 4-5 ft 25 lb fluorocarbon leader for this type of fishing and a 3/0 circle hook. Stealth is also key to this type of fishing including your noise level and your set up, so no swivels: tie your leader directly to your braid. Don’t over work a light or keep throwing right into the light, work the edges. If you get a few fish move on to the next light, you can always come back an hour or so later and get another bite.
Get out there and enjoy some fall weather, and always feel free to stop up at our shop, Yellow Dawg Bait & Tackle, 35 High Bridge Road in Ormond Beach to pick our brains on fishing. If you see us out there say hello!
