I’m expecting high, dirty water through November in the south ‘goon. Not only is this typical in November, but we have these conditions at the time of this writing (mid-October) and we’ll likely have dirty, high water for most of our Novembers in the future. Like I said, it’s typical!
While the water is way up pay close attention to shorelines with mangrove trees or other bushes; you’ll likely find redfish and black drum holding and feeding there. Just as not all “flats” hold fish equally, flooded shorelines will also have barren areas and hot spots distributed throughout any given section. Fish an area thoroughly and remember where you found activity and return there another day.
Especially on windy days I’ll retreat into the backwaters. While I often avoid the Pole & Troll Zones of the lagoon during much of the year I’m happy to pole through the isolated areas during November. I keep a rod rigged with an Aqua Dream Living weedless spoon, another rigged with a swim-tail bait like a Z-Man Paddlerz on a weedless jighead, another rod with a weedless shrimp or crab and of course a rod with a small walking plug. This has us ready for tailing fish, laid-up fish and cruising fish at a moment’s notice. Being well prepared is always crucial and more so during transitional periods.
Not only is the weather transitioning, but the fin-fish like mullet, pigfish and pinfish are reaching maturity and migrating from the shallows. As these critters become less abundant in the shallows the predatory fish rely more and more on shrimp, crabs, clams and even marine worms for their calories.
The natural bait anglers will still catch plenty of quality predators on cut mullet, ladyfish and other fin-fish chunks, but once the pigfish and pinfish leave the area cracked crab will become an awesome choice for both redfish and black drum.
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