The great fishing in October is expected to carry over in November so there is still time to fill your coolers. Spanish and King Mackerel will not be taken from the piers as those fish left us last month but, Novembers in the Carolinas still produce a lot of fish.
The spot runs we saw last month with carry over to November and sea mullet, croaker and few hold over pompano will be caught on the bottom as well. Bloodworms, cut shrimp and Fishbites are all excellent baits. Also if you are bottom fishing expect the return of northern puffers by the end of the month.
If greatness is what you aspire to in fishing then the North Carolina coast is where you want to go in November and red drum are the fish you should be targeting. That is because the last 3 world record redfish were caught on the Carolina coast in November. Fishing for drum requires stout tackle, heavy leaders and large hooks. Because creel and size limit for redfish are 1 fish between 17 and 28 inches it is recommended that you use circle hooks to be able to release any non-keepers without causing the fish any undue harm.
Because the adult red drum diet is mostly made up of fish cut bait of all kinds work the best. Most anglers recommend using a drum rig or aCarolina rig for presentation .Just about any area from behind the breakers to the end of the pier can be productive.
Large red drum have been showing up in good numbers all over the coast so it is a great time to go and try and picture worthy fish.
Speckled trout will be in abundance in November at the piers and anglers will be targeting them with live minnows and shrimp and artificials on jig heads like Gulp baits and Mirrolures. The size limit for specs is now 14 inches and you can keep up to 4 a day. They can be targeted anywhere on a pier but frequently the surf zone to behind the breakers are best.
Bluefish will be caught all month in November. Generally these will be the smaller fish up to about 2 pounds, but occasionally a larger school will come by. Gotcha plugs are ideal but bluefish will hit anything from a bottom rig with shrimp to a steel spoon.
Black drum will also be plenty. Use shrimp, squid or cut bait as black drum are bottom feeders. Black drum size can very greatly. They can be as little as the palm of your hand up to over 100 pounds. The world record black drum is 146 pounds.
November is an underrated fishing month in the Carolinas but anglers that know better target it as one of their favorites.
