November is finally here. We have had a long summer and fall is here with warmer than normal temperatures last month. The waters should start cooling off for the winter soon and the fishing should be as good as it gets as fish try to pack on winter weight.
Inshore, the smaller bait stealers should be gone by now and the black drum, trout, sheepshead, flounder and redfish are left until some of them migrate out to spawn later on, this month starts some of the best fishing using plastics of the year.
Trout tricks, mirror lures, gulp, Zman and many others will work best this month, when the waters are warm, there is no shortage of shrimp, crab and minnows in our creeks.
As the waters cool, these baits seek out deeper water or sometimes head out to sea until warm waters return in the spring.
Using plastics in the summer can be difficult because there is so much bait already in the water but now, the fish are hungrier and more easily caught on plastics.
The best time to fish this month for trout is on the higher tides along the shorelines. Rig a live or plastic shrimp pattern under a popping cork and set your depth to just above the bottom so that your rig will float down the bank and not get hung up on the oysters underneath.
November has been one of the best months for inshore sheepshead fishing over the years, fish for sheepshead on the lower tides using live shrimp or fiddlers just off the bottom around docks, piers, pilings, or other structure.
Recommended Reading: Going After The Reds – By Jiggin Jerry
The nearshore reefs are always a good place to catch numbers of fish when the winds are calm, Black drum and sea bass are the mainstays but large reds and other fish will be out there as well. We use the same rigs and tackle as inshore unless we are trying for the bull reds.
We take a variety of baits out there and try different ones to see what is working best that day. Mullet, shrimp and mud minnows, and fiddlers are the live baits and any fresh, dead bait will work too.
Shrimp will catch anything that swims, crabs are generally only used for sheepshead but black sea bass, reds and black drum will also eat them.
Always make sure someone on lands knows your scheduled return time and which reef you are heading to just in case something happens, There are not near as many other boaters on the water this time of the year.
Capt. Michael Waller
SaltFisher Charters
843 224 8197
