Welcome to the November issue of Coastal Angler Magazine’s Okeechobee edition. The long hot summer is over and the end of the year is just around the corner. But before we write-off the Year 2015, we have a lot of great holidays, festivals, and activities to look forward to.
In November we’ll welcome back our local bass and crappie (specks) populations into the shallows for spawning. Though these will be the early arrivals, it still beats having to search out scattered fish in the open water. The best way to encounter the spawning bass females will be to fish structure and channels near the edges of open water and the grass beds. They’ll be using these structured highways to move in and out of their spawning beds through-out the season.
Since they’ll also be expending great amounts of energy during this period, that means they’ll be hungry as well.
In addition to the return of the bass, November typically marks the return of northern migratory waterfowl. However this year the pattern may be impacted by the much talked about strong El Nino which is expected to bring warm weather across much of the northern states. If the northern grain fields remain snow-free
deep into winter, then the ducks may have less desire to make their annual flight to sunny south Florida. With or without ducks, the mini season runs from November 21st through November 29th and Phase Two opens on December 12th and runs through January 31, 2016. As always, check with the FWC website for the details for each species of waterfowl. For those interested in deer, the general gun season also opens in November for all zones except for Zone B. Again refer to the FWC website, www.MYFWC.com, for specific dates and regulations in the areas you plan to hunt.
Finally with the weather getting cooler and the return of our friends and family from up north, festival and fair season will be getting off to a quick start. CAM Okeechobee provides the dates and locations of many of the local and regional events in the Community Events page of this magazine so check it out and support your local communities by attending these great family oriented activities. Remember the Holiday Season is meant to be spent with friends and family so get out, participate, and build lasting family memories.
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