There will be a lot of action this month on shallow and deep grass flats and in the coastal gulf. Snook will make their way towards backcountry areas, staging along sandbars as they go. Reds and trout will spend more time feeding on shallow flats as water temperatures cool. In the coastal gulf, Spanish and king mackerel, little tunny and cobia will follow bait schools south as the gulf water also cools. This may also be your last chance at a tarpon until next season.
You'll find snook around docks and bridge fenders and staging along sand bars this month. As the water cools with each front, snook will move and gather in areas before moving again. I do very well during November fishing sand bars and potholes of shallow flats in north Sarasota Bay. I prefer top water baits early in the day and jigs and plastic baits later in the day. Night snook fishing also heats up this month. Snook will feed heavily on glass minnows and shrimp in the ICW from Sarasota to Venice. Small white flies, like my Grassett's Snook Minnow, and similar sized plastic baits will work well. Choose peak tidal flows for the best action.
Reds and trout will spend more time feeding on shallow flats due to cooler water. Casting top water plugs early in the day is a good option, switching to sub surface baits (jigs and plastic baits) as the day goes on. I like to cover water with CAL jigs and shad tails to find fish. You can also add a Chug Head and weedless hook to these tails to work them on the surface like a popper. Fly anglers can also throw poppers early in the day and switch to sinking flies, such as Clousers or Grassett's Flats Minnow later in the day. The Terra Ceia Bay area, north Sarasota Bay and Gasparilla Sound are among my favorite fall trout and redfish areas.
You might also find pompano, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on deep grass flats along with trout. Sometimes there will be birds on bluefish or mackerel, but you might have to make a series of drifts, casting ahead of your drift, to locate them. I prefer to use CAL jigs on spinning tackle or Ultra Hair Clouser flies fished on intermediate or intermediate sinking fly lines to locate fish. Casting top water plugs or fly poppers is another good way to locate blues and mackerel. Pompano may "skip" on the surface giving their presence away. When this happens, circle up wind of the area and drift back through, casting ahead of your drift. You may also find pompano in passes where you can catch them by vertical jigging with 3/8 or -ounce pompano jigs or Clouser flies fished on fast sinking fly lines. Sarasota's Big Pass, New Pass and deep grass flats close to these passes are great areas to fish.
Tarpon may rally for one last feeding frenzy before migrating away for the winter. Look for them mixed with Spanish mackerel, blues and little tunny as they feed on glass minnow schools in the coastal gulf. Last fall the coastal gulf off Siesta Key was "hot" with action. Tarpon and king mackerel skyrocketed through bait schools and the longer fish were on the surface, the more species joined the fray. You should also find juvenile tarpon in Peace River canals in Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda early in the month. These are resident fish that will head further up river as the water cools. Look for rolling fish and work plastic baits slowly along the bottom. Fly anglers can accomplish the same thing by stripping Tarpon Bunnies or Enrico Puglisi flies slowly near the bottom with fast sinking fly lines.
The coastal gulf should be hot during November. Look for Spanish and king mackerel, bluefish and little tunny this month. I like to fish "breaking" fish whenever possible. Look for surface activity such as diving terns or baitfish and predators launching themselves out of the water. You will need to add a trace of wire to keep the toothy critters from biting through your leader. Don't run through schools of breaking fish, but instead get ahead of them and work around the edges of the school to avoid putting them down. If you don't find them on the surface, consider fishing one of the many artificial reefs in the coastal gulf off Sarasota. I like to drift over the structure and cast a jig or fly on a fast sinking fly line to catch them in deeper water. You might also find cobia over structure so be prepared for bigger fish when doing this. Cobia and tripletail may also be found on the surface swimming around crab trap floats, buoys or floating debris. I like to cast surface walking plugs, plastic baits or flies with big profiles to cobia (many tarpon flies work great). Tripletail are suckers for a well placed DOA shrimp, shrimp fly pattern or slow sinking flies fished on a floating or intermediate sink tip fly lines. Target areas of natural hard bottom in the coastal gulf, such as Whitney Rocks off Longboat Key, Point of Rocks off Siesta Key and Grassy Point off Casey Key to find tripletail and cobia. Stone crab traps will be plentiful in the coastal gulf in November and will be great places to find cobia and tripletail.
This is one of my favorite months of the year. There are plenty of options in both shallow water and the coastal gulf. I like to take advantage of the fast action that can be found in the coastal gulf during November when conditions allow it. Whatever you choose to do, remember to always limit your kill, don't kill your limit!
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook Fin-Addict Guide Service, Inc.
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com