November is right on target for fall fishing in the Northwest panhandle of Florida. We started out the month catching lots of the oversized Spanish mackerel as these tasty pelagic fish were headed back south. The Bull Red Fish are here in big numbers, the bay Grouper fishing turned on, the Flounder bite was just getting fired up and out on the beach; there were False Albacore, King mackerel, Lady Fish, slot sized Red Fish and Pompano. Wow, what more could the inshore fisherman ask for!
The first week of the month was good – then here comes Ida, for those of you that were not affected by this tropical depression you were lucky, but I think that most of the readership of this article would have been affected. Although, these storms are good for the fishery it stirs up the water, it moves the bait around and the fish get moved around also. The pier fisherman and pompano fisherman will be catching Grouper as they cruise the beach in search of something to eat for the next few days.
As the water continues to cool down it will send the pelagic fish on to the south. You will continue to run into schools of Spanish mackerel on into December but the numbers of schools will be limited. But not to worry; who cares about catching a three pound Spanish when you're on a school of three hundred - twenty pound Bull Red Fish crashing the surface and eating everything that moves.
For the rest of November and into December the Flounder will be at the top of the list. You'll be able to find these fish around any structure that is holding some kind of bait. Sea buoys out of each of the passes will be a good place to start, if the conditions won't allow you to get into the Gulf, try the bridge pilings and jetties around each of the passes. Some of my best Flounder spots are public reefs in the Gulf that are in less than sixty foot of water. On good days that you can get into the gulf; check out some of the close in reefs for bait schools. If you mark up bait, drop down a bull minnow or a finger mullet and even live shrimp will do the job, you'll go through a lot of shrimp if that's your bait of choice or if it's the only bait available, so be sure and get plenty. I'll use the braided lines for the extra sensitivity and as little weight as possible on a Carolina rig with a twenty pound test fluorocarbon leader and a Gamakatsu 2/0 inline circle hook. I'll drift a few times to try and find the fish, after I catch a few fish I'll mark the spot then anchor up and fish it out.
But, for the most part it's all about the Bull Red Fish. I have fishermen come from all over the country to experience the thrill of being able to catch twenty-five pound fish till their arms are about to be pulled out of their shoulder sockets! I've had days that we caught over eighty fish in a five hour trip, but the average number for a good day would be around twenty five fish. For casters and fly-fishermen alike there is just better place to be able to accomplish this feat than right here along the Northwest Gulf coast.
I know one thing for sure - You ain't going to catch'em sittin' on the couch!!
So get out there, take a kid fishing and have a Blessed Day!
Professional Fishing Guide
Capt. Eddie Woodall
Full Net Fishing Charters L.L.C.
850-936-8203
www.fullnetcharters.com
A special thanks to my sponsors:
Blazer Bay Boats, Yamaha Outboards, SPRO Fishing Tackle, Gamakatsu Hooks, Big Bite Baits Inc. Lee Fisher Bait Buster Cast Nets, Pure Fishing Select Anglers Program, Berkley Gulp, ABU Garcia, Shakespeare Fishing, All-Star Rods, Penn Reels, X-Tools, Seven Strand, Johnson, Fenwick, Stren, Berkley, Spider and Pflueger.
