Where has this year gone??? Wow its November already, hey the good news is it's time for another one of my favorites to fish for; Speckled trout. These fish are a challenge to catch "sometimes" and it's a light tackle fishery! Here is how I catch trout and a few other species during November.
In early November I look for Speckled trout in the creeks and channels just off the ICW; any where water is moving with tide flow and bait. Speckled trout like current; whether it's hard current in a main channel or light current up a creek. You need current flow to catch trout; rising and falling tide can be good for trout don't let the tide keep you form going trout fishing! Marsh grass banks with oyster rocks that run in to a channel or along a marsh grass bank with oysters and drop-offs in channels are all good places to find Speckled trout in November. Later in November I start to find the trout in the above area as well as around the inlets in good numbers.
One key point to trout fishing I've found is that most days Specks will bite, but what are they hitting that day? I've found that hard baits work through November and catch all sizes of speckled trout. This is when you need to know where to start; what lures to try? One of my favorites is the good'ole MirrOlure; it's been around a long time and it is still catching fish. The patterns I prefer are the Catch 2000, 17MR, 18MR, 52M and 52MR. Colors; MirrOlure makes a lot of different colors but here are some of my go too colors around Wrightsville Beach area waters. MirrOlure color codes: 11, 21, 26, 51, 704, CFPR, CH, EC and HP. Any local tackle shop can help you with these color codes or go to www.MirrOlure.com for a color chart.
If you have ever done any trout fishing at all you know that a grub (soft plastic) lures work very good for Speckled trout too! Berkley Gulp shrimp three inch is a great bait form Berkley, I really like these baits. The colors I prefer in the Fire tail shrimp are rootbeer/gold chart tail, Cajun purple/chart tail, watermelon red glitter/chart tail and glow white/glow chart tail. In non fire tail color I like sugar spice glow. Saltwater Assassin's four inch sea shad in colors chicken on a chain, sweet pea, mullet, Green moon, rainbow trout and cantaloupe are all good choices in November as well. Remember when it comes to color; try light colors in clear water and darker colors in stained or dirty waters. The color chicken on a chain is great when the water gets stained from rain; which sometimes we get lots of in the fall around here!
Don't count out live bait if you would rather fish with it. Try live smaller mullets, mud minnows and live shrimp. In shallow waters of two to five feet I like to float these live baits with a cork. In deeper waters of six to ten plus I rig them on light Carolina rigs with a small #1 J-hook. Just wait until you feel that trout take off with the bait and lightly set the hook, remember trout have very soft mouths.
The Redfish bite can be good during November, sometimes while trout fishing I find nice schools of Redfish. November can also be a very good mouth for large schools of Reds in the surf or the creeks. Casting lures to these Reds like Berkley Gulp Ripple mullets or five inch jerkshads will surely get you a bite! Most all the time when I find Redfish in November they are hungry and ready to bite.
The Flounder fishing starts to slow down in later November, but you can still catch some big ones during November. A couple of years ago I had a client put a eight and a half pounder in the boat while we were trout fishing during November; talk about a fight on very light tackle!
There will also be just about all the Bluefish you can handle during November as well. Just look for the birds and bait schools close to the local inlets and cast metal spoons at these bait schools. 99.9% of the time there will be Bluefish there, just about every cast! Don't' forget to beef up your leader when catching Bluefish; I use forty or fifty pound fluorocarbon or mono when casting to Bluefish. You surely do not want to lose those trout lures to a bluefish!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II or Conflict Spinning reels sizes 2000, 2500 & 3000 for the Bluefish, Redfish and Speckled trout. Rods PENN Battalion 6'6" & 7' med/light and medium action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in eight, ten and fifth-teen pound. Leaders: Berkley Pro Spec Fluorocarbon leader material in 20 or 30 pound.
*Are you on Facebook? Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos, videos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Don't' forget to take a kid fishing and have a great Thanksgiving!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
