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November Surf Fishing
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My pompano tied the 40-year-old Georgia state record for female angler from 1982!
In the wake of Hurricane Ian, many of the beaches in Northeast Florida have been damaged, some very severely. Now some beaches that had easy access for surf anglers with large beach carts are completely inaccessible. As annoying as this might be, I see it as an opportunity to find new places to fish. Who knows? You might find a new honey hole and favorite sweet spot for fishing.
November will bring a cool down to our water temperatures, resulting in many more species running the beaches. I don’t know about you, but October’s fishing has been difficult, yet rewarding. We still can’t find sandfleas, and wind and current here were been intense. I fished two tournaments this October, and in both, I failed to catch one tournament fish. But it wasn’t just me; others had a hard time as well. The tournament this last Saturday had high winds and current pulling so hard that even 3-4 oz. sputniks weren’t holding very well. It was difficult, to say the least.
Here’s the rewarding part: On October 8-9, I traveled with my husband to St. Simons Island, Georgia, to fish the Running of the Bulls redfish tournament with the Kids Can Fish Foundation. Though I didn’t catch a redfish at all, I ended up catching a pompano that tied their 40-year-old state record for female angler from 1982! I just got the beautiful certificate in the mail, and we are sending news out about it everywhere. am still wrapping my head around it! What a great catch that was! Fortunately, I was filming with my GoPro the whole time so I captured it to post on the Fishin’ Girl YouTube channel.
Bait
Well, the sandfleas still have yet to make their debut this year. I don’t know about you, but I ditched bringing the sandflea rake at all on most trips. However, in spite of their absence on the exposed shoreline, the proof of their presence has been found in fish being caught with stomachs full of sand flea parts. Hearing this, I have been using the sandflea Fishbites paired with salted shrimp, and have done pretty well with that and a few other choice flavors such as crab and clam. Along with the Fishbites, I always have The Sinker Guy glass beads and my homemade salted shrimp. Those seem to always produce for me, even when I can’t get my hands on live bait.
Mark Heffler of the Flagler Sportfishing Club notes that the main bait of choice he is seeing on hooks in the surf is shrimp. And though pompano normally bite on sandfleas, they will bite on shrimp fished on a standard pompano rig or a pompano jig tipped with shrimp.
The mullet are still running, especially around the Jacksonville area. Further south they are harder to find consistently, but they are there. The hurricane seemed to interrupt the mullet run and displaced some fish, but as water temperatures return to what they normally should be this time of year, we should see the fish activity go back to normal, too.
Weather and Water Temps
I’ve been happy to see that the water temperature has really started to drop. On October 26th it was 73 degrees in the surf, compared to around 78-79 a week or two ago. Roy Mattson of Roy’s Surf Fishing Guide Service tells us that “Surf Fishing along Northeast Florida is good until the water reaches 58 degrees, at that point we will mostly be catching Sheepshead.” He reminds us that pompano, whiting, and black drum will be in the surf, with the prime temperatures for catching some great fish being at 68 degrees. We aren’t too far from that now!
As the weather gets cooler, we all need to still remember to bring sunscreen and drink lots of fluids to stay hydrated, especially on longer trips. The air might not be as hot, but you can still get dehydrated. (Especially with all the running back and forth from one rod to the next that we hope to be doing!)
Though it might be rare, we’re still not out of the woods with the threat for hurricanes. Historically, hurricane season runs through November 30th, so make sure not to let your guard down there.
November Strategy
I know many of you reading this report have limited time to fish and you need to make the most of every opportunity. There are some key ways you can do this. Roy Mattson says to look for a high-impact beach if you will be fishing before and during high tide. Other beaches are good three hours before low tide and two hours during the incoming tide. For more information about Roy’s Surf Fishing Guide Service or the surf-fishing challenge he hosts, visit royssurffishing.com.
This November, I plan to have a rod ready to throw lures if I am seeing conditions favorable for that type of fishing in the surf, or if the water is looking “fishy” enough to try to catch fish that way. I typically have up to four lines out the water at various distances to find where the fish are running, and then I move them all to that zone. Same with bait; I find what the fish want to eat that day and what is working best, and I switch most of my other lines to match that. I will normally always have one line baited to target larger fish like redfish or sharks.
To target redfish, Mark Heffler advises using mullet, shrimp, and a ¼ to 3/8 oz. jighead tipped with your favorite plastic lure. He also says to expect larger pompano to show up in November, along with bigger whiting and bluefish as the water temperatures drop. With hurricane Ian exposing more rocks, Mark notes that sheepshead can be caught in close proximity to them with fiddler crabs and shrimp being the bait of choice for that species.
As always, stay safe out there on the beach, and fish with friends! This is what my company, Fishin’ Girl, is all about: gathering women who love to fish so we can learn from each other and enjoy it together. I have found most people in the fishing community to be kind, supportive, and helpful. If you find yourself fishing alone and you don’t want to be, join a local fishing club or a group on social media and make some fishing friends! Hope you have an awesome November as we move into this season of being thankful. Tight lines!
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