Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2022 i Florida Sportsman

SELECT CONTENT AVAILABLE NOW ON OUR DIGITAL CHANNELS WEBSITE WWW.FLORIDASPORTSMAN.COM IF THEY ARE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY —BY MIKE CONNER Catch a fish you don’t plan to eat? You should do everything in your power to increase its chances of survival once released. There’s more to it than just “throwing it back.” If you want to be a better angler, this magazine article originally from 2020 is one digital “release” you don’t want to skip on. DIGITAL WEB EXCLUSIVE FIVE INCREDIBLE KAYAK CATCHES —BY DOUG OLANDER As more anglers immerse themselves in this form of fishing and kayaks and related gear improve, some ‘yak enthusiasts are pushing the limits of what’s possible. In this article from Doug Olander, we explore the exhilarating details of five catches that reveal just…

In the world of artificial lure fishing in both salt and freshwater, few products top a soft plastic bait in both lifelike action, versatility and effectiveness. These baits are offered in many forms from the tiniest tail for speck fishing to out-sized swimbaits up to a foot in length. Anglers across the state enjoy success using a soft bait because flexibility imparts a lifelike action as well as a natural feel to the fish’s mouth when they pick it up. The list of positives associated with this style of lure is long. One negative trait these baits share, however, is the fact that after a couple of bites they tend to become worn out at the point of contact where your hook or jig head penetrates the bait. Whether it’s…

Success in Florida has been a big factor in the rise of Major League Fishing pro angler Skeet Reese. From Auburn, CA, Reese is one of only a few professional anglers to claim both the Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year (2007) and the coveted Bassmaster Classic Championship (2009). Reese began his career by winning the 2003 Bassmaster Tour event on the Harris Chain of Lakes in Central Florida and has been cashing checks in Florida ever since. Reese most recently won the $100,000 2021 Tackle Warehouse Pro Circuit on Lake Okeechobee. Growing up in northern California, Reese fished the shallows of Clear Lake and the California Delta, focusing on grass lines and edges. “When I came to Florida and I saw the fisheries here, I really liked it…

With over 1,350 miles of coastline, of which 825 miles are sandy beaches, and with more than 325 piers, not to mention all of the docks, bridges, and canals, Florida has a profusion of places to fish without having to have access to a boat. However, there is a minor problem with this abundance of fishing riches: Not many of these places are close enough to the parking lot. If you want to get to the water, you are inevitably going to have to do some walking. I don’t know about you, but most of the surfcasters and pier and bridge anglers I know schlep so much gear from their cars to their fishing spot, that even a ten yard walk from the parking lot to the beach can be…

What can I say? Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and it just so happens to be one of my favorite holidays and time of year to fish the Ten Thousand Islands. There’s some sort of strange alchemy about November down here with just too many coincidences! Here me out on a few odd similarities. Thanksgiving is a time where family and friends gather at the most convenient mutual location, eat a bunch of food, and afterward prepare for a cold season ahead. Maybe I'm odd for relating our human habits and that of fish, but regardless our seasons are similar on some levels. The species that really comes to mind here is snook. Don’t take it for gospel, but usually during the first two weeks of November the snook…

If I said fishing is always good during the months that end in “Rrrr,” you might think I’ve taken up with a band of pirates here in West Central Florida. But alas. These months in the last quarter of each year, October through December, can produce hot fishing just as things begin to cool down. There really is no plundering or pillaging, but the action is nothing short of a show of bounty from the sea. The days are getting shorter, and it’s been quite a few years since we had any significant early season cold fronts. But the falling temperatures signal the decline in tropical activity that ends hurricane season by the end of this month. That doesn’t mean we’re in for some mild weather. Just about any time,…

Please let it be known that I’m no climatologist. However, I can tell you without a doubt that real fall weather comes later than it used to. I can remember Halloween as a kid when I had to wear a jacket over my Superman costume, but these days it seems like it is November before we feel a real chill in the air. It’s usually late November before I’ll take to the woods. That’s because instead of being a true hunter, I’m much more a fisherman that likes to hunt. I know this is true because I’ll fish in any weather. But I will only hunt if the temperature is below 60 degrees. I just can’t get fired up about being in the woods unless it’s cold. Really, it’s only…

A few years ago, a friend in Spanish Wells, Bahamas called me to share a snook encounter. An extremely rare species throughout the Bahamian archipelago, the large linesider was lollygagging right along a beach as he cruised by in his skiff. Story goes, he harpooned it with a pole spear from the deck of his skiff (there are no snook regulations in The Bahamas) and his call to me came as he was cooking it for lunch that same day. I called FWC biologists right away, and they were as surprised as I was. “I would love to have that carcass to see where it came from.” I sent my buddy looking for the filleted fish that afternoon, but it was nowhere to be found. So, the mystery of snook…

1. Publication Title: Florida Sportsman. 2. Publication Number: 0015-3885. 3. Filing Date: October 1, 2022. 4. Issue Frequency: Monthly Including two Double Issues of Aug/Sept and Dec/Jan. 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 10. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $39.94. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication (Not Printer): Outdoor Sportsman Group, 1040 6th Avenue, 17th Fl, New York, NY 10018-3703. 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of the Publisher (Not Printer): Outdoor Sportsman Group, 1040 6th Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10018-3703. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Production Manager: Publisher: Michael F.X. Cassidy, 3725 SE Ocean Blvd, Ste 202, Stuart, FL 34996. Editor: Jeff Weakley, 3725 SE Ocean Blvd, Ste 202, Stuart, FL 34996. Production Manager: Jean…

If you’re among the 800 or so folks daily moving to Florida in recent years, you may have wondered about this “trout fishing.” It’s perhaps not as frown-inducing as “dolphin fishing,” but certainly open to some “whuh?” moments. What we’re talking about here is not a coldwater salmonid, but rather the totally unrelated saltwater drum, spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus. (Confession: When I just typed that, my brain erroneously auto-corrected to C. regalis—scientific name for weakfish, another saltwater trout-drum. Some, but not many of those in Florida.) Once you get the ID squared away, and understand that “speck” may be used by some Floridians to denote spotted seatrout or black crappie, friend, your confusion is just beginning. Florida now has five regional sub-management zones for spotted seatrout. Where I live, in…

Is it just me, or did summer seem to be a bit hotter than normal this year? Maybe all the years living in the Keys are getting to me. After a grueling summer that felt like it was never going to end, November is sure to cool things down. For us Keys residents, the arrival of fall is a long awaited one. The end of hurricane season always brings a bit of relief and as the days begin to shorten, the water temperature begins to cool down. This change in temperature is particularly meaningful across inshore waters, which seemed a bit stagnant during the last couple of months. Usually in the second week of November we get the first cold front of the year, which further drops the water temperature…

There are some changes for the sportsman this month, with daylight savings on November 6 being a big one. We often get a mixed bag of weather in November, and I recall days of being freezing cold while sailfishing, and others drenched in sweat while duck hunting. This time of year, it is important anglers remain flexible in planning their fishing trips. Learning the fundamentals of passing fronts will also lead to more successful days on the water. The fronts that do make their way through our region will bring wind, and typically lots of it. Small craft advisories are common as these nor’easters accompanied by big swell make things a bit dicey at the inlets. If you are able to safely make it offshore, be mindful of the tide.…

Our quandary during November is whether to pursue migrating Spanish mackerel along the Big Bend, or gag grouper that briefly move inshore of their normal haunts. Both arrive in 8 feet of water within sight of land, which is easily accessible to various flat-bottomed skiffs. That is if calm weather prevails after a north blow. These mackerel, fattened up and headed south for the winter, average 3 pounds and get up to 5 or 6. They’re hungry too, slamming almost any small artificial bait. Better watch out for your leaders and swivels, too. I’ve given up on using tough, 40-pound fluorocarbon leaders on these bigger mackerel, because they have bigger teeth and stronger bite power. Early spring macks that are slightly smaller can gnaw on fluoro leader with little success,…

There are still a few opportunities left for anglers to put red snapper on the table. In Northwest Florida, red snapper season is open November 11-13 and 25-27. The cooler water will bring snapper closer to the coast, which means they can be caught around some of the numerous artificial reefs that don’t involve a whole lot of gas to reach. ‘‘Providing 336 tons of reef module habitat, the memorial reef named after Dr. Bart Carey rests 10 miles south of Dog Island in 50 feet of water. Reefs such as the Carrabelle 3-mile and the One More Time are a couple of public spots that are easily accessible given calm weather. The St. George Island Bridge Reef and the “O” and “S” Towers are also great spots for red…

Thirty-seven-year-old Capt. Jason Stock has been guiding clients to impressive catches along Florida’s Gulf Coast for nearly half of his life. He began with a fleet of kayaks putting anglers on shallow water snook, tarpon and redfish, and is now running a 31-foot Yellowfin targeting wahoo, blackfin tuna, African pompano, permit, hogfish, red snapper and many more highly desired species out of Anna Maria Island. Jason is super passionate about the fisheries he is blessed to share with his clients and is on the water 200+ days a year aboard his charterboat Full Send. SD: I hear you have some big plans setting up offshore FADs in the Gulf. JS: Well, all the agencies are against the FAD idea, but we are moving forward with artificial reef structures that have…

On my boat, I refuse to remove a fish from the water for photos if we don’t intend to kill for consumption,” exclaimed Capt. George LaBonte, Florida Sportsman Boating Editor and author of Sportsman’s Best: Sailfish. George then went one step further addressing us at the magazine: “You need to stop promoting the mishandling of any fish for the sake of an Instagram moment or 15 minutes of fame on any social media or otherwise by publishing photos of people in the water hugging goliath grouper or tarpon or cockpit hero shots of billfish for the sake of a few likes or shares.” George concluded with one last bit of advice: “We need to encourage people to respect the lives of all wildlife regardless of whether you intend to harvest…

Surf fishing for pompano, whiting and croakers for the most part is a baitfishing drill with surf rods set in sand spikes. The top baits include shrimp, clam, crab and sandflea. Many anglers also use synthetic strips such as Berkley Gulp!, Fishgum and Fishbites, which come in a variety of colors, but natural baits still rule the roost for the most part. Pompano and whiting fans have long depended on live sandfleas (mole crabs), "blanched" sandfleas, clam and fresh shrimp. Trouble with sandfleas is, they get scarce along many beaches once cold weather sets in. Most anglers do their flea raking in fall or late spring when temperatures moderate and the flea "colonies" are more common. The live fleas cannot be simply frozen for later use—this tends to make them…

Sonar on a shallow water fishing boat? Isn’t this supposed to be about sight-fishing, using your eyes to tell you what’s around? Aren’t you supposed to be the fish-finder? There are of course many good reasons to have a sonar, a.k.a. depthfinder or (gasp) FISH-finder. One of the most basic uses of sonar is to inform you of the depth you’re traveling over. Makes sense. If your boat draws more than a foot of water, don’t run shallower than that. But as you might learn—hopefully not the hard way—it’s the depth you’re about to travel over which is a lot more important. For that assessment, you’re going to need charts—a digital chartplotter with an updated navigational chart will do. You’ll also need some understanding of tide patterns in your area,…

You can’t beat the weather in South Florida—especially during the month of November. Who can complain about evening and morning temperatures in the mid 70s, with daytime temperatures reaching the low to mid 80s? No one! And that’s why our population swells this time of the year. So, how does this wonderful weather influence the fishing? Only in a positive way. Most of the southbound migrating baitfish have moved into our area and a lot of the fish that were following them haven’t felt the need to move farther south, not yet at least. That will happen after the first big blast of cold air moves in, maybe by early December. So, for the following weeks South Florida fishermen can look forward to big numbers of fish and lots of…

As we approach the end of 2022, cold fronts are now becoming a thing. Depending on how far they make it through the Sunshine State will determine what, when, and where we will fish. Sometimes we get lucky being on the southern end of Florida, as fronts are usually pretty weak when they arrive in the beginning of fall. In years past, it hasn’t been until December when the first significant cold front moved through the area. Other years we have passing cold fronts on a weekly basis starting the first week of November. A push of fish is coming, but the biggest factor is when the first significant cold front will make its way past Tampa Bay. As the weather to our north cools off we begin to see…

Now that flounder catches in Florida’s waters are closed through November 30, Sebastian Inlet anglers may lose out on the initial start of the winter run for the valued flatfish. Generally, the Sebastian area flounder start moving out of the Indian River and into the Atlantic for offshore spawning around Thanksgiving when early cold fronts kick in. Even though catches have diminished at Sebastian in recent years, the winter flounder run still attracts high numbers of anglers in boats and casters from the inlet shorelines. They come for the quality of the fish Sebastian offers. It’s not uncommon to get females to 6 and 8 pounds, and occasionally to 10 pounds, usually using live finger mullet, mud minnows or jumbo shrimp on bottom rigs. Flounder to 16 ½ pounds have…

Epic sunsets, sleeping in, and good fishing is what I expect out of this month. Although a few ugly weather days associated with passing cold fronts are inevitable, if you wait them out the following days are typically gorgeous and can offer up some spectacular fishing. Redfish and trout are the go-to species on an inshore trip while those heading offshore can expect to encounter wahoo, tuna, marlin, and swordfish given the right conditions. ‘‘It shouldn’t be hard to find the chaos created by oversized redfish and jack crevalle annihilating giant schools of menhaden. In November we will get some cold fronts pushing through that will cool the water temperatures, but it doesn’t quite get cold enough to make the full switch into a winter pattern. The cool down of…