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The water will start to cool down this month and it will make the surf fishing really good. This should be the hottest month for catching Pompano in the surf. Live sand fleas are the bait of choice. However, they will hit live shrimp, frozen shrimp, frozen sand fleas and Pompano jigs. Bonita, Spanish Mackerel, Skipjack (ladyfish), Bluefish and Redfish will be in the surf as well. Cast ½ oz to 1-1/2 oz silver spoons to hook up. Use either a trace of 40# wire or 50# mono for a leader to prevent getting cut off. For the Redfish try fishing with some live pinfish and live mullet. Frozen cut mullet will work to and they will hit a sand flea. Most Reds will be oversized but there should be some slot fish available. Be sure to release the oversized Reds. Flounder will also be caught from the beach. Live finger mullet, Bull minnows, Tiger minnows and shrimp are all productive. These will be some of the biggest fish caught of the year. As long as the water temperature stays warm the bait will remain here and the fishing will be very good. How long that will be is anybodys guess.

October 31 marked the closure of Red Snapper season in State waters. All Red Snapper must be released. The bright side is the Grouper bite and Amberjack bite should remain good in 200 plus feet. Live Hardtails and large live Pinfish are two worthy baits. Don’t overlook the Boston Mackerel for a great Grouper bait. The Shimano Butterrfly jigs work very well on the AJ’s and Grouper. The bite should remain good further offshore this month. The Nipple and the Spur are two good places to start. Both locations are two proven areas. Troll a naked ballyhoo or add a skirt. If you see some debris in the water, be sure to take a look, you never know what may be lurking underneath. As always the fishing is dependent on the water temperature. Hopefully it will stay warm enough for some great November fishing.

Trout and Redfish remain on the grass flats early in the month. The bigger Trout can be found early in the morning until about 8:00am. Try a MirroLure Top Dog, Rapala Skitterwalk or other similar top water baits for some exiting Trout fishing. Don’t be surprised if a Red busts your bait! Live Mullet, Pinfish and Shrimp will work to. Don’t overlook the Redfish this month. Try the proven Johnsons Silver Minnow in gold, sizes 1/8 oz to ½ oz on the grass flats and around inshore structure. The big Bull Redfish will be stacked in the pass this month. Just about any bait or jig will work on them. Don’t overlook just outside the pass and within a mile or two of the beach. You can find the big Redfish schools on top. Just about any lure or bait you can get to them will catch them. Work the outside edges of the school to prevent spooking them. While you’re out, look for some birds actively feeding or just sitting in small groups. Sometimes they sit right over the top of the Reds. Try trolling large spoons or Stretch 25’s on the outside edges of the birds. The Spanish Mackerel are still in the bays. You can catch them trolling Clarkspoons or bright silver / chrome spoons and Yozuri crystal Minnows. Gotchas work well to if you like casting and working a lure. Just look for the bait schools on the surface, the Spanish should be right with them. These will be the biggest fish of the year since they have fed all summer. As the water gets colder later this month, the Trout and Redfish will begin to move up into the rivers. Try the deeper bends and holes. Live bait, curly tail grubs and Gulp on a jig head will get strikes. The old standby fish finder rig and a live bait is a good choice too.

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