Fishing in the Central East region of Florida during the month of November, you can expect some cold fronts beginning to move in, drier air, windier days, and schooled up fish. The water in the Lagoons are starting to clear up and water level is still pretty high as of now. With the water being so high, it gives fish a chance to spread out and seek refuge further back in hard to reach places like small creeks and way back in the mangroves. Take your time looking for these fish quietly either with a trolling motor or even better, the good ol’ push pole. Don’t be “that guy” that burns fishable flats and shorelines on full plane looking to bump up fish, you will just tear up the grass and put more pressure on fish that you are trying to catch. Stealth is the most efficient way to catch fish.
This time of year, redfish and sea trout are starting to focus more on crustaceans like shrimp and crabs, but if baitfish are present they will still munch on them. This is when I use smaller soft plastic lures and flies when sight fishing. The D.O.A. 3″ Shrimp is a highly effective lure around this time along with any small shadtails rigged weedless like a D.O.A. 3″ CAL. Since the water is cleaner, I like to use more natural colors and nothing too flashy.
3″ D.O.A. Shrimp in “Galaxy Glitter”
Here is a photo of a redfish cruising along a shallow bank looking for small crabs and shrimp, you can expect to see a lot of this when water levels are high.
In the beginning of the month when baitfish were more plentiful, topwater lures such as the “Top Pup” by MirroLure was getting some explosive strikes for Nick this day.
Andy fed some flies to a few Banana River redfish on this drizzly, gloomy day.
Don from Texas didn’t let this windy day bother him. 3″ D.O.A. Cals fooled some redfish and trout on leeward shorelines.
Eric fed this Mosquito Lagoon Black Drum a 3″ D.O.A. Cal in “Arkansas Glow”…a pretty hard thing to do on artificial baits.
Strategic Anglers Custom Lures is a custom lure company that is owned and operated by one man. His lures are originally hand crafted and specially painted for big game species. I had a chance to test a prototype lure of a smaller version designed for inshore and offshore fish that key in on smaller baits. The “Micros” is designed to mimic finger mullet, sardines, pogies, threadfins, and many other small fin fish. You can custom order any patterns you need for your area from solid black to detailed paint jobs down to the scale. For more info and to see more of his work, check out: www.strategicangler.com
Lastly, I would like to announce that I will be upgrading my 2003 Maverick HPX-T, to a brand new 2014 Maverick HPX-S. The HPX-S is a top of the line technical poling skiff designed for shallow water and stealth. While testing out the protoype HPX-S with Maverick’s president Scott Deal, we took it to the elements in the Mosquito Lagoon. It handles the chop very well while running, a smooth dry ride. On the pole, I was pretty impressed…quiet, straight tracking, spins quietly on a dime and poles very well in the wind. The draft is under 6″ with 2 anglers and gear. This skiff paired with the F70 by Yamaha Outboards was beautiful! Jumped up on plane quickly with the stock 3 blade prop and reached up to 40mph wide open.
I am more than excited to start running my charters in this new skiff because of the soft ride, more deck space, and more dry storage compartments. Stay tuned for updates on the build process of my customized 2014 Maverick HPX-S.
Look forward to seeing some Black Drum showing up along the flats along with schools of Redfish as well. Also as Winter approaches and water clears up, big “Gator Trout” will be laying in shallow water sand holes soaking up some sun.
Thanks for visiting NativeFlyCharters.com!
-Capt. Willy Le
nativeflycharters@gmail.com
321-303-7805
