Fishaholic: November Report

Captain Austin here, bringing you the fishing report for the New Smyrna Beach area. Last year this time, we were dealing with hurricanes, so this year it is a welcomed change to only concentrate on fishing. Only a couple more weeks until the end of hurricane season and let’s hope it stays quiet. As we transition from the baitfish run to late fall and early winter, the types of fish we catch will start to change a bit.

My favorite target species, tarpon, are still around in good numbers, but will slowly move out of our area. Tarpon prefer water temperatures in the mid 70s so they will seek out warmer water. Our charters still get a couple of shots of them at times, and if you have never caught one, you need to give us a call.

Recently there have been huge schools of over 1,000 fish just cruising off the beach! The tarpon can be caught using different methods, but the best method by far is by utilizing live bait such as mullet, shrimp or croakers.

Our fall target species changes up a little. The big reds are a mainstay in our area, and they are always around to catch. This fall season, the redfish have been playing hard to catch and for some reason we haven’t seen the numbers that we normally do this time of the year.

It doesn’t help that when the redfish come into the inlet to spawn, they are bombarded by fisherman trying to catch them. This can’t be good for the long-term fishery. Thankfully the snook have picked up the slack and we continue to catch some real good fish in the docks and at the inlet.

We will start to see other species being caught like sheepshead, weakfish and bluefish. As always, anglers should be mindful of changing weather conditions and tidal influences, adjusting their techniques accordingly. The unusually high “king tides” subside later in the season and the tidal flows are not as extreme.

Hope you enjoyed the report and as always, we’d love to take you fishing. With the holiday season coming soon we will start to get busy, so book now if you want to fish at the end of November and into December!