Venice Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico
Capt. Dave Pinkham
November 12, 2004
Venice - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing Heats up on the Gulf in November
The fall kingfish run is in full swing and from the looks of just how good the fishing has been so far this fall, I would expect the next month of fishing action to be nothing short of awesome!
As the seasons change, the shorter days and cooler air and water temperatures have once again helped to push southward migrating fish within easy reach of our local beaches. What this means to area anglers is it’s time to get out on the gulf and get in on some of the most exciting fishing action of the year!
Following is what fish you can expect to encounter during the month of November while fishing out on the Gulf of Mexico.
- Kingfish and Spanish mackerels should be plentiful from just off the beaches on out to 100’ foot of water. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for some of the dead giveaways of mackerel schools that will be constantly on the move. Watch for any types of birds diving down at the water, and or mackerels jumping and feeding at the surface. Live bait fishing with white baits and or trolling hardware such as large spoons or diving lures will produce both of these species of mackerels.
- Blackfin tuna are always exciting to see and most definitely an exceptional catch. If you see them jumping then you are in the right place to fish. The same methods used for fishing for mackerels will often work for tunas.
- Cobia should be showing up on some of their normal haunts. The artificial reefs located up and down the coast are a good place to run across these awesome brawlers. Live baits such as pilchards, grunts, pinfish, crabs, blue runners, and sardines will usually provoke inquisitive fish into hitting.
- Grouper action has been pretty good all season. Most hard bottom is holding fish. Now that the gulf’s water temperature is dropping, we should see more gag groupers moving into the shorter bottom. Red grouper action has been consistently reliable on the deeper reef areas.
- Barracuda have been stacked up over many of the areas wrecks and artificial reefs. Although they are often considered to be a nuisance, barracuda offer the sport angler an exciting battle with their high speed runs and their spectacular aerial jumping ability.
- Mangrove snapper continue to be a reliable catch on most any offshore structure. Usually the best way to catch them is by anchoring directly over the spot and dropping down light rigs baited with natural baits such as cut sardines, squid, or shrimp. Other species of snappers such as lanes, muttons, and yellow tails have also been making a showing on some of the offshore reefs. Often the key to catching any of these different species of snappers is simply keeping gear and terminal tackle as light as possible. As with the mangrove snappers, any natural bait will work.
- Greater amberjack should start to make a better showing over the next month. As the weather continues to cool off these big jacks usually converge on the deeper wrecks. Revered for their size and strength, amberjack will test most any tackle, as well as the endurance of the angler.
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