November Inshore: Redfish, Trout Bite Up

Inshore: Captain Patrick Kelly reports that in October fish will eat more and more, storing up reserves since they will eventually lose much of their bait supply as most shrimp and baitfish leave and crabs go into hibernation. Redfish should bite better and better on low and moving tides, and on very high tides they will continue to tail throughout October. Mud minnows, finger mullet, cut mullet, and shrimp are all good bait choices. Trout will be caught around the mouths of creeks in moving water, and shrimp under a popping cork should be hard to beat. Artificial lures like DOA shrimp can also be very effective. Flounder fishing should be good around structure on mud minnows and finger mullet, and there should also be some tripletail around for part of October. Black drum and sheepshead will also feed up more and more this month on shrimp and crabs around structure like fallen trees, and the bull red drum will eventually show up in area inlets and off the beaches.

Inshore: Captain Patrick Kelly **hidden content**) reports that in September the tailing pattern for redfish should continue to be strong, but the lower tide bite should also get better and better. It was already good at the end of August, and fish were feeding on everything from shrimp to mud minnows to mullet to Gulp! baits around pretty much any structure including docks, oyster beds, and creek mouths. The black drum fishing should also continue to improve on shrimp, and more large trout will be caught as temperatures cool. Numbers were already strong at times during August. More keeper flounder should be caught on mud minnows and finger mullet, and migratory species like tripletail, bluefish and ladyfish should be around until temperatures cool. And the silver king, tarpon, will almost certainly continue to prey on schools of mullet and menhaden all month. Overall, by the end of August the fishing was getting really good, and for the next two months it should be flat-out excellent.

Inshore: Captain Patrick Kelly **hidden content**) reports that in late July young-of-the-year redfish showed up in droves, which provide a ton of action for anglers and also indicate that it should be a good fall for fishing. Anglers can still pick up some bigger fish in the creeks, particularly around creek mouths with oyster beds, but in August targeting tailing fish on the flats may continue to be one of the best ways to find a bigger grade of fish. July also saw good catches of trout on live shrimp, and the trout should only get bigger this month as we approach the fall. While legal fish are still relatively uncommon there have been more flounder caught this year than usual, particularly around structure, and a few good ones. At the rocks they expect to continue to catch lots of black drum this month, and with fiddler crabs you can also catch numbers of sheepshead. Later in the month more big sheepshead should be landed if there is a little cooling. Migratory species like jacks, tripletail and tarpon should be around until the fall and, finally, don’t overlook sharks which can provide a ton of action for anglers.