By Jimmy Tomazinis
mail@floridanewsline.com
Living in Florida has its risks but it’s all I’ve ever known. I ended the last report talking about how this report would start with the reminiscing of October’s glorious fishing. It actually starts with the recap of two close calls in Helene and Milton. We were spared from the worst, but impacts from both storms were felt almost statewide. That being said, I hope all of you made it through both safely.
The tremendous amounts of freshwater we got in September and October really pushed a lot of the marine species out of our area before we got to enjoy their least finicky eating. There were still great days, just not as many as I hoped for. That’s how it goes though. It makes the good years even better. Enough belly aching about the October we could have had. Let’s talk about the November we’re going to have.
It all really depends on two things: the salinity of the river and the temperature of the water. The salinity will likely still be bottomed out in the extremely fresh category, so trout and other sensitive kinds are at least downtown or past it. Redfish, flounder, and maybe a few sheepshead will still be around even in the freshwater. Some shrimp will be as well.
The temperatures are another big factor. The cooling will trigger most of the sheepshead to head to the inlets for their spawning activities and some fish will be losing the appetites they had during the warmer months. This is when the stripers, bass, catfish, and specks really take center stage. They can handle the cold and with all the freshwater we got in September and October we should see a great push of these fish from down river. I’m really excited to see how the winter pans out because of it. They’re moving down river for new territory and pursuing open water forage such as shad and herring. They’ll also be chasing the last of the shrimp. By the end of the month, some specks will be filling into area creeks and bass will be staging around the mouths. Stripers can be found cruising open water chasing baitfish. Birds can give them away. Stripers will also be around the bridges as always, along with our dependable and under appreciated catfish. We’re well into the transition now so we’ve got to roll with it. Tight lines.
