Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Florida Sportsman

Landing nets are catching on in salt water, and I think that’s a good thing. Writing about Florida Keys snapper in this issue, Capt. Joe Suroviec advises using a net to prevent breaking the light fluorocarbon leaders favored for snapper fishing. At the other end of Florida, another “Joe,” Capt. Joe Richard—our Big Bend Field Editor—recommends a net for husky, fall-run Spanish mackerel. I agree with both Joe’s. In my experience, a landing net not only reduces the likelihood of boatside escape, but maximizes the return on table fish. Gaff wounds tear up fillets (yeah, except for your perfect head shots). I carry two gaffs on my boat—a 2-inch hook and a homemade 12/0 cherry picker—but I’ve pretty well converted to nets for anything shy of 20 or 30 pounds.…

CRAPPIE HAVE A reputation of being a hard-fighting fine game fish and a popular tasty fillet. Most fly-fishing anglers might not specifically target them, but catching these small panfish on your fly tackle isn’t something to be ashamed about. Instead, be prepared to focus in on them. Many anglers who wind up catching crappie on a fly rod may one day prefer to do so. Commonly called black crappie throughout Florida lakes, crappie are often called speckled perch, specks or papermouths. Crappie are schooling fish, so many anglers use light tackle spinning gear and tiny jigs. They’ll outfit pontoon boats and numerous long, thin rods to gather limits in order to stack fresh fillets in the freezers for the summer months. Good weather for crappie is often bad weather for…

FLA Squirrel Hunting Regs On private lands, gray squirrels may be taken year-round by rifle, shotgun, pistol, muzzleloader, air gun, crossbow, or bow. The daily bag limit is 12 squirrels, with a possession limit of 24. Fox squirrels are not legal game in Florida. For public lands hunting season dates and bag limits, please consult with the brochures of the property of your choosing. This information can be found at www.myfwc.com/hunting/wma-brochures/ Unless exempt, hunters will require a general hunting license. Management area permits are typically required for WMAs, but again, please check the local regulations. UNLUCKY DEER HUNTERS complain they see only turkeys during deer season, and unlucky turkey hunters complain they see only deer during turkey season, but do you know what’s seen during both of those seasons and…

Before his TV show Addictive Fishing captivated viewers, Captain Blair Wiggins guided anglers on the Indian River Lagoon. The Space Coast’s robust seagrass beds teemed with redfish and record-size seatrout which drew anglers from around the world. Yet beneath the surface, the ecosystem suffered from malignancies that wouldn’t be diagnosed until it was too late. In 2019, Wiggins launched the Indian River Lagoon Clam Project in Brevard County. The longtime waterman has been joined by organizations like Coastal Conservation Association Florida, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Science at the University of Florida and partners like Star brite, Keep America Fishing, Dick’s Sporting Goods and CCA Nashville Chapter. Maverick Boat Company has also provided assistance to the clam project and redfish stocking, a related effort.…

This time of year, the conditions in the Ten Thousand Islands region of the Gulf of America line up perfectly for one of my favorite nearshore species to pursue, the mighty king mackerel. As a Florida native I have been fishing for king mackerel, or what we commonly refer to as kingfish, since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Kingfish are highly valued by anglers and considered a top-tier trophy species of game-fish. Kingfish are migratory and in our region, there are two distinct populations that inhabit the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Prompted by cooler temperatures to our north, starting in November these populations merge in the lower portions of the region. This annual migration is inspired by food. Kingfish are opportunistic carnivores that will feed on a wide variety…

The cold fronts of fall will be working their way south to the West Central region, cooling area waters as hurricane season ends. Moderate water temperatures now will be in the comfort zones for a wide variety of fish. Offshore anglers can expect to catch red snapper, mangrove, yellowtail, vermilion, and lane snappers. An assortment of others like scamp, red grouper, porgies, almaco jacks, triggerfish, African pompano, blackfin tuna, and in both nearshore and offshore depths, hogfish, and migrating kingfish, and Spanish mackerel. Inshore anglers will have a field day with numerous species. Bait schools may be preparing to head into the Gulf if water temperatures take an extreme dip but more likely, the temperature will hit and stay around 70 degrees until about Thanksgiving when the bulk of the…

Ernie Banks was a famous Chicago Cubs player who before every baseball game would say, “Let’s play two today.” That’s exactly how I feel about November. How can we be expected to hunt, fish, and work? I think we leave the third option behind for a month. We can work at our jobs, when it’s not prime time for cool crisp air, and without deer, hogs, sailfish, wahoo or big trout. Freshwater fishermen can look forward to the beginning of prime time for open water crappies. “Live Scope” has changed just about every type of fishing from bream to blue marlin, but maybe nowhere has it made a bigger impact than in the world of crappie fishing. You don’t actually have to spend thousands to buy your own. Just look…

Despite what the postcards show, not every weekend is picturesque and tranquil in the Florida Keys. Some days the wind blows. Or the water is too hot. Or the fishing’s tough. That’s when it takes an adaptable, resilient and prepared team to win fly-only tournaments in this paradise, like captains Craig Brewer and Mike Kozma exhibited in the 2025 Billy Knowles Poor Boys Tarpon Fly Tournament out of Islamorada. “July is usually really good, but the fish were hard to find this year,” said Capt. Brewer, who has guided out of Islamorada’s Lorelei since 1987. “We’ve had a lack of freshwater coming out of the Everglades and super-hot water temperatures.” They released two tarpon on day one, but none on day two. Kozma’s fish was an estimated hundred-pounder and Brewer’s…

Without exception, if you’re an angler, the one thing we should all agree on is that the abundance of baitfish matters. You may be an artificial-only plug caster. Maybe an exclusive fly angler. Or possibly a hardcore bottom fishermen, or one of the few remaining troll-till-you-drop guys. Whatever your pleasure, if you fish, you need to be concerned about our proverbial “canary in the coal mine,” the forage fish. Scaled sardines or pilchards, Atlantic thread herring or greenies, pinfish and mullet, our bait species represent the first vertebrate link in marine food webs. Declines in their abundance should be used as an early warning system pointing toward an unhealthy ecosystem. Forage fish feed predominantly on small plant and animal matter and, in turn, transfer this energy to higher trophic levels…

November ushers in a much-needed change in temperature and with it a few seasonal species come in to play. Offshore the sailfish are heading south to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula for their annual spawn; their migration pattern will have them feeding on or just off the reef archipelago of the Florida Keys. Sailfish tend to travel in schools also known as wolf packs. Anytime you have multiple fish pushing together it can make for a very aggressive bite; fish competing for food is always a great situation for anglers to find themselves in. Live bait will always be the best way to target Florida Keys sailfish, and this time of year there are usually plenty of them. Pilchards, ballyhoos, and threadfin herring are quite abundant and all favored snacks for the…

There are some changes for the sportsman this month, with daylight savings on November 2 being a big one. We often get a mixed bag of weather in November as we transition into winter. I recall days of freezing (by Florida standards!) while out sailfishing and days of sopping sweat while duck hunting this month. The fronts that do make their way through town will bring wind and typically lots of it. Small craft advisories are common as these nor’easters accompanied by big swell make things a bit dicey. If you do make it offshore, be mindful of the tide. You don’t want to be met at the inlet by a hard falling tide and strong northeast breeze, especially if not used to navigating this kind of water. The Spanish…

Spanish mackerel migrate through the Big Bend region in November, headed for their wintering grounds far to the south in Florida Bay. We used to stock up on mackerel for the winter, by fishing offshore sandbars where these fish often loiter for a week or two. Catch a calm day with clear water, and they were usually there. Sometimes we’d see a passing school of hundreds of bluefish, or a big kingfish, and maybe a late cobia cruising by. All headed south on matters of importance. The mackerel were especially hungry, grabbing any old rusty jig thrown their way. They chewed on wire leader and swivels and there were tackle losses. It was no country for new spoons or expensive plugs. We kept those safe in the boat! Inshore near…

Apalachicola Bay is in the center of one of the most pristine natural watersheds in the country. The river brings nutrients from approximately 20,000 square miles that includes three states. The Apalachicola River, its tributaries and the bay together create an aquatic fishing paradise. Many of the river’s tributaries are the size of rivers themselves and look like inverted tree roots from the air. Each of these is worth exploring to fish for largemouth bass, striped and hybrid bass and a variety of panfish. As the river approaches the bay, these branches are also large and offer not only freshwater fish to catch, but also saltwater species such as redfish, flounder (remember that flounder are closed Oct. 15 to Nov. 30 statewide), speckled trout and striped bass. Fishing the lower…

Our 3-year-old chocolate lab, Rose, is a proven quail retriever. Thanks to her, we have these tasty birds back in the freezer again. Canadian bacon and maple syrup are made for each other; when paired with spicy quail, it’s a simply delicious combination. When cleaning the quail, leave as much skin on as you can. Split the quail down one side of the backbone and flatten out for the most even cooking. I like to serve this on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes and a sprinkle of my favorite fresh herbs. If your freezer doesn’t include quail, duck breasts can be substituted. SPICY QUAIL WITH CANADIAN BACON & MAPLE SYRUP INGREDIENTS 4 quail, split down backbone 2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed 1 cup reduced sodium soy sauce 3…

Clumps of browning palm fronds protruded from the green shallows and yellow sandbars of Apalachee Bay. Much like the distant St. Marks lighthouse once alerted seafarers of danger, these makeshift hunters’ blinds served now more as warning beacons to the late-season buffleheads that had grown wary of these crude set-ups. “Stale” was the term to assess the situation. The birds had reportedly been run-through badly, and fresh reinforcements weren’t forthcoming. From our blind, a single buff or two would land on the doorstep of the decoys but never commit. Wiser birds buzzed deeper waters at safe distances from the shotguns. Worsening weather compounded our troubles. My son and I’d traveled to Wakulla County to hunt with Captain Donny Miley and Coast Runner Outfitters. I’d fallen for the area during spring…

As we move into the month of November in South Florida outdoors, people will be smiling. Gone is the summertime heat and in comes the cooler weather. Weekly cold fronts keep driving schools of baitfish and hungry predators our way. If you haven’t had a chance to sample our fall migration fishing, you need to do it now because by the end of this month some of those fish will have moved on. In the South region, offshore fishermen between Deerfield Beach and the Upper Keys, can expect to catch kingfish in the 3- to 7-pound range, small blackfin tuna and bonito, big barracuda, sailfish to 50 pounds, and dolphin fish. The bite starts at sunup and doesn’t quit until the sun goes down. If you like fishing for kingfish,…

As we move toward the end of the year, the cool off has now begun! As we receive a few cold fronts our water temperatures will be lucky to see more than 80 degrees again until we get into April. The cool offs come in waves at this time of the year and depending on how severe they are it dictates how the fishing will be. Some cold fronts are mild and will not affect fishing that much. Powerful cold fronts that drop water temperatures will give anglers a few tough days. With cold fronts we also get wind. Wind direction will also affect fishing patterns as tidal movement can be affected greatly. The unique trait that the Southwest region inherits is variable tidal flows. There are times when we…

If you’re looking for me this month, I’ll be on the beach. November means pompano here on the Space Coast, and they steal the attention of many anglers as the surf clears up and cools down. When the first actual cold fronts reach central Florida, surfcasters start encountering good numbers of migratory pompano. These first run fish aren’t big, but these one- to two-pounders can move through in big numbers all the way through December. Their wintering grounds are dynamic and determined by water temperature and clarity. They’ll stick around one general area for up to a week or more if conditions are right, but as temps cool, they’ll change latitude accordingly and with haste. A second wave of fish meanders through sometime in January. These fish are typically larger,…

November marks the final stretch of fall in the Panhandle region while winter is on the horizon. However, this month still offers some great fishing opportunities. Cold fronts will push through and change conditions quickly, but the windows before and after each front often produce an excellent bite. From bull reds blitzing baits on top to pelagics cruising offshore temperature breaks, it’s too early to put those rods away for the winter. Redfish are once again the headliner this month. The annual bull redfish run is still in full swing across the Panhandle, especially in Pensacola Bay where schools of oversized reds will be crushing menhaden and mullet on the surface. It’s not a fancy operation to find them. Just look for pelicans dive-bombing bait and when you see topwater…