Friday, November 16, 2012

Big November Snook and Redfish

Every now and then despite everything going for you such as great weather and good tides, the fish gods just aren’t smiling.  Tough days when all is going for you is just the way fishing is sometimes.  Such has been our experience since my report a week ago.  While we had a great time on every trip with some nice fish hooked and caught, a few were lacking in the action we expect this time of year.
I ventured out into the Gulf of Mexico early in the week fishing just offshore of the beaches.  With calm conditions, we found plenty of spanish mackerel and bonito feeding voraciously under clouds of gulls and other sea birds.  They were easy targets, and we caught plenty while casting jigs into the feeding frenzies.

In the back country, the action was a bit spotty.  We did manage some nice redfish on each trip along with snook and some big jack crevalle.  Live sardines were the bait of choice.  We also took some fish with shrimp imitations on 1/4 oz. jig heads.

This morning I fished with long time clients Tom Iverson, Jay Sandza and friend Kim Shearburn and managed six slot reds averaging 25 inches while sight fishing on a very low tide.  The fish were cruising water as shallow as 6 inches.  A bait placed in the right spot in front of the them got immediately consumed.  We also caught several snook to 25 inches along the same banks.  Later in the morning after a lull in the action,  we headed to a snook spot that had been red hot a couple of weeks ago on similar tides.  Right away, Tom was hooked up to a 14 lb.snook.  After finessing it out of the mangroves on light tackle, the fish came aboard for a photo and release.  Here’s Tom with a
a great catch...
 
After that fish was released, Jay and Kim were instantly hooked up with two more big snook at the same time!  Kim’s managed to throw the hook while Jay’s stayed tight and burned into the mangroves.  Jay eased tension on the fish and we managed to pull close to shore and boat the fish.  This one weighed in at 15 lbs!  Jay with his snook catch before release…
Great November fishing action in the Naples backwaters!
- Capt. Todd Geroy

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