By Capt. Rob Harris

Finally, the bulk of the storm season is behind us. The hot/ humid southeast winds are being replaced by cool/dry breezes from the north. That can only mean the next change of seasons is upon us, and we are more than ready for it! November brings plenty of opportunity for high probability catching with the Lower Keys and Key West being considered “ground zero”.

Just to give you a preview of what to expect…What if I told you Sailfish, Blackfin Tuna, Wahoo, Grouper and Mutton Snapper will make for typical catches? What if I told you that all of that will be caught within 15 miles of Key West? Do I have your attention now? Well, it’s true!

Our normal November run of pelagics will start with a strong showing of Sailfish. These early arrivals will be found chasing ballyhoo on the edge of the reef and can be trolled into striking with either live or dead baits. For these early Sails, I prefer a 3 bait (dead ballys) spread run close to the boat. I will also deploy a 12 bait dredge consisting of artificial ballyhoo (Williamson Ballyhoo are my personal choice). I keep the dredge no farther than 30’ behind the boat, and will place my first bait 10-15’ behind the dredge. 8 out of 10 times, this will be the first bait taken. I rig this bait with a 6/0 circle hook on 60lb fluorocarbon leader. The “other” 2 baits will be staggered at 30’ intervals behind the first, and run off the riggers and if you’d like, live bait can be substituted.

So you’ll be fishing live baits? Well, let’s open up the possibilities then! Once your live bait spread is set, send a live bait to the bottom. Hopefully, you’ve marked bait in the water column you’ll be working in. That being the case, by holding a live bait a couple feet of the bottom, you’ve just expanded your catching opportunities to Grouper and Muttons.

November is when we start to see the deep-water predators (such as Grouper) start to move back into shallower water. This is due to the amount of bait that we have here right now and the fact that the water has cooled to more favorable (read as; comfortable) temperatures. Since you’ll be targeting your Sails between 80’-180’ on the first push of the outgoing tide, you’ll also be in prime hunting grounds for bottom fishing. Don’t pass up the chance to bring home some tasty fillets.

While I’m on the subject of live bait, did I mention that there’s plenty of it here right now? We are practically over-run with ballyhoo and pilchards (white bait). The bait push started in mid-October and will continue into November. Most locals have already started penning up baits in anticipation of the Tuna run. If you’re just down for the weekend, have no fear. There’s plenty of bait to go around. Some of the popular live chumming areas are wrecks such as the Vandenburg and Curb. You can also expect to find them on in the Keys the airplane, just off Sand Key. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention “the sub”, but that’s outside of the 15 mile range we talked about earlier (17 miles in case you’re wondering). My personal favorite species to target in November is Wahoo. If you have ever wanted to get out and actually “target” wahoo, you need to start planning to be here on/or about the 19th. The hottest bite is always just before, during and just after the Full Moon. There are enough Wahoo here during that time frame that you can catch them any way that you try (and sometimes when you don’t want to!).

A popular stretch to troll for wahoo lies between the Airplane and the End-of-the-Bar. It’s easy for me to say that you want to be there on the outgoing tide, and stay just off the edge of the color change. I prefer to work between 150’ to 300’ in a zigzagging run until I locate the schools moving around.

If you’re looking to do something different…try free diving and spearing them. Yes, there’s that many and they can be in schools of more than 100. You might even want to just say the heck with Thanksgiving turkey and go for the Grouper, Tuna, and Wahoo feast!

So there you have it, dinner and a show all within 15 miles of Key West. Too bad that I don’t have more room to write so that I could tell you about the Snapper, Grouper, Kings and Cobia on the “other side” of the island! Catch’em Up!

Captain Rob Harris of Got TA Go Charters can be
reached by phone at (305) 587-9228 or by E-Mail:
rw_harris@msn.com.