Captain Greg's Fishing Report for November 2017
Port Canaveral, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, and Orlando
Last Month's Action
Like I said in last month’s fishing report. Thank goodness for our near shore fishing action because it was the only thing that saved us. Wow what another brutal month of weather. Heavy wind and rough seas kept us close pretty much the entire month. The small black tip sharks, big red drum & snook pretty much was the only thing that kept us going. It was a lot of fun and made for some easy fishing for people just looking to catch some hard fighting fish and enjoy time on the water with family and friends. We barely got offshore at all. We made it out 3 days the entire month and other than 1 good day of mahi fishing it was extremely poor. We literally just experienced 2 straight months of wind.
November Near Shore Fishing Forecast
Oh ya baby it is November! Our fishing is going to be great! The stage is set and we can already fill fall in the air. Last month’s conditions slow rolled our big red drum but now that things are getting right I believe we will see huge numbers of these awesome fish. Find the bait or any kind of different bottom contour from the tip of the Cape Canaveral down to Patrick Air Force Base out to 30ft of water and you will find these drum. The most fun way to catch them is when you see them stirring up huge clouds of mud then just toss anything into the mud. We will have banner snook fishing with the slightly cooler temperatures. The jetties, piers, surf, back basins, sea walls and locks will all be loaded. It will be harder catching the bait than the snook. Snook fishing is all about being their when they snap. Tide changes are big and time of day also. The snook are always their but it is definitely one of those fish that will not feed until whatever environmental condition they are waiting for makes them snap and more often than not it is a tide change. Most people don’t consider Fall and Winter months to be good for shark fishing but the last couple years have proven that to be wrong. We have a lot of small to medium size black tip sharks along with some big boys that I believe come in to feed on the big schools of red drum and spanish mackerel. Black tip shark is a seriously underrated table fare shark. They are sustainable and very good to eat, especially the 10 to 20lb models. Schools of spanish mackerel will be roaming the beach and surf along with black drum, sheepshead, whiting and flounder. November is a great month for near shore fishing.
November Offshore Fishing Forecast
I have to say that I am almost giddy inside to see the calendar flip to November this year. November is awesome because when September and October go wrong like they do some years “especially this year” I can count on November to pull us out of the hole. Bottom line for fishing out of Port Canaveral. You can love or hate king mackerel but if for some reason they are gone then pretty much every other type of fishing out of Canaveral will suck. Luckily we will see our kings return as the water clarity cleans up and the temperature starts to cool down. Along with the kings you will have black fin tunas, cobia, sail fish, occasional wahoo and lots of big sharks. This November for the first 2 weekends we have been so generously given 6 red snapper days. Snapper fishing will be easy but the amount of pressure this derby style of fishing creates is not good. If the seas are calm the Atlantic will look like one giant boat show. Bottom fishing in November can be very good. Always lots of red snapper, trigger fish, sea bass and porgies. The grouper fishing can also be decent but the word decent when referring to Canaveral grouper fishing means you grouper fished all day, had 5 grouper bites and caught 2 for the entire boat. Amberjack fishing can be good but it will be catch and release until January 1st. Somehow the recreational quota has magically been hit even though hardly anyone has been able to fish the South Atlantic for the last 2 months. November is going to be good so be sure to invite relatives to Thanksgiving to Florida this year so you can get in on some of this great fishing. Everyone has been stuck on land for 2 months now so it’s time to get some ocean therapy.
About Captain Greg's Reports and Forecast
Captain Greg has been fishing the waters of Port Canaveral and the Atlantic for over 30 years. He has the largest and most highly rated private charter business in Port Canaveral, Sea Leveler Sport Fishing Charters. Greg and his team of full time captains fish well over 200 days each per year. We have kept detailed catch history for every trip ran since 2010. You can access this history at www.sealeveler.com/reports. His engineer wife, Amber, has analyzed the catch history along with other historical data such as water temperature and weather patterns. Greg uses his fishing experience and knowledge along with his wife’s statistical analysis to bring you the best fishing report available for Port Canaveral. Greg will give you the honest truth on how the fishing has been along with his best prediction of what to expect by using all of this information.