Last Updated on November 10, 2025 by Capt. Bucky
November has been as been very good as to be expected. Unfortunately, charters have been few and far between. Think it has to do a lot with the economy and this government shutdown, but when I have been able to fish, it has been a solid bite. Fall is such a fun time to fish, the weather is beautiful and the fish are hungry. I highly suggest booking a trip for this time of year!
Friday was a great morning, but a little tough going first thing. Fishing is usually a little tough coming off the back side of a full moon. Bait was tough to get to start the morning, but persistence paid off eventually. We set our sights on trout, because they wanted to have a fish dinner. First few spot we caught a handful of tiny trout, ladyfish, and catfish. A few days before I was kicking some trout butt in those spots. We bounced around a few times and eventually we hook up to a nice 18” trout. Then another, and another, doubling up a few times. Easily caught our limit of trout, with a few upgraders and some big trout releases. I will not kill a big trout. It’s not worth it. Big trout are special and should be treated as such.
I rarely handle trout if I don’t have to. Trout are very sensitive fish and have a high mortality rate after catch, so the less you touch them the better and if you do want to hold them, make sure your hands are wet. I like to use a dehooking tool as much as possible. Our trout limits in Tampa Bay are 3 per person between 15” and 19”, or 2 between and one over 19”. Why they still allow you to keep a big trout is beyond me. You can’t keep and over slot redfish or snook, so why can you kill a big breeding trout? Makes no sense, and I hope they change that in the near future.
After crushing some trout, we moved to the edge of the flats and hit one spot that I thought was going to be perfect for the amount of water we had left. By late morning we were into a very low negative tide. That plays perfect for this slightly deeper section off the edge of the flat.
Once we got there, I bombed out a few pinfish and start to slowly chum out some whit bait. After about 15 minutes, we started to see some movement, then bam, rod goes off with a nice redfish. For about the next 45 minutes we were hooking up with redfish and trout every few minutes. Landed 6 redfish and just about as many snook in that short amount of time. Not to mention we lost a few bites and had a big snook jump off.
Sunday was a little different but we had a pretty good day. Started the morning off working a shoreline until the water started to get too low to fish. We went 1 for 2 on redfish, but we saw quite a few fish. They just didn’t want to cooperate. We then went to catch a triple tail, but were unable to do so. The current was ripping too hard to effectively fish for them. At least we had fun trying!
We shot over to a flat where I though the fish would be hanging out due to the lower tide. Got there and noticed the water was a little higher than I expected so we got on the other side of the bar and creeped up towards the schools of mullet. Threw a few baits out and before I could get a chum bait full of bait we were on. Landed 3 or 4 redfish and lost one before we had to get out of there. It was a strange bite, because we had fish hitting chummers, but not taking the bait on the line.
Last spot was the same one we ended the trip on Friday. The tide was a little higher than I like so I pushed in farther and only managed one snook. Went back out and said we need to just sit tight and let the tide drop out a little more and the fish will come to us. Maybe about 30 to 45 mins. While we were waiting, we caught a big gator trout around 24”and followed that one up with another 20” trout. Then we caught a snook. Right after that first snook they really turned on and in the next half hour of fishing we landed 8 more snook, but only one red. If we could have stayed for another hour, I am sure the reds would have really showed up, but we all had to get out of there, so we could catch the Bucs game. Should have stayed and fished longer.
We had some pretty decent days and the bite should remain steady. Strong cold front today should move these fish around and closer to their winter holds. Looking forward to getting back out there as soon as possible. I have plenty of availability for November and December. Close to reaching my goal for the year and could really use your help! Fishing is fun!
Capt. Bucky Goldman
