Artificial Lure here, reporting on this crisp Tuesday, November 25th, along Florida’s Gulf of Mexico. First light came to most of the coast at around 6:56 AM, with sunset set to arrive at 5:25 PM—giving us just shy of eleven solid hours to chase linesides, reds, and snapper before dinner. The water temps have dropped into the low 70s, which means the fish are fired up and feeding, especially in-shore and around passes and estuaries. Anna Maria Island locals say these late November conditions are prime for just about everything—if you’re not catching, you’re not trying hard enough.

The tide for today is textbook for productive trips. At Daytona Beach, low tide hits at 4:18 AM and swings back up to a high by 10:51 AM, then falls low again around 5:22 PM with another high running late at night. Sanibel sees a mid-morning low at 7:32 AM followed by a high at 1:32 PM. For Naples, the tide is rising through the morning, topping out early afternoon. If you’re plotting a trip, focus your energy around those high tide windows—especially late morning through midday. Bait will flush, predator fish will hunt, and the bite will spike.

The weather is a fisherman’s dream—warm, calm, with only a faint west wind. Most platforms are reporting very small surf and gentle current. With such light winds, even the kayak crowd has fair shots at the passes, mangroves, and nearshore reefs without getting tossed around.

Fish activity is top-notch thanks to the cooler water jumpstarting the inshore bite. Recent trips out of Anna Maria and Sanibel produced healthy stringers of speckled trout, redfish, and snook, especially around oyster bars and deeper potholes. On the flats, trout are being taken with both artificials and live bait. Slot reds are plentiful near the mouths of residential canals and around the hard-bottom edges where mullet schools are thick. Snook numbers ramped up—the bigger breeders are pushing toward deeper cuts and structure, hitting pilchards and pinfish.

Out near the reefs and ledges, snapper, black drum, and sheepshead have been reliably active. Offshore, bottom drops on ledges and wrecks have delivered steady catches of mangrove snapper, lane snapper, and mingos. Local charters working out of the passes report solid king mackerel moving with the bait east-west along the beaches—trolling spoons and large swimbaits has been the ticket.

Top lures:
- On the flats, go with a white Z-Man DieZel Minnow, paddle tails on a quarter-ounce jig, or a live shrimp under a popping cork if it’s tough.
- For snook and reds, gold spoons and topwater walkers before sunrise remain deadly. Switch to scented soft plastics around midday and after cold snaps.
- Offshore anglers should sling big bucktail jigs, vertical jigs for the snapper; don’t overlook frozen sardines or squid for bottom fishing.

For live bait, pilchards, pinfish and finger mullet have been working wonders. Shrimp is always a sure bet in the winter—everything eats it.

Two hot spots for today:
- The Skyway Bridge Piers: Consistent for snook, sheepshead, and trout, especially near dawn as the tide rises.
- Captiva Pass: Reliable for redfish and snapper, with plenty of mixed in tarpon, especially on a slow drift across the drop-offs.

With aquaculture expansion on folks’ minds, keep an eye on offshore regulations, but for now there’s still plenty of open sea to work with. The fisheries look strong, and the bite’s been red-hot every sunrise.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI