Fishing Forecast – November New Moon

There’s a big difference between early November and late November. Somewhere in between, almost every year, winter starts to show its teeth with constant northeast blows and short days paired with cold nights. This year that pattern seems to be holding true. The extended forecast shows a whole lot of northeast wind coming up, which tends to be the kiss of death as far as sending fish back south or offshore to their winter grounds. That said, some fish will hang around, it’s just a matter of toughing out some snotty conditions. The tog bite should continue to stay strong despite the looming northeast winds and inevitably dropping water temps. You may have to go deeper, or further as we get deeper into the month. There’s also been a healthy abundance of cod inshore recently, so hopefully that continues in the next few weeks. Most are being caught on tog jigs or rigs, but if you bounce a diamond jig around the reefs and wrecks your odds are decent. 

Striped Bass

The bass fishing has generally been hit or miss, but slow for most. There are still feeds out front to mess around with when you can get out. The backwaters are slowing down, but there are still fish to be had there too. Look for places with dark bottom and (relatively) warm water. Small soft plastic presentations like a Zoom Fluke or Slug-go on a light jighead is a great place to start, day or night. It's tough to beat the small NLBN Screwlock Jighead but another favorite of mine for small presentations is the ZMan HeadlockZ Jighead. Small paddletails are another go-to. The NLBN 3in and the Jygpro Swym 3in are both great options. Not to cause an uproar, but I tend to prefer the Swym tails in the 3inch. It’s a little softer and just allows you to slow down the retrieve and still get a nice kick from the tail. They're still durable despite being a little softer because they have a built-in channel for the hook, which means way less tears. That slow retrieve gets more and more important as we dive into winter themes and tactics. That said, especially on a warm, sunny afternoon, you should still run into some active fish in the next couple weeks willing to hit an Albie Snax, weightless Zoom Fluke, or other weightless small plastics. Fly fishermen also thrive in this late part of the season, as small and subtle presentations don’t get any better than a fly. Check out our selection of striper flies Here. 

Jon with a nice schoolie recently on a white Cotton Cordell Red Fin.

Tautog

Lucky for us, the tog don’t mind the cold, nasty, late fall weather one bit. The bite in and around the bay seems to have slowed down the last week or so, but there are still smaller fish if you want to get on some light tackle fun. Use the lightest Tog Jig you can get away with depending on the depth and current you’re in. Both cut green crabs or whole shore crabs should get plenty of attention. Try using a small square of Fish Bites to supplement your crabs, too. It’s something bright to help grab their attention, and it 100% will get you extra bites once they’ve cleaned the meat out of your crab. It’s not a direct replacement for crab, at least not a great one, but it is definitely worth having to use as a supplement. Out front, you’ll probably run into a mix of sizes, especially in less than 40ish feet of water. You should run into keeper-sized fish, most likely with plenty of shorts, and maybe the occasional hammer to keep things interesting. Move into that deeper water, anywhere from around 60 feet to 100+, you should find a higher ratio of keeper-sized and bigger fish. Out here you’ll most likely be using rigs rather than jigs to stay vertical. The Jigging World Slider Rigs are ideal for whole crabs, or extra big chunks. You’ll notice a much better hookup ratio, especially the deeper you’re fishing. I went through some of our best rod and reel options in the last Forecast article, so be sure to check that out if you’re interested in a new togging setup.

A hot tog bite on the kayak from a year ago today (11/13). 

Even though things are inevitably slowing down, it’s always worth it to get out there whenever you can. As far as bass go, there can be some pretty great bite windows in late November and into December – you just may have to endure some skunks and tough fishing to stumble into them. There is still good bait around and bass coming from the north in full migration mode, looking to fuel up before their journey to Jersey and New York to take advantage of their annual fall run bunker buffet. There are big tog and keeper cod to be had too, and not that far out. In about a month or so things will really be slim pickings – so we encourage you to keep after it and make the most of this end-of-season window!