November in S.W. Florida to me means spending time with family becomes a priority. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just over the horizon. There are those family members that live out of state and come to Florida for the holiday season. The fishing changes too, as the waters cool down the fish become active. The groupers switch places reds migrate to deeper waters where the gag groupers migrate to shallower waters. And this is the time of year that I like to start trolling for the gag’s. I have learned pulling the deep diving lures work out to about fifty feet deep. With the new addition to the fleet at Alpha Omega charters we will be able to troll in deeper waters with down riggers. These are great tools to have you can fish the whole column of water. Using braded line instead of stainless wire it will stay down easier , the braded line is much smaller in diameter and has less resistance against the water. This allows you to fish the bottom for grouper, the middle for amber jacks ,tuna and the surface for cobia or king mackerel. While fishing this way you travel slow and need to keep your eyes glued to the bottom fish finder machine. This is a great time to find some new bottom fishing spots. As you troll mark some spots that look good and go back later. Come back later to check your spot and find the best spot close to your mark then position the boat over the spot without deploying the anchor. This way you drop a bait down and check the spot if you cat something nice prepare to anchor over the spot and get ready to have some fun. This could hold some snappers , porgies , red or gag grouper. Most of all when you travel out into the Gulf know where you are from the beach. The reason I bring this up the regulations for State and Federal waters are different. Take mangrove snapper for State waters nine miles from the beach five fish ten inches or better, Federal waters past nine miles ten mangrove snapper twelve inches or better. So make sure you know where you are harvesting fish and know the regulations that you should be following. If this is to much for you to deal with just call Capt. Bart Marx or e-mail me at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com and we can set you up for a fishing trip on one of our boats. And if you have loved ones coming to the area we could start a annual trip for making memories on the holidays. Always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{

Hello Fellow Anglers, November has once again rolled around. This is to me the month you start preparing for lots of family time. Yea with Thanksgiving and Christmas lurking over the horizon it helps us get focused on the most important thing spending time with family. This is the month that I like to start trolling for gag grouper as the water cools down they tend to move closer to shore. I have learned that a deep diving lure will attract these fish, and they will come up to attack a lure ten to fifteen feet if the water is clear. With my new addition to the fleet I want to learn more of how to use a down rigger. This way I will be able to troll in fifty plus feet of water using the downrigger. Some things I have learned, salt water is corrosive to stainless steel downrigger wire.  Doing some research the king fish guys use braided line it is thinner and salt water has minimal affect on it. Thinner means less resistance so your weight stays down better, and some ss wires hum and braid is pretty quiet. With a downrigger you can run more than one line off the same weight, stacking lines I think it is called. This way you may fish the whole water column. While you are pulling these lures over some good bottom you may find a cobia in search of a meal. Or you may find black fin tuna or amber jacks too. Most of all make sure you have your eyes glued to the fish finder. This is a great time to find a spot to go back later and bottom fish it with some squid or sardines and shrimp that will draw a quick bite if they are there. I like to do a drop with out the anchor deployed first, if you get slammed quickly you may want to look a little better as to find the best spot closest to your findings. Make a good mark get the anchor ready and set up for some fun. This is when you cut up some squid ,sardines and shrimp. Each angler use a different bait to see what the fish want. There could be porgies, triggers, lanes, mangroves, red and gag grouper. So depending on how far offshore you travel as to what the restrictions are. So a teachable moment as of the time of this article in Florida waters out nine nautical miles the mangrove snapper limit is five per angler and a minimum of ten inches to harvest. Okay if you are in federal waters past the nine miles you may harvest ten mangrove snapper with a twelve inch minimum. So if you plan to go out there make sure you know where you are and what the regulations are. If you are like me you like to take your family out to spend some time with them on the water. And to make some memories and harvest some fish for a fish fry for the relatives. Most of all it is about spending time with the ones you love most, family. I know there are some of you out there that have family come from out of town to visit . It could become a family annual treat to go fishing with Capt. Bart Marx and have some fresh fish while they are visiting. So to contact Capt. Bart Marx call 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com  Always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>