Kings, sharks move in close
Capt. Bobby Williams of the charter boat Three Sons IV has fished the Biloxi area for many years.
Fish for king mackerel
“Even though the king mackerel came into the Biloxi region late this year, they’re starting to show up really well,” Williams said. “We should have extremely good king mackerel fishing this month.
“Some of the biggest king mackerel historically have been caught during the month of November near Biloxi, when the big kings move in to the offshore rigs, and some of them come in near shore. The monster kings that weigh over 50 pounds are generally caught on live bait around the deep-water rigs, but we primarily troll for the king mackerel that are near shore.
“Right now, our king mackerel weigh from 18 to 32 pounds each, and are moving in close to the barrier islands. They’ve been holding out in deeper water, but when the weather cools down, they’ll move in closer to shore. We’re finding the king mackerel in 18- to 30-foot-deep water right now — about 12 to 18 miles out. Most of our king mackerel are caught on Drone Spoons, but we’re catching a few on Boone Dusters with Bermuda strips as trailers.
Fish for various species
“If you run out to a little deeper water, we still have plenty of amberjacks and grouper, but you have to go about 50 to 60 miles off port to catch these fish.
“November is also a good month to catch redfish. Our redfish stay here year-round, but we’ll catch a lot of the bull reds this month. Many times we head out to the east to catch the big reds on wrecks and reefs.
“We’ll also catch some cobia this month. Mississippi’s Gulf Coast seems to have a year-round fishery for cobia. You’ll occasionally pick-up straggler cobia in 20 to 25 feet of water by fishing the channel markers in Gulfport Channel. However, catching those cobia is very weather-dependent.
Bet on blacktip sharks
“Even though king mackerel are generally our No. 1 target this month, there’s a large group of anglers who want to catch blacktip sharks. Shark fishing has become very popular in our area, and during November we’ll catch a number of blacktip sharks while fishing for king mackerel. One boat reported having 50 to 60 blacktip sharks on at one time, and the captain of this boat said he saw another 100 to 150 last month.
“Another boat stopped to drift and reported about 200 blacktip sharks around the boat. The sharks come in for baitfish, and the baitfish really start moving into this section of the Mississippi Coast in October and November.
“One of the best ways to catch blacktip sharks is to fish behind the shrimp boats when they have their nets out dragging for shrimp. Not only is the blacktip shark fun to catch, but it’s delicious to eat, if you know how to prepare it.
“Some people soak the meat in Italian dressing and grill it. However, my favorite way to cook blacktip shark is to cut out all the red meat and then cut it up into chunks. Next, I’ll soak the meat in really salty water, baste it thoroughly with mustard, put it in cornmeal or flour, and fry it.
Try inshore fishing
“Speckled trout and redfish are concentrated inshore in Black Bay and the Tchoutacabouffa River. Last year, we did really well trolling and casting for these fish. We use live shrimp, DOA shrimp or H&H Cocahoes. We also use Berkley Gulp lures.
“We usually find the trout in 12 to 30 feet of water, holding in holes on the river. When we locate the trout and redfish by trolling, we’ll stop the boat and start casting to them. The speckled trout we catch in the rivers this month will weigh from 1/2 to 6 pounds each.
“November is also a good time to load the boat with big sheepshead and black drum. One of the best places to find these fish is on the shallow-water reefs built by Mississippi’s Department of Marine Resources. Early in November, you also can catch sheepshead around the bridges and the bridge rubble.
“Another way to catch the really big sheepshead, which will weigh 8 to 12 pounds each, in November is to fish with live shrimp around the wrecks and reefs.
“We use 12-pound-test. We tie one end of the line to a barrel swivel and then about 18 inches to the other end of the barrel swivel. Attached to the end of the leader we’ll tie-on a No. 2/0 hook and use either live shrimp or fresh dead shrimp. We caught some really big sheepshead last year using this tactic.”
For more information, contact Williams at (228) 392-8243 or (228) 669-7870.
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