Captain Favorite's Weekend Fishing Forecast: Nov. 6, 2014

BRADENTON – November is manatee awareness month.The FWC is asking all boaters to be cautious of our favorite gentle giants while operating their boats. Cownose stingrays are migrating by the thousands! Stone crab season has finally arrived! A cold front which will approach the area on Thursday and Friday creating windy conditions. The wind and sea levels created by the front on Saturday and Sunday are greatly dependent on how it reacts when it comes into contact with another area of high pressure. 

• Manatee Awareness Month
• November is manatee awareness month.
• Watch this fun video as Florida kids talk about Florida Manatees. Viewers are encouraged to share the video on social media sites to spread the word. Manatees are very unique creatures, found only in this part of the country. How would you describe these gentle giants to someone that has never seen one before?

• Cownose stingrays migrating by the thousands!
  Every spring and fall, people the world over have photographed flocks of migrating birds and waterfowl. But for some reason, migrating schools of “golden” rays swimming back and forth across the Gulf of Mexico are so seldom photographed that one woman’s pictures pop up multiple times when searching for information or glimpses of the natural spectacle.
• Actually called cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus), these stingrays migrate between western Florida and the Yucatan by the hundreds or thousands, heading northeast to western Florida in the spring and southwest to Mexico and the Caribbean in the fall.

• Stone crab season opens Oct. 15 in state, federal waters
  Florida’s recreational and commercial stone crab claw harvest season opens Oct. 15 in state and federal waters. To ensure this valuable resource is available for generations to come, take care when removing crab claws, and follow all protective management guidelines for stone crab harvest.
• To be harvested, stone crab claws must be at least 2¾ inches in length when measured from the elbow to the tip of the lower immovable portion of the claw (see illustration). View a video on how to properly remove the claw, and increase the likelihood of survival of the released crab.

Fishing Forecast

An area of high pressure in the Western Atlantic will produce winds and dry conditions for the next couple of days. A weak cold front till move through the area on Thursday and Friday, causing winds to ver to the not. Winds from the cold front and high pressure will cause increased winds which could escalate to cautionary levels early Friday morning. The effects on the winds and seas will depend on the evolution of the low.

Thursday


Northeast winds around 10 knots then becoming north in the afternoon. Seas 2 feet or less. Bay and inland waters a light chop. Thursday night will bring northwest winds 5 to 10 knots increasing to around 15 knots after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Bay and inland waters a moderate chop.
2014/11/06 Thu 06:37 AM -0.12 L
2014/11/06 Thu 12:55 PM 1.77 H
2014/11/06 Thu 05:51 PM 1.15 L
2014/11/06 Thu 11:19 PM 2.55 H

Friday


North winds around 20 knots diminishing to 10 to 15 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 4 feet. Bay and inland waters choppy. Friday night will bring north winds 10 to 15 knots then becoming northeast after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Bay and inland waters a moderate chop.
2014/11/07 Fri 07:19 AM -0.21 L
2014/11/07 Fri 01:44 PM 1.68 H
2014/11/07 Fri 06:18 PM 1.22 L
2014/11/07 Fri 11:49 PM 2.59 H

Saturday


Northeast winds around 10 knots diminishing to around 5 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Bay and inland waters a light chop. A slight chance of showers. Saturday night will bring north winds around 10 knots. Seas 2 feet. Bay and inland waters a light chop. A chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms.
2014/11/08 Sat 08:01 AM -0.21 L
2014/11/08 Sat 02:32 PM 1.6 H
2014/11/08 Sat 06:46 PM 1.27 L

Sunday


North winds 5 to 10 knots increasing to around 15 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Bay and inland waters a moderate chop. A slight chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms.
2014/11/09 Sun 12:22 AM 2.56 H
2014/11/09 Sun 08:42 AM -0.17 L
2014/11/09 Sun 03:19 PM 1.54 H
2014/11/09 Sun 07:17 PM 1.29 L

Solunar Forecast