Florida Freshwater Fishing Forecast for November 23-30, 2025
Sunday's Comprehensive Fishing Article for Florida's Freshwater Anglers
Fishing in Highlands County and Central Florida is a Healthy Addiction
The Florida Freshwater Fishing Forecast for the week of November 23, 2025, gives anglers a weak moon as the moon waxes toward the first quarter phase, and a fall season weather forecast which will produce ideal weather for fish to feed and anglers to catch them.
This week marks my twentieth-year writing newspaper fishing forecast articles for Highlands County and central Florida anglers. I began writing for the Highlands Today newspaper in November of 2005 and transitioned over to the Highlands News Sun newspaper when they bought the Highlands Today in October of 2016. It has been an honor to serve the angling community of Highlands County and central Florida for the past two decades, and God willing, I’ll continue this healthy addiction for several years to come both in newsprint and website publications.
Putting anglers on the water when fish are biting is the objective of this article. It’s up to you to produce your own fishing report. Make it a good one and contact me with the highlights. I love a good fishing story and others in the angling community do as well.
It’s the fall fishing season. Which means fish are feeding aggressively and often. So it’s time to go fishing in the fishing capital of the world and with the greatest anglers in the world. Wednesday and Thursday will be pre-front days so I’m predicting the best fishing of the week will occur during that forty-eight hour period.
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Solar-Lunar Factor: Solar noon occurs at 12:12:12 p.m. EST. today, and will advance over the next ten days to 12:14:51 p.m. EST. The moon arrives at its furthest point from the solar energy path yesterday—Lunar Low. The new moon happened last Thursday which makes today the last day of the seven-day new moon phase. And the lunar orbit apogee occurred last Wednesday.
So the short of it is, the lunar influence is very weak and will perhaps add one point to the daily solar and lunar periods’ feed ratings. However, the first quarter moon occurs Wednesday which means the sunrise and sunset periods will have the underfoot and overhead moons respectively, improving both the numbers of feeders and the duration of the feeding effort.
Weather Factors: For the first half of the week wind direction changes daily and wind speeds are barely in the ideal fishing speed range of eight to twelve mph. Thursday through next weekend a northeast to east wind will produce twelve to fifteen mph speeds---by next Sunday an ideal east wind will occur.
The sun to cloud ratio will be averaging about fifty-fifty every day this week which always produce a higher level of fish adjustment activity. Atmospheric pressure change will not be a factor until Thursday evening through Friday midday when 0.14 in hg or rise occur which is more than enough to cause fish to need to adjust upward, further into the shallows. They will opportunistically feed as they adjust up.
Water temperatures are ideal for fish to feed at their annual high rate. Literally, fish are feeding at will right now. Water temperatures in the seventy to eight-two degree range occurs twice a year, in the fall and in the spring and early summer months. Which means fish are currently packing on about half of their annual weight gain.
A high-pressure cold front arriving late Thursday will cause the higher pressure and drop temperatures about ten degrees which is not enough to affect the daily feeding effort. Metabolism and digestion speeds will remain fast and dissolved oxygen levels will rise as water temps drop slightly, so you can expect fish to feed at the same rate they have been.
Solunar - Weather Variable: This week the minor high pressure cold front combined with the first quarter moon, albeit a weak first quarter moon, will produce good with little odds of being great, sunrise and sunset fishing. However, since this is Florida and freshwater fish normally feed heavy during the fall season, any day with above average solunar activity could be a fantastic day to remember.
I caught my third largest bass during a lunar low, weak new moon phase, where the astro tables predictions showed feed ratings in the two to three range. It was a 15 lb. 2 oz big girl and she was the only bite of the eight hour fishing effort. I remember thinking, “Damn I can’t even get a dink today” just before she ticked my line slightly, which I knew could mean a big bass could have taken the 7” Yum Dinger, so I set the hook with authority. She measured 28.25” by 23.75” with the girth remaining the same for nine inches.
The odds of catching a trophy largemouth bass when water temperatures are in the ideal feeding range are much higher than at any other time of the year. My records clearly show this to be a fact. Eighty three percent of my double-digit bass came from October through early December and from late April through early June.
Major Solar-Lunar Period: Today the moon is overhead at 3:02 p.m. producing a feed rating of four and maybe five from 1:30-4:30 p.m. Daily the overhead moon occurs later by an average of forty-eight minutes and remains at the same feed rating. However, during the second half of the week when the overhead and sunset periods harmonize, the feed rating should improve by one number which is typical during the first quarter moon phase.
Minor Solar Lunar Periods: Today the moonrise occurs at 9:55 a.m. producing a feed rating of three from 9-11:30 a.m. Daily the moonrise occurs later by an average of forty minutes and remains at the same feed rating for the remainder of the week.
A second minor period happens today when the moonset occurs at 8:09 p.m. producing a feed rating of two or three from 7-10 p.m. Daily the moonset occurs later by an average of one hour and remains at the same feed rating.
A third minor period happens today when the moon is underfoot at 2:36 a.m. producing a feed rating of two to three from 1:30-3:30 a.m. Daily the underfoot moon occurs later by an average of forty-seven minutes and remains at the same feed rating until Thursday morning when it begins to harmonize with the sunrise period which will improve the feed rating by two points to become a major feeding period. Friday a feed rating of four to five will occur from 5:30-8:30 a.m.
Best Fishing Days: Pre front conditions will occur Wednesday through Thursday, and pressure will rise all day Thursday into Friday midday. With the even mix of sun and cloud and the wind direction change combined with the pressure rise, fish will be at the highest level of ‘adjustment activity’ and will feed at a higher-than-normal rate as a result during the forty-eight-hour period.
Prime Monthly Periods: December 1-7 very strong super full moon, 18-20 extremely weak new moon, Dec 31-January 6, 2026, strong full moon, 15-20 very weak new moon, Jan. 28-February 3 strong full moon.
Lake Istokpoga S68 Spillway and Lake Level Status: Lake level is currently at 37.96 NAVD88 with four S68 spillway gates closed. The NAVD88 Offset to NGVD29 is + 1.16 feet = 39.22NGVD29. The current seasonal schedule maximum level is 39.50 NGVD29 and the minimum level is 38.65’ NGVD29. Links to the USACE and SFWM websites are provided at HighlandsBassAngler.com.
Dave Douglass has been an artificial bait only bass fishing guide since 2005, and the writer of the Highlands News-Sun fishing forecast article since Oct. 2016 and previously the writer of the Highlands Today fishing forecast article which began in Nov. 2005. Contact email DavidPDouglass@hotmail.com or phone 863-381-8474.