Ebb & F low Speckled Trout
By Trey Leggett
A beautiful speckled trout! Photo by Trey Leggett
I
remember back in the day when I’d go fishing with the intent of catching and keeping the maximum limit of fish of a particular species. My target on many occasions was speckled trout. Not only are they fun to catch, but they’re very tasty battered up and bathed in some hot grease! I’d keep and freeze enough fish to have a couple of sizable fish frys during the year for family and friends. But it seems as though times are changing and it’s getting harder to find the numbers we once had. Size and creel limits are getting tougher and finding the fish is getting tougher. Let’s talk about speckled trout (AKA spotted seatrout or spotted trout). These fish mature at the age of two and can start spawning at 12 to 13 inches in length. Of course, the bigger the trout, the more eggs they’ll produce during the spawn. During the Georgia spawn (April – June), each mature trout can lay hundreds of thousands of eggs. Many of these eggs are eaten by predators, some travel to other areas of the coast, or they may stay, reach maturity and produce fry. Anyway, a small egg getting to a mature size is truly a remarkable struggle due to environmental conditions, predators and other factors. What you find back in our estuaries are what survived. Over the last few years, fishery management personnel have discussed, argued, and studied various sorts of data until they were blue in the face. I know, I was one of them. The tough decision to change the speckled trout size limit was made and was implemented in 2017. Although not a favored decision by all anglers, it was made for a stronger stock and improvement of numbers for the future. Not sure about you, but I want to have plenty of fish frys when I retire! You can go to the GADNR Coastal Resources Division website and read much more about stock assessments and such than I can explain here: coastalgadnr.org/sites/default/ files/crd/RecFish/State_FMPs/SpottedSeatroutFMP2017.pdf During the spawning season, speckled trout can be found at or near oceanside inlets. Spawning trout release their eggs in the inlets or beachside, supposedly to enhance egg survival from small estuary predators. Yet these trout are then susceptible to being targeted by their own predators by being in more open waters, which means they must swim more vigorously. Their enhanced movements coupled with swimming in more direct currents cause these trout to tire and they must eat. They feed very aggressively and with a clear purpose, to refuel and gain strength before their next spawn. I’ve caught female trout during the spawn that nearly April 2018
Southern Tides Magazine
ripped the rod from my hands. They’re very powerful and focused on their objective, which makes it sort of like shark fishing. The majority of trout that I catch during the spawn are generally in the 18- to 24-inch range. I use the same rod and reel setups when targeting spawning trout as I do with regular trout fishing: medium-weight with 10to 20-pound main line, tied to a 25-pound fluorocarbon leader. I have the most success on live shrimp or mud minnows hooked on a quarter ounce jig head. I’ll throw the presentation up current and let it drift across the bottom, or I may reel it back slowly. You can also have success with artificial lures if you can get to the right level of the water column where these fish are swimming. Remember, I love catching and keeping fish to eat, but I also love releasing any trout over 18 inches in length, so more babies can be laid for future fishing trips and for future fishermen. Have fun during this speckled trout spawning season! Stay safe and tight lines!
Trey fishes for Hobie Polarized Sunglasses, and ENGEL Coolers.
Email: info@southerntidesmagazine.com 9
