Spotted Seatrout

The spotted seatrout, locally known as the speckled trout, is the most sought after game fish in Florida's Big Bend because of its abundance, willingness to bite, and the ease of access to trout-infested waters from small skiffs and jon boats. Trout are fairly easy to locate and catch, require no great skill to land, and are good table fare, hence they make a great beginner's fish for anglers just starting to fish saltwater. Most bait and tackle shops can give good advice.

When and Where

From March through October "specks" are commonly found on the large expanse of shallow coastal grass flats in depths of 2 to 12 feet. After the weather cools in November, specks move into the rivers and tidal creeks where they can be found concentrated in great numbers until late January when they go dormant until March. Spectacular runs of trout develop in the Suwannee and (especially) Steinhatchee rivers in December and January.

How to Catch Seatrout

Trout are most commonly caught on jigs with soft plastic grub tails and tipped with a small piece of fresh or frozen shrimp. During warm weather drift over the grass flats while casting. Pay special attention to grassy edges at channel drop-offs and the edges of "white holes" (slightly deeper, light colored areas of bare sand bottom in the middle of a grassy flat). Once you catch a trout, throw out a marker buoy and work all around it. Often you will find yourself into a school that hangs around long enough for you to put several fish in the box. Whole live shrimp fished under a float also are deadly, but seldom survive long enough to catch trout if pinfish are abundant. A live pinfish, fished under a float, greatly increases the likelihood of catching a large "gator" trout. You should have one out drifting behind you while jigging the flats. Also be sure to float the pinfish through any deep gaps in oyster bars having a strong running tidal current. The latter method is especially productive around Crystal River. After some cold weather, trout move into the creeks and rivers to keep warm. In the Steinhatchee River, trout stack up in deep holes in the river channel for up to 5 miles upriver. The preferred tackle is a whole shrimp on a slip-bobber that suspends the bait just off the bottom in holes up to 20 feet deep. How do you find the holes? Just look for a gathering of boats so close together that you can nearly walk across the river on them, all hauling in one gator trout after another. In the Suwannee, wintertime trout are caught by casting shrimp tipped jigs or Mirrolures, or sometimes trolling the latter. Again look for concentrations of boats catching lots of trout. In the smaller tidal creeks look for deeper areas having a hard bottom and good tidal flow, either around a bar or at a creek bend. The trout will be facing up-current, so work a jig or Mirrolure slowly towards them, quartering the current to keep the lure in the water longer. Drifting live shrimp down current under a bobber also is productive. Vary the depth of the shrimp until you get the most hits.

Limits and Seasons

Spotted seatrout cannot be kept during February in Florida's Big Bend. A maximum of 7 spotted seatrout may be kept in Big Bend waters the rest of the year. Any spotted seatrout you keep must be between 15" and 24" in length, except that one fish over 24" may be kept. The smaller (as well as better fighting and better tasting) sand seatrout is not subject to bag or size limits -- you may keep all you care to eat, regardless of size. "Sandies" are caught from deeper, sand bottom channels and often appear in deeper spots near the West Pass and Alligator Pass of the Suwannee River in late winter.

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