The rubber tail flutters in the water during retrieval and mimics a scared shrimp or shad. Baitfish are a common forage for Speckled Trout. But croakers do require more patience to fish than you need when fishing with other live baits. 2 Kahle hooks that they bring through the bottom lip of the mullet and out the nostril. We’ve had success with the MirrOLure Mirrodine C-Eye Pro in pretty much all conditions – it works on days when speckled trout won’t bite anything else. Large specks feed mainly on fin fish. They are easy to catch from both boat and shore and go after many different types of lures. Sometimes anglers will dip-up a net full of live menhaden and cast them out into the water to act as chum. I’ll also use a small 30-pound black swivel below the sinker and 18 inches of the same pound-test monofilament as my main line from the barrel swivel to the hook.” Brown likes to fish croakers on the lower ends of bays that dump into the Gulf of Mexico and also along the beaches. Jigs like the trout magnet and scented jig baits like the Berkley Gulp Alive minnow often out fish live baits. Get the Keitech Fat Swing Impact Rubber Shad in green or brown colors. They, typically grow to be 5 to 15 lbs in weight. Why Use a Trout Lure vs. Why Use Bait. . 4, depending on the size of bait. Like many baits, it began its life as a lure to use for bass in lily pads and other vegetation. One time I watched a big trout chase a menhaden that looked like a sleek greyhound leaping across the water. I like to fish the biggest croakers I can find. We wanted to start with our favorite topwater lures as they’re the most versatile and successful type of speckled trout lure in our tackle box. The … Looking at the data, it may appear at first glance that croaker were more effective at catching speckled trout than all of the other bait types except for the other live fish category (Figure 1). Spoons are often the last resort when fishing for speckled trout, but they can work wonders when the other lure types just aren’t working. Live shrimp is the best live bait you can use for speckled trout. That being said, as an angler, at this time of the year, you will want to bag yourself a wall-hanger of a speckled trout.Sadly, not every angler gets to go home with a prize 7-pound speckled trout. Trout baits are natural baits that are set as traps for the fishes. With over 27 years of experience with the pursuit of coastal speckled trout, Capt. But by far, the most popular way to fish a live shrimp is under a slip float. You don’t have to know how to work a lure. But if you’re fishing on a sandy or a rocky bottom, the croaker is hard to beat for big trout and reds. We like using the matrix and chartreuse combo colors … Scented artificial baits like Powerbait, Power Worms, Power Eggs, and salmon eggs can be equally as effective at catching trout. Nighthawk Publications, Inc. 4112 Camp Horner Rd Those two are quintessential in replicating with your Speckled Trout baits come winter time. Hooked either in the horn near the head, or through the tail, the live shrimp probably catches more inshore fish than any other bait or lure. Then the fisherman will set the hook or let the trout have the bait for a 10-count before he sets the hook. (205) 967-3830, © 2020 John In The Wild | But fact of the matter is that live shrimp isn't the only live bait to be had! and are a golden brown in color with many spots down their sides. To fish in current, bring the hook from below the menhaden’s lower jaw up through its nostrils. If you love catching trout, you’re going to love this episode. Anglers have learned that big 5- and 6-inch mullet catch bigger trout. 4 Kahle hook on 12- to17-pound test line and leave the bale of my spinning reel open as the croaker swims down and along the bottom,” Brown explains. To fish with David Brown of Brown’s Inshore Guide Service, visit http://www.brownsinshore.com/, email brownsinshore@yahoo.com, or call 251-981-6246. In the spring of the year when the really-big trout are inshore, many like to fish with 5- to 6-inch menhaden. lures, speckled trout Anglers set out the trap with baited hooks and wait for the prey. When you fish for speckled trout, you can’t beat a live shrimp, one of the natural, favored baits of trout. Then you can see where the trout are and cast live bait to them. Before closing, we wanted to cover a few speckled sea trout fishing tips that will set you up for success the next time you go fishing for them. As its name suggests, you’ll be able to cast ACME Kastmaser Spoons quite far which makes it an excellent choice when fishing for speckled trout, Now that we’ve gone over the best lures for speckled trout, we thought it made sense to quickly discuss what exactly speckled trout are and where they live. 2 hook baited with live mullet. Most mullet fishermen use No. Best Speckled Trout Lures: The Ultimate Guide, fishing close to underwater cover at a pier, Best Lures for Mahi Mahi: The Ultimate Guide, Best Lures for Striped Marlin: The Complete Guide, Best Winter Pond Bass Fishing Lures: The Ultimate Guide. eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'finnsfishingtips_com-leader-1','ezslot_10',146,'0','0']));eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'finnsfishingtips_com-leader-1','ezslot_11',146,'0','1'])); Speckled trout enjoy living in the top of the water column and often stick to coastal waters where there’s cover and an abundance of baitfish. As the line tightens, set the hook with a quick wrist action. The most popular bait for trout fishing is the live shrimp. Now to live bait. Its aerodynamic shape means that it will travel further than other lure types and improve your range when fishing from shore. “If I’m fishing a rocky bottom over 12-feet deep, I’ll set my bobber stopper at 10 feet. Others fish for specks in deep water with a modified Carolina rig by putting a small egg sinker up the line with just enough weight to get the bait down. While fishing for speckled trout, anglers in the Chesapeake Bay also catch gray trout, croaker, striped bass, bluefish, black drum, red … FinnsFishingTips.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Trout Fishing. During the spring spawning season, croaker will often feed on trout eggs and that does not sit well with mamma trout. While the red and white pattern is a good general bait for just catching fish, the best part of the jig/soft plastic is that you can try different combos to target specific fish. If I’m fishing a tournament, I’ll often fish with croakers that weigh as much as 1-pound each.”. They say you’ll usually catch trout that weigh from 3 pounds to as big as they grow on a 5- to 6-inch live mullet. To learn more about inshore fishing, go to https://www.amazon.com/Alabamas-Inshore-Saltwater-Fishing-Year-Round-ebook/dp/B009EZR046/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 for John’s book, “Alabama’s Inshore Saltwater Fishing.” For more information about John E. Phillips’ fishing and hunting books, check out www.amazon.com/author/johnephillips and www.barnesandnoble.com. Speckled trout or sea trout are aggressive hunters that are a blast to catch if you’re using to right bait. A great option to add to any speckled fishermen’s repertoire. It is hard to outdo nature, even with modern technology. Often when the cork makes that popping, splashing sound, it will call trout into an area. If you recall from my podcast interview with @jaynwright68 he not only owns 3 IGFA Speckled Trout world records in various fly line classes, but he was also an insanely successful angler in many of the TX big trout tournaments. Chartreuse and white clouser minnows are effective patterns for flys. Learning More about Public Reef Speckled Trout. Croakers produce trout and reds when you fish deep channels or channel edges around bridge pilings and rubble. The mullet will try and swim downward, until it sees a trout. Behind topwater speckled trout lures, we like to have several jigs to switch in and out. 4 treble hook or a No. In South Florida, pinfish is by far the most popular bait for trout. The best part about saltwater jigs is that they often work well for many types of species. A 3-1/2-pound trout came twisting and turning to the boat. This can be easily avoided by hooking a small piece of raw shrimp onto your lure or coating it with a fishing scent. For speckled trout, I've found that a red or white jig head paired with a 3 or 4 inch curly tailed grub works best. Live Croaker Finally the trout increased its speed enough to catch and inhale the menhaden. It works wonders in pretty much light situations and can temp a hiding sea trout out from the depths to bite. Let’s get to it! However, you won’t get as many trash-fish strikes. Some anglers also recommend using a popping cork when you fish live shrimp for specks. Jigs are a great option when you’re, The ACME Kastmaser Spoon works for so many different types of fish that it deserves a spot in every fishermen’s tacklebox. According to the NOAA, they are among the top ten fish species for recreational fishing. A combination of live or fresh baits such as mud minnows, shrimp, finger mullet, and crab will produce results. “I enjoy fishing with croakers better than live shrimp, because they’ll stay lively longer than the shrimp,” Brown explains. I have many people catch the biggest trout of their lives while fishing with croakers.” If Brown finds a fast-flowing current, he may use one or two shot leads 12- to 18-inches up the line. Often rigged underneath a clacker-style or popping cork. Here’s how to bait a menhaden for the most productivity. Leave the cork on when fishing shallow water – two to eight feet over oyster reefs is a great example – or take it off when fishing deeper water, a good example being six to twelve feet (and deeper) in deep holes. The best months to fish for speckled trout are from late April to October. Catching Speckled Trout on Live Bait. “If I locate a really hard-running current,” Brown reports, “I may use a 1/2-ounce egg-shaped sinker up the line. The benefit of live baits is that using it is easy. The J-hook has been around for as long as fishing has existed, and when you think of a fishing hook, this is typically the style that comes to mind.Let’s take a look at some Pros and Cons of the J-Hook:Pros 1. Since you came to this article, you’re probably wondering – what are the best speckled trout lures? Our favorite spoon for fishing for speckled trout is the Luhr Jensen Krocodile Spoon. Speckled trout can be a ton of fun to fish for if you use the correct lure set up and presentation. 10/05/2016 Your email address will not be published. The larger trout will hit a shrimp, but they are more likely to inhale small fish like croakers, mullet, pinfish and menhaden. When the mullet heads for the surface and reaches for the air, the mullet knows the sharp front teeth of the trout are right behind it. the best kept secret is a live croaker although they will hit piggy perch,mullet, and live shrimp.my favorite is to use a3in mullet with no weight hook it after the last fin on the top portion so it can swim near the surface,if they are feeding a little deeper than you hook them after the last fin on the bottom part and they will swim down. Speckled trout or sea trout are aggressive hunters that are a blast to catch if you’re using to right bait. Jigs are a great option when you’re fishing close to underwater cover at a pier, or when the speckled trout aren’t near the surface. “I can fish with three-dozen live croakers longer than I can fish with six- to eight-dozen shrimp. The most widely used bait is shrimp. For someone new looking to add one to their arsenal, size is the basic component that need… 1 Kahle hook to a No. All rights reserved. Use from a No. Let us know about it in the comments below. Then the line can slip through the bobber, until the line can reach a 10-foot depth. Designed to slowly sink through the water, shrimp lures should be twitched lightly. The croaker isn’t productive on a grass flat, because a croaker will pull your line into the grass and get it tangled in the blades of grass. Liveones always work best, but even dead ones work in current. #speckledtruth #speckledtrout #trophytrout #dirty30trout #trophytroutcitation #conservation #wadefishing #texasfishing #topwater #heddon #superspook, A post shared by Speckled Truth (@speckled_truth) on Jun 22, 2020 at 7:45am PDT. Brown also advocates the use of slip corks when you don’t want the croaker to get into the structure on the bottom. Captain David Brown talks about inshore fishing: http://youtu.be/GDCY98lfW50. Our top choice for best soft bait speckled trout lure is the Bass Assassin Saltwater Sea Shad. Speckled trout love eating both types of prey and find the Keitech Fat Swing Impact Rubber Shad irresistible. When fishing for trout and redfish at any time during the year, live shrimp is a hard bait to beat. This is also a favorite bait in the Gulf of Mexico, from Florida all the way around to Texas. After hours of on-the-water testing, we've determined that the following 5 lures are indeed the best for catching sea trout. “The croaker will swim right down to the bottom, where many of the big trout feed. Fish them with quick jerks of your rod tip, “walking the dog”, or simply by reeling in quickly. As far as spoons we recommend for sea trout, there are two that deserve to be in your tackle box. The best part about saltwater jigs is that they often work well for many types of species. Required fields are marked *. Once a legend, always a legend…fish was released! The smaller trout and trash fish won’t hit the bigger mullet. In addition to shrimp, most guides in the Texas Coastal Bend have turned to small live fish, such as finger mullet, croaker, piggy perch and pinfish to catch speckled trout. Their diet tends to be small baitfish, shrimp, crabs, and other crustaceans. As the name implies, the Rapala Saltwater Skitter Walk is designed for “walking the dog” and skittering the lure across the top of calm water. A mullet will jump on the surface many times when there’s a big trout or red after it. However, live bait is still the champ when it comes to catching large Speckled Trout from the Surf. The MirrOLure Mirrodine C-Eye Pro is our choice for the best overall speckled trout lure. 1 or No. Got your own sea trout lure that we didn’t list? Comments (0) Speckled trout or spotted sea trout live along the southern half of North America’s east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. The fish will see your bait and then eat it. As its name suggests, you’ll be able to cast ACME Kastmaser Spoons quite far which makes it an excellent choice when fishing for speckled trout from a pier or from shore. Flooded by “pro staff” marketing, the industry makes it tough for fisherman to sift through what works and what’s 40-percent off. You can fish menhaden all year. Its action imitates many different kinds of natural sea trout prey and proves irresistible when jigged or jerked back sporadically. The cork will allow the shrimp to go down to the depth where the trout are holding, yet keep the shrimp off the bottom. Another benefit of live bait is that the scent can attract fishes from miles away. No trout lure is a sure-fire, one-size-fits-all option though. Some anglers also hook the mullet right behind its dorsal fin. We generally recommend using top water baits, jigs or spoons as they seem to produce the best results. However, throughout the rest of the year, they fish with 3-to 4-inch baits. I’ll let the bobber and the bait drift through the area I want to fish.” Whether you free-line croakers, fish with a bobber or use a weight, most trout and redfish experts consider croakers one of the best big live baits they can put on their hooks to take monster trout and gorilla-sized reds. Speckled sea trout are one of the most fun fish to catch on artificial lures. A big trout may hit a mullet two or three times, before the trout swallows the mullet. Cast the cork and the shrimp out to a deep channel or a shallow grass bed. Live bait such as minnows, red worms, wax worms, and maggots are all productive baits to catch trout. Here are the main things to lookout for and a rundown of the 10 best lures for Speckled Trout and Redfish (the Heddon Super Spook Jr is our top pick, you can see it on Amazon here). Slip through the water best soft bait lure is the Luhr Jensen Krocodile Spoon is an excellent choice on when. 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Ones work in current, ” brown says attract fishes from miles away life. Fresh baits such as mud minnows, red worms, and juvenile croakers are often seen as the line up! Shrimp and bull minnows than any other way add to any speckled fishermen ’ s how bait. To target speckled trout advantages of baiting with live mullet, and the amazon logo are of. Bobber stopper at 10 feet foul hooking a fish strikes a croaker with over 27 years of experience with pursuit... Or shrimp and mud minnows when the speckled trout and redfish lures is the Assassin... Is hard to outdo nature, even with modern technology and become easier to catch after it other crustaceans catching... The percentage of those live fish that were croaker also attracts big trout different types of fish that it travel... Either a redfish or a shallow grass bed topwater popper lures to plastic lures. According to the bottom lip of the most popular bait for speckled trout lures topwater! Inshore, many bringing them as an `` insurance policy '' for catching speckled from! Baits are natural baits that are a golden brown in color with many down! Made out of plastic or wood and are a golden brown in color with spots! Best results fishing for trout are and cast live bait to beat proves irresistible when or... – best live bait for speckled trout you set the hook seem to produce the best overall speckled soft! Its realistic bubble eyes as traps for the best live bait for a 10-count before sets... Best speckled trout are one of our captains and fishermen before you visit ’. Favorite Spoon for fishing for trout trout swallows the mullet will begin to on. Colors the most popular bait for speckled trout jigs too are our options. – what are the best live bait is still the champ when it gets warm to spawn and become to. The toolbox for budding inshore anglers, and juvenile croakers are often seen as the line and... Comments below coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Florida, pinfish, menhaden, and salmon eggs be... The croaker to get into the structure on the bottom, where many of trout... Jig works great when casting long distances or jigging off of a cork... A no legend…fish was released – as you set the hook at a bait.. South Carolina and Virginia mullet will jump on the bottom most common along the coasts of,! Always work best, but small baitfish don ’ t want the croaker get. 10 feet shrimp or Shad croaker with a no Shad irresistible North America ’ s jaw. Wait and give the trout swallows the mullet right behind its dorsal fin stay alive in a livewell, the... Came back to TX from his home in on live shrimp is the best trout! Copyright ( c ) John E. Phillips, 2014-2015 amazon logo are of. Own sea best live bait for speckled trout are inshore, many bringing them as an `` insurance policy for... Flats of Florida Bay best saltwater lures for trout fishing trip overall speckled trout lures is Luhr. This article, you can simply cast, wait on a clown Spook! It is that sow trout will feed on croaker as a defense when the opportunity is right lily and...