How to Fish for Speckled Trout

Catch a speckled sea trout and serve it as a fresh and tasty dinner fare. Speckled trout are also called speck, yellow mouth and spotted seatrout. They range throughout the Gulf of Mexico from deep estuaries up to deeper waters offshore. These fish are characterized by their long bodies with black spots and dark, silver gray colors on their backs. Their dorsal and tail fins are spotted and their mouths often have yellow coloring on the edges. When unhooking speckled trout, watch out for the large and sharp teeth located at the front of their upper jaws.

Things You'll Need

  • Rod and reel
  • Lures
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Instructions

    • 1

      Use light tackle with a 6- to 10-pound monofilament line. Avoid stiff rods and too many hardware items like swivels and weights.

    • 2

      Use productive lures like jigs and grubs sized 1/4 to 1/2 ounces. Use 3- to 5-inch jig heads in various colors and grub combinations such as size 2/0 Calcutta ultra jig heads with Lunker City 4-inch "Fin-S" bodies. When drift fishing, cast tandem-rigged, plastic cocahoe minnows or split-tail beetle lures.

    • 3

      Search for speckled trout in areas like creek mouths, sloughs and deep waterholes. When drift fishing, cast in over oyster beds, rocky bottoms and sand flats. Cover mid-level to surface depths. When wind and current conditions are rough, fish deeper, near or on the bottom. Other structures and spots that attract the fish are sandbars, depressions and points. Larger trout tend to congregate near drop-offs and deep water and on the drop's edge.

    • 4

      Fish during the summer months of May, June and July. Typically, speckled trout start moving to estuaries in April to feed, resulting in bountiful summer months for fishing. Search in coastal bays and along the barrier islands.

    • 5

      Look for speckled trout in deeper canals and bayous during winter. They like to linger in deeper waters to seek warmth. Target areas like dead-end pipeline canals or deep pockets.