Speckled trout articles
free articles on catching
and cooking speckled trout!
Speckled trout fishing in the winter is a sport for anglers throwing artificial lures. With natural and live bait largely unavailable during the coldest months, trout anglers turn to lures to catch specks. Because trout are one of the few fish that stay in inshore waters during cold weather they can be caught throughout the winter.
Shrimp-imitating softs baits
Shrimp-imitation soft baits are made by companies like Gulp and Fishbites and baits in the New Penny and Chartreuse colors are very popular in the winter. These lures can be fished under popping corks like real live shrimp, with the angler popping the bait every thirty seconds or so. Unlike during warmer weather you want to keep the number of pops and the action of the lure more limited in cold water.
Minnow-imitating soft baits
The other popular soft baits for trout in the winter are grubs, pogies, and minnow-like bodies colored green, chartreuse, pink, or in the Mullet or New Penny colors. These baits are usually placed on a lead jig head and worked through trout territory slowly or in hops off of the bottom.
Soft baits on jig heads attract trout through sight, smell, and even sound if you bump them along the bottom. Trout anglers have really taken to the synthetic baits like Gulp that have tremendous scent-releasing capabilities that bring trout from long distance.
MirrOlures and other plugs
Plugs such as MirrOlures imitate big baitfish, and that is important to trout anglers because big specks like to eat big baitfish. Though throughout most of its life a speckled trout's main diet is shrimp, as they age they begin to prefer fish. Large female trout will often hunt and eat larger mullet or menhaden to the exclusion of other prey.
MirrOlures can be fished slowly, especially through strong current. They are usually retrieved in an erratic fashion back to the angler, resembling a large baitfish trying to fight the current. Large specks will sometimes hit these bigger plugs when they ignore smaller baits. Schooling trout will also react to MirrOlures, especially in the morning and at sunset.
Spoons
While not used as often inshore for specks, metal spoons are popular with surf anglers who fish for trout in cold weather on the beach. Some population of the species does leave inshore waters during the winter and they can be caught on the beach. Anglers use MirrOlures or metal spoons to cast to them.
Spoons are a great option for the surf fisherman because of their casting distance and flash in the water. As with all lures you work spoons slower in the cold weather than during most of the year.
Speckled trout anglers should check out the Gulp! and MirrOlures pages for the best lures. Also, don't forget the new 2012 LIVETARGET pinfish and mullet plugs.
