http://www.tampabay.com/sports/outdoors/Captain-s-Corner-Speckled-sea-trout-a-good-target_173165485
The gulf water temperature has dropped into the 70s, significantly lower than the mid 80s just 10 days ago. The drop in temperature has caused the speckled sea trout fishing to become a reliable target. Redfish have been on the move, so sea trout has saved me on a number of charters this past week. The great thing about trout fishing, there are other species that can be caught to provide fast action using jigs. Wind can be your friend when targeting sea trout. It allows you to set up a drift on a deep grass flats, so a large area can be targeted. On sunny days, it is easy to locate deep grass. The darker patches are the grassy areas and lighter areas are sandy bottom. The sandy bottom usually does not produce what you want to catch. On cloudy days, I use my bottom machine. A sandy bottom is a flat line. Deep grass will have a thick jagged line. All grass flats have “sand holes.” I work the edges and the middle of these holes, where trout are always lingering on the edge, or in the deepest part waiting to ambush prey. Light 10-pound braided line with a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader will provide long casts. I cast with the wind and cover as much water as possible. A red quarter-ounce jig head rigged with a root beer tail grub is deadly for trout. Eel and minnow type plastic tails also produce good numbers of fish. Use super glue to attach the tail to the jig head; this gets a few more uses out of the soft plastic baits.
Rob Gorta charters out of St. Petersburg. Call him at (727) 647-7606 or visit captainrobgorta.com.
- Jay Mastry - March 26, 2024
- Captains Corner, Gorta - March 23, 2024
- Dave Zalewski - March 12, 2024
