WINTERTIME WADE FISHING FOR SEATROUT

IN RECENT YEARS, IT’S THE MOST-CAUGHT INSHORE FISH SPECIES BY PRIVATE OR RENTAL BOATS

Written by:Paul Thurman, Ph.D.

It was cold—at least cold for a Tampa winter in January. A front had come through a couple days earlier and an old friend had somehow talked me in to a wade fishing trip for spotted seatrout. Also called speckled trout, it is actually a member of the drum family and not the trout family.

I couldn’t believe I agreed to it, but my friend’s constant badgering finally wore me down. Besides, who knows?

I might learn something new and if we didn’t catch anything, he’d never hear the end of it. Basically it was a win-win situation, I thought.

After a stop at the local bait shop to pick up a few dozen shrimp, we arrived at the boat ramp and suited up. Wade fishing was the goal of the morning; the air temperature was in the high 30s, so neoprene waders were a necessity. I tied my bait bucket to my tackle pack and began to wade down the flat in waist-deep water, throwing a popping cork with a live shrimp suspended a few feet beneath it. We were wading the edge of a drop-off from the flat into a deep channel that flowed a mile or two into the Gulf of Mexico, fishing in about 6 feet to 8 feet of water.

Most seatrout are not particularly large, although you can increase your chances of catching bigger fish by using somewhat larger baits consisting of or resembling fish.

After a sharp pop or two of the cork to cause some commotion, my bobber went down and didn’t come back up. A short time later, a nice seatrout was on my stringer. That’s how the rest of the morning went—one fish after another until all my shrimp were gone and I had a nice limit of seatrout. Time to go get some breakfast and warm up. It wasn’t even 10 a.m. yet.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, spotted seatrout were the most-caught inshore fish species by private boats or rental boats in recent years. That was certainly the case in my family growing up on Tampa Bay. In a family of fishermen, we most often targeted seatrout. They were abundant, good to eat and relatively easy to catch. While I don’t target seatrout too often anymore, they have a special place in my heart and I still think of my granddad every time I catch a nice one.

Spotted seatrout are one of the most easily identified fish in Florida and are extremely abundant. They can be identified by the numerous spots on their back and their large front canine teeth. Other species of trout can be caught along with spotted seatrout, but they lack the identifying spots.

While seatrout can be caught in tidal creeks, around mangroves, oyster beds and virtually any other inshore habitat, they are perhaps the iconic predator on seagrass flats. Much of my youth was spent drifting the grass flats north of the Gandy Bridge in Tampa, fishing for seatrout.

Spotted seatrout can be identified by the numerous spots on their back and their large front canine teeth.

Seatrout are predators that feed on just about any small fish or crustacean that they can fit in their mouth. While shrimp are the most common bait, using small fish such as baby mullet and scaled sardines will often produce larger fish—although in smaller numbers. Also common is using a variety of artificial baits such as soft-tail jigs, weighted imitation shrimp, and both floating and sinking plugs. Ask your local bait shop to provide recommendations on the “hot bait.”

My preferred setup for seatrout is a basic flats rig. A 7-foot fast-action rod and a spinning reel spooled with 6-pound or 8-pound monofilament line (or a similar braided line). You often don’t need to worry about structure, so you can let large fish run and tire themselves out if needed. When using live bait, I prefer somewhere between a 1/0 or size 4 hook, usually a short shank as opposed to long.

Most seatrout are not particularly large, with the current world record weighing more than 17 pounds. Most trout caught will be less than 15 inches, although you can increase your chances of catching bigger fish by using somewhat larger baits consisting of or resembling fish.

I can’t think of any species that’s had more changes in recreational fishing regulations than seatrout. It seems as if total length, slot and/ or bag limit changes about every year. The regulations are also different throughout the state. It can be hard to keep up with them, so make sure you stay up to date to keep legal. Good luck and tight lines! FCM

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Amanda Carlson-Granato of Okeechobee, Florida

Best Friend’s Name: Chobee

Best Friend’s Breed: Pitbull/Boxer mix

Chobee watches over us when we play and is a great snuggler—even though she snores! We’re lucky to have Chobee: When she was around a year old, she had emergency surgery and they retrieved lots of plastic from her gut. They said that if we had waited any longer, she would have died. That was before my daughter was born; so if Chobee had passed away, my daughter would never have met her!

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Debbie Howell of Fort Meade, Florida (Photo by Thomas Rex)

Best Friend’s Name: Marshal Dillon

Best Friend’s Breed: Quarter Horse

I was born to a family of Alabama farmers who also raised horses, and moved to Florida in 1918. They were my grandparents; they adopted me after their daughter (my birth mother) passed away in childbirth having me. So horses are in my blood and I’ve loved them all my life. … I received Dillon as a Christmas 2019 gift from God. He was very thin but he's gained 250 pounds. I’m so blessed to have a horse who doesn't intimidate me and takes such good care of his rider. He performs perfectly with just a bitless bridle and leg pressure. … Dillon is all I wanted in a sweet and reliable trail horse!

Officer Angela Creel of Davie, Florida

Best Friend’s Name: Officer Drako

Best Friend’s Breed: Belgian/Quarter Horse

This is my best friend, Drako. Not only is he my best friend, he’s also my work partner—because we both work for the Davie Police Department. We’re honored to serve and protect, and we both enjoy making people smile and keeping our community safe. Drako has been my partner for three years. One of his favorite things is getting to visit schools and interact with kids. I could not have asked for a better partner or best friend.

Briana Tribett of Inverness, Florida

Best Friend’s Name: Rossi

Best Friend’s Breed: Mixed breed (He’s a mutt!)

Rossi is very special. Everyone who meets him falls in love. One video of a 5-week-old pup wagging his tail and I was won over and drove to North

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Carolina to get him. In the two months I’ve had him, he has become my best friend. We’ve been to nine states and made many memories. I can’t wait to make a million more.

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Joe Gigliotti of Fort Myers, Florida

(Photo by Virginia Marshall Stokes)

Best Friends’ Names: Tuff (the dog) and Gigolo (the horse)

Best Friends’ Breeds: Mastiff/cur mix. Buckskin Quarter Horse/cow horse bloodline

6 crew in the cow fields. … It’s not an easy job. So when I bring Tuff and Gigolo to help out, they make work easy. Sure makes me look good, being as green as I am!

Jennifer Egbert of Webster, Florida

Best Friend’s Name: Diamond

Best Friend’s Breed: Schipperke/Pomeranian mix

Diamond means a great deal to me. I adopted her from an animal shelter in Lee County, Florida, 12 years ago. Diamond was approximately 3 when I adopted her and now she’s around 14! She’s been my constant in a life that can throw insane curveballs. She’s the definition of a best friend and always game to go for a ride on the four-wheeler or for a horseback ride around the yard. 3