"These big fish are just so awesome," said Walker, pulling a specimen of nearly seven pounds into the boat for a quick release. "Their colors are so intense and they just flat out eat a bait. If trout got over 50 pounds I think that would be the end of redfish and snook."

Part of his love affair with the speck is also one of attrition. For several years, finding a trout over 14 inches on the flats of west central Florida was a cause for celebration.

"Oh, we'd catch a few with those funny rings around their necks, but that was it, said Walker. "And you might find a few big ones in the power plant or back in some canal. I can't tell you how many hours I wasted looking for trout on the flats even when I knew half a dozen netters were working the area. Wishful thinking I guess."

To understand the susceptibility of trout to commercial and subsequently recreational anglers (granted the weapons and limits are slightly different), one must understand the behavior patterns of trout. The nature of the fish makes them slightly easier to catch than redfish or snook. Unlike a redfish or linesider that will flush out and get lockjaw if you spook them, a jilted trout won't run far when you push him out of his house. And even more importantly, the fish you run over in a boat are fishable within 10 or 15 minutes.

This doesn't mean it's okay to run all over the flats spooking fish, but it does allow you a margin of error.

"You run over some reds or snook and it's going to be a few hours before you can get them to even look at a bait," said Walker, who also admits that he's had clients catch snook on casts they make after he's fired up his motor. "But that's just fishing," he added. "Trout are a little more forgiving. You can run over a pile of trout, head upwind a few hundred yards and drift back down and get them to eat."

Another tidbit of trout behavior is their affinity for bunching up in schools--especially in the late winter and early spring--While there may be very few anglers who have ever seen a school of trout, chances are, more and more will be seeing them in years to come. I remember spotting large schools in the late '70s and early '80s on a regular basis during flats adventures with my dad and have seen small schools a few times since. But it was like deja vu standing on the bow of Walker's skiff while dozens of big fish flowed by.

Crucial to this aggregation of big fish is the water temperature on the flats. If the water is below 60 degrees, the only fish in the shallows are likely to be redfish and sheepshead. Once the mercury climbs over 61 or 62, the trout start showing up in skinny water in big numbers. Then, with two or three days of sunshine to push the temperature near 64 or 65 degrees, the action peaks. Once the water temperature climbs above 70 or 72 degrees, the action just drops off. Walker still catches the occasional big fish, but the marauding packs of fish drawn by cooler thermoclines are gone.

Walker also notes that these fish are often fat with roe in preparation for a summer spawn and strongly advises catch and release.

"I do a little selective breeding," joked Walker. "These big trout are on top of the gene pool producing more big trout. If a customer has to eat a trout, we'll keep a 15- or 16-incher and let the gators reproduce."

Obviously, Walker knows of several areas where he consistently finds big trout. But since he acquired his tower skiff, he's discovered wads of trout in places he's never even before had a bite.

One such area he discovered while running from spot to spot between the Anclote and Cotee rivers. While cruising the shallows he spotted a school of big fish but he was snook fishing. Instead of stopping to work the fish, he simply logged lat-longs on his GPS as he ran by.

For a month he made the run regularly, and hit the GPS whenever he sighted trout. After programming 10 or 11 numbers, his machine spit out a plot of each spot that revealed some surprising information--the wad of fish had not moved more than a few hundred feet.

"I couldn't believe it," said Walker. "The area has since become one of my favorites for nailing those big trout in early spring."

Subsequently he has found so many new areas full of big fish that he's come up with some theories on trout behavior. The information translates into a couple of solid rules he follows to find big trout.

"If when running the flats you see one nice fish, don't bother with it. If you see two or more fish, swing upwind, give the fish some time, then drift back down on them. That is the Two Trout Rule."

"And don't stop if all you see are small trout," he continued. "Very rarely will you catch trout over three pounds in a mixed crowd."

Another application of the Two Trout Rule relates to how hard you should fish a particular area. If you drift an area and catch one trout, check out another spot. If you catch two, the skipper says, the area might be worth another drift.

Says Walker, "It's the Two Trout Rule, and it almost always works."

When the trout first start moving on the flats, Walker notices their affinity for muck-bottom flats where bottom there is dark and warms quickly. Areas tucked in backbays that don't get a lot of tidal flow warm up fast, too, and see little pressure. Check these areas first as the water starts to warm, then hunt for trout closer to the bay or river passes as spring takes over.

What to throw when you find the fish is the simplest part of catching big trout.

Many veteran trout hunters feel jerkbaits are the only way to go. They cast a mile, which is key when you're easing up to a wad of trout; you can work them fast or slow, near the bottom or the top; they're soft so the fish don't spit them out.

When experimenting to find the action fish want on a given day, start with a slow, erratic retrieve that falls and rises through the water column. This is more attractive to trout than the walking retrieve preferred by reds and snook.

Walker rigs his Slam R' (made by 12 Fathom) Texas-style, with the point of a 3/0 or 4/0 worm hook buried in the bait. This produces a weedless bait, but as well, requires a special hooksetting procedure. Other effective plastics come from Bass Assassin, Culprit and Zeta, to name just a few.

When the fish hits, you need to trash the quick-strike mentality and allow the fish to eat the bait. A couple seconds delay, followed by a hard, solid set with a stiff rod will do the trick. If you miss the fish the first time, be patient--you'll probably get a second chance.