Trophy spotted seatrout caught in the winter. (Photo courtesy of Pure Flats)
November 05, 2024
By Frank Sargeant
Fishing specifically for giant spotted sea trout is a bit of an arcane art. Most of us can go out and catch a dozen 15-inchers when tide and water temperature are right in the prime areas, but catching those deep-bellied female giants that exceed 24 inches is a rare accident unless you specifically target them and know where and when to look. It's a pursuit that has many avid followers, however.
And Florida is the happy hunting ground for really big trout. Eleven of the 17 IGFA line-class records as this is written came from Florida waters, all but one of them from the east coast. Nine of the 14 fly tippet class records also came from Florida, all of them from the east coast.
While big-trout numbers have declined in the prime area from Mosquito Lagoon to Stuart in recent years due to water quality issues, there’s hope for restoration of more large fish with the current harvest rules. Only two trout per day are allowed in this zone, measuring between 15 and 19 inches, with an allowance that one of the fish can be over 19 inches in each boat. A female trout takes about 3 to 4 years to get to 20 inches in good habitat, so it’s not a quick process. A trout approaching 30 inches is likely to be 10 years old or more—a rare fish. Not many escape the porpoises, cold fronts, ospreys and other potential casualties. But they’re out there, if you can find them.
Photo courtesy of Capt. Ray Markham Where to Look The IGFA all-tackle world record , caught on May 11, 1995, by Craig Carson at Fort Pierce, weighed a stunning 17 pounds, 7 ounces. The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) here is still a good place to start.
Advertisement
Basically the east coast from Mosquito Lagoon, south to Cocoa Beach, the Banana River, and the much longer Indian River, stretching all the way south to Stuart, have traditionally been the best spots for giant sea trout—and this is where nearly all of the Florida IGFA records have been caught. Captain Peter Deeks of Merritt Island , who specializes in chasing trophy trout, still catches and releases many big trout here.
Unfortunately, the south end of the lagoon was all but destroyed by pollution both from local septic tanks and lawns and by runoff from Lake Okeechobee, causing the water to cloud up to the point that nearly all grass died out, and this ruined the trout fishery (and the snook fishery, as well.) Changes in water management and sewage laws are gradually bringing the area back, but it’s still a long way from the glory days of the past.
Other Spots for Big Trout—Sometimes St. Mary’s and St. Johns River have big tides, dark water and tons of shrimp, mullet and other baitfish that grow trout big and fat. It’s a different kind of fishery, where you’re a lot more likely to score with live bait than with an artificial, but big trout thrive here—fish of 7 to 9 pounds are possible.
Advertisement
Vast grass flats produce trout by the truckload, and while most of these never reach gigantic size, some do. This makes the broad shallow flats beginning around Hudson and stretching all the way north to Steinhatchee on Florida's west coast a possible for 30-inch fish. One of the best times to catch them is after the first severe cold front of the year, when many of the big fish will move into area rivers like the Homosassa, Crystal, Steinhatchee and Suwannee.
The Stealth Approach Big trout are often found in amazingly shallow water where they can prey on finger mullet and pinfish, water literally less than knee deep. A very stealthy approach is a must to have any chance of connecting.
In a flats skiff, it’s better to approach via pushpole than trolling motor, or to keep the troller on dead low and just sort of ease in, taking advantage of wind and tide if you can. Even better is a low profile approach in a kayak, or to leave the boats behind completely and slip over the side to wade into range of likely targets. (Big trout habitat is often full of oyster shells or limerock outcroppings, so a pair of wading booties is a necessary part of your equipment for this approach.)
Photo courtesy of Capt. Ray Markham Best Baits & Lures for Gator Trout The best all-time bait for a lunker trout is probably a 6-inch long finger mullet or a 4-inch grunt. If you have the dedication it takes to net these baits and carry them to where the big trout roam, your odds of catching trophy fish go way up—and even if you don’t get the trout of a lifetime, you’ll be kept busy by big redfish and, in the southern half of the state, snook.
Large live shrimp work well, too, but since there are so many bait stealers that will nip these off the hook in most areas, they’re not a first choice for most big trout fans.
In artificials, soft plastic mullet imitations rank high on the list. My personal largest, a 9-pounder, came in ankle-deep water on the Indian River near Stuart throwing a DOA Baitbuster , under the tutelage of none other than Mark Nichols, founder of DOA lures. Similar soft plastics like the Z-Man Mulletron are also winners.
A less realistic looking lure that is remarkably deadly is the Slick Lure , which is sort of a torpedo with a thin bead tail, usually rigged on a wide-gap 5/0 or larger hook. The Slick is totally snagless, so it can be thrown where other baits can’t go, including into saltmarsh outflows and all sorts of floating weeds. It can even be fished over oyster bars in most cases without snagging, and oyster bars are often hunting grounds for giant trout at dawn and dusk as well as on high water during cloudy days.
Another good lure design is the soft plastic shrimp—this is fished with the tide flow, just drifted through likely haunts—when you feel a bump, set the hook! DOA, LiveTarget , Savage Lures , Vudu Shrimp and others make good ones.
And when the fish are up shallow around oyster bars and creek mouths, a suspending lure like the Mirrodine or the LiveTarget Scaled Sardine are hard to beat—twitch, twitch and wait, then repeat.
And of course, topwaters are the most exciting way to connect with a lunker—the classic Zara Spook , Rapala Skitter V , Berkley J-Walker and others work. The action that draws the bite on most day is zig-zag, zig-zag, zig-zag and then stop, then repeat, but sometimes it’s best to just keep going.
Florida is the happy hunting ground for really big trout. (Photo courtesy of Frank Sargeant) Chose the Right Tackle A medium-action, fast-tip spinning rod 7 to 7 feet, 4 inches long is the weapon of choice for most big trout anglers, since this has the backbone to throw sizable live baits but is also soft enough to whip a topwater a mile. In reels, the Abu-Garcia Revo in 3000 size and similar do the job, loaded with 10- to 15-pound test braid. A rod’s length of 20-pound-test mono leader is beneficial, both because it’s less visible than braid and also stiffer, so it won’t tangle in the hooks of an artificial as you work the lure. Use a loop knot to tie on your lures to maximize action, of course.
Photo courtesy of Frank Sargeant Conservation The biggest trout, all females, are the most prolific spawners, so turning them loose to do their thing is part of the game for many who love catching the big mamas.
Trout don’t survive catch and release well unless they are handled with care. A rubberized landing net is the best solution I’ve found for controlling them without injury. Cradle the fish in the net as you get the hooks out, then slip one wet hand under the jaw, and lightly support the tail with the other hand, also wet, as you raise them up for a horizontal photo.
Avoid raising a big trout you intend to release up with a jaw gripper vertically—their weight is likely to dislocate the jaw. And it’s wise not to put a big trout you intend to release into the live well—even with good aeration, most die quickly from the stress. Better to quickly get her back into the water so that she hopefully propagates those big fish genes and we’ll be able to chase her lunker offspring years from now.
