3 Speckled Trout Fishing Tips that WORK

If saltwater inshore fishing is your game, you almost certainly like chasing after speckled sea trout. This species can at times seem easy to catch, but at others, specks can be frustratingly difficult to get on the end of the line. Hey, this is fishing, folks – there are no guarantees – but we can promise you one thing. Use these three speckled trout fishing tips, and you will up your game.

1. Try both very erratic retrieves, and slow and steady retrieves. Specks are notorious for wanting a very specific action in the retrieve. The problem is, just what that action is changes from week to week, day to day, and even from tidal shift to tidal shift. So fish may be smacking an erratically-retrieved lure at one moment, but then ignore it the next. The solution is simple: when you’re not getting consistent bites, change things up and use different style retrieves with each and every cast. When you start getting hits, stick with that style until the fish tell you to abandon it and try something new again.
2. Give bubble-gum pink lures a try. Yes, we know it’s an odd color and it doesn’t really match any specific hatch. But the speckled trout’s love for this color is undeniable. That said, yes, of course there will be days when white gets the most bites, or lime green fills the cooler. But keep some pinkies in the tacklebox and when the bite gets tough, give them a try – you might be surprised by the results.
3. Back-track your path as the day winds down, and re-try spots that you know are good, but weren’t productive earlier in the day. One of the odd things about speckled trout is that they may hit well in one spot during a particular tidal phase, but shut down completely there during another. Yet a spot a few hundred yards away can produce the exact opposite results. So an absence of bites at any given location doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of fish, so much as a lack of fish feeding during that particular cycle of the tide. A few hours later, you may get completely different results in the very same spot.

BONUS TIP: You’re not afraid to cheat a little, to make that banner catch? Go out to a good spot the day before you’re going to fish armed with a dozen shrimp and a plastic soda bottle. Rip up the shrimp and put the bits in the bottle, then use a knife or ice pick to poke a bunch of holes in it. Weight it down and sink it in your honey-hole, with a line and float attached. When you return in the morning cast near the float. You will be able to notice a difference. (And, of course, don’t forget to retrieve your float and bottle before leaving the spot).