 West
central Florida is home to some of the largest spotted seatrout in the world.
After entanglement netting was constitutionally banned in Florida, seatrout have
rebounded back to very healthy numbers and sizes that we haven’t seen since
the 1980’s. Seatrout are an aggressive fish that will strike anything from
top water, artificials, spoons, jigs, live bait, and a verity of fly patterns.
Where Spotted Seatrout are Found
Inshore and nearshore over grass and sandy bottoms. Winter fishing in deeper
water with well defined thermo clines produce plentiful numbers of fish. I find
that seatrout stage close to their winter holes on the flats between cold spells.
Live bait works great for winter seatrout because they are usually less aggressive
and want to test the bait before committing to a strike. The winter of 2004 &2005
produced many trout in excess of 25” and we are looking forward to many
more successful seasons to come.
Florida Record
Remarks
Seatrout are often referred to as gators, or gator trout when they are larger
(over 5 lbs.). Common Hooker Adventures specializes in finding and catching large
seatrout in shallow water areas. Here are some facts about this game fish:
- Matures during its first or second year and spawns inshore from March though
November
- Often in association with sea grass beds
- Lives mainly in estuaries and moves only short distances
- Adults feed mainly on shrimp and small fish
Capt. Bear's Comments
This is another fish that is here all year. In the winter, the method is cold
early mornings with my choice of baits and some of my secrets. The summer is different
they are a given and we will limit out in just a few hours. |
