are coaxed into eating the different bait.
As water temperatures increase to the high
80’s, larger speckled trout are going to really start
holding tight to structure. I always have a cast net
in my boat and am on the hunt for pogies. Many of
the marinas will have croakers for sale; but to have
pogies as one of your main sources of bait, you
must catch them with a cast net. Normally, I want
the pogies and croakers to be the length of my
hand from fingertip to the base of my palm, but
mullet can be up to an inch longer.
Finding pogies can be difficult at times, but
that is why trophy trout hunting is specific to certain
anglers because it absolutely takes a lot of effort
before you even get to cast for the first time. These
larger trout will place themselves on the up current
sides of the platforms or islands a majority of the
time, looking for bait as it enters the structure.
Also, these fish will normally suspend about two to
three feet off the bottom, while predators of the
speckled trout like to be near or on the bottom, so
you’ll want to adjust your presentation to keep your
bait in that strike zone.
Larger speckled trout also want to be in the
ideal water temperature for them during the day.
Surface temps will be best early and late in the day;
but when most of us anglers are out fishing, the fish
will be deeper near the cooler waters. This cooler
water not only offers some relief from the hot summer temperatures, it also holds the most oxygen
and clear water of the area. Look at depth in relation to a layered cake.
The fish are going to align themselves in the
best layer of the cake depending on the best conditions; so as you work and present your bait, take
note on the depth where you catch your first fish
and try to keep your bait in that depth range.
www.captcharlie.com
My FREE Coastal Fishing Concepts Seminar
this month will be hosted by the Covington, LA
Academy Sports and Outdoors on July 13th.
The event time will be 6:00 to 8:00 pm that
evening, and this is an all ages event. This is a
question and answer format, so bring your
maps and questions! Don’t forget to watch
every Saturday morning at 9:00am on Cox
Sports Television or from the web at
www.CoastalFishingConcepts.com