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Captain's Corner: Speckled trout action takes off

 
Published Aug. 26, 2016

Speckled trout action, slow throughout the past six weeks, exploded this week. With aggressive fish feeding throughout the morning, it was not difficult to catch a lot of "slot"-sized fish on lures. Go with your lightest tackle: rods and reels, leaders and even lures. An outfit that casts a long way is best, and ⅛-ounce jigheads are ideal. Rig with a 3- to 5-inch plastic tail. Retrieve the lure at a slow pace, making the lure swim right down by the bottom. Target areas of depth 3 feet or more. Trout in less than 3 feet are great targets with topwater lures. Light strikers, the best technique is to let these fish hook themselves. During the slowest bite, slow the lure to a crawl. The "slot" is 15-20 inches, and the bag limit is four per angler. One fish can be more than 20 inches. My personal slot is 16-20 inches. A 16-inch fish has much more flesh than a 15-inch fish.

Neil Taylor charters kayak fishing trips in the Tampa Bay area and can be reached at strikethreekayakfishing.com and (727) 692-6345.