# Surf Run Speckled Trout?



## CaptnC (Aug 29, 2016)

Do the Specks run in the surf here like they do in Texas?

I have only been on here a short time but don't see anything about catching them. We smack them pretty good on the rare days the water is flat enough to fish and the water clear enough for them to see the bait/lure.


----------



## kanaka (Oct 3, 2007)

Seen them in the late fall off the beach at Okaloosa Island and Destin. They are the fish that you see in a school that won't hit most anything you throw at them.


----------



## Wugitus (Oct 16, 2008)

*specks*

caught a few at St George Island on a spoon in the surf, none in P cola


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Search for my reports in the surf report section. I catch a lot of Specks, Reds and Flounder from perdido key to ft Morgan. I only use artificials and do a lot of walking and casting. I've caught Specks to 9lbs in the surf off Al.


----------



## Fisherdad1 (Oct 4, 2007)

Chris V - does time of year make a difference with the gulf specks? I have heard some folks say they are supposed to be there in the late summer / fall but no one that I have spoken to about it seemed to have any details. It was all heard from a friend of a friend. You are the first person I have heard to say that they actually catch them this way.


----------



## Hopin4aboat (Jul 5, 2009)

I've never caught nor seen one in the surf from Alabama point east but have caught one or two and seen quite a few of the lock jaw bastards west of there.


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I catch them from as early as mid march and as late as October. Mid summer gets tough with high water temps and sometimes those warm bouts in the winter will see some in the gulf. April-June and late august-early October are prime


----------



## GROUPERKING (Sep 28, 2011)

Here's one from perdido key that I caught last year ,while pomp fishing.


----------



## CaptnC (Aug 29, 2016)

I've noticed most everyone I've seen bait fishes on bottom, which in Texas is not the most ideal way to fish for "Specks". I never fish bait in the bay or surf so I tend to catch a lot of them here. 

I seen a bunch of Ladyfish in the surf last summer and normally here in Texas that means Specks should be close by. I was wondering if that would be case on the coast there in Florida.

Like all the fishing, the wind has us pinned down most of the year. But Florida has ideal fishing conditions nearly everyday! Offshore we are blown out 5 out of 7 days...protected water in the bays on those days. 

When we were in Destin for spring break I noticed even with a howling north wind the bay was still pretty clear even the south shore lines. In Texas everything looks like a mud hole on those days!

Everything is "Bigger in Texas" just not better!

Thanks for all the info guys!


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Most guys are bait fishing because "it's what they know" regarding fishing for Pompano and such. Like I stated in my first reply, I fish artificials only if I'm targeting trout here and do pretty well. bait fishing will take them, but the by-catch rate sucks and then you have to deal with live bait.

As far as the Ladyfish go, that's a reasonable assumption. Whereas most people move when they get into Ladyfish, if I get into Ladyfish in the smaller troughs that I'm targeting, I'm more likely to fish that trough or washout more thoroughly. They are there for the same reason the Trout are and often hold in the same spots along the surf zone.

Yeah........I wish I could agree with you on the "ideal conditions" part but we get plenty of screwed up weather days here too.

If you're just referring to water clarity, you're right. It is much cleaner over this way on a daily basis but a little stain in the water isn't exactly a bad thing.


----------

