# Spawning Periods For Reds & Specks?



## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

I know that specks are carrying eggs right now but when do they push into beds? 
When do reds normally push up to spawn?
Also, if anyone has any advice for catching spawning fish? 
Are they anything like bass? Bass go into a pre-spawn, spawn, and post spawn phase do specks and reds do this as well? 
I have found some grass flats areas that I think could be a great spawning area for these fish but my luck on artificials has been minimal at best. I'm not keeping these spawning fish either, I am big believer in letting them repopulate and keep our waters thriving but sight fishing spawning bass is one the most fun ways to catch bass and I think sight fishing some gator trout and reds when they move up could be fun and a great way to show some people who don't really pattern fish out like I try to. Thanks in advance!


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## stauty trout (Jul 19, 2012)

In my experience... big female trout that are getting ready to lay their eggs usually find deep holes around structure to lay them... hence why such big fish get pulled out of deep areas around bridges and deep troughs in the TIC, Austal, areas around Ingalls in Pascagoula and Mississippi sound and the likes... not to say they are all there but that's where your greater concentration of wall hangers seem to be... 

As far as patterns... Trout migrate up into the rivers/bayous in the wintertime into deep pockets in the rivers/bayous that hold warmer saltier water (because it is more dense than fresh it settles on the bottom in these pockets) once the weather starts to warm up in the spring they head out of the rivers towards the ocean to lay eggs... this usually happens around April/May... after that trout can be found all over the place just about ... flats, shoals, oyster reefs, near channels that come up to a long flat, cuts, etc... they are easier to catch in the mornings usually in these areas in the summer and once the water heats up they head for deeper water and can be caught around the oil platforms in mobile bay and areas like these... in the fall school trout start to migrate back towards the rivers/bayous and can be seen chasing bait... just look for the birds... and then the process starts back over... 

Hope this helps somewhat!


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

Thanks, Stauty Trout, that does help I always try to relate their patterns and behaviors to bass since thats the patterening system I have learned most. Mostly redfish I relate it to though trout I really never targeted them just caught them every now and then so I have been looking to broaden my trout experience more though, so your advice is noted and appreciated.
Let me ask you though, what kind of area are you looking for for trout spawning grounds, like hard bottoms, deep vertical structure, or any thing like that?


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## 16983 (Sep 12, 2011)

They feed heavily just before and after the spawn. They spawn at full moon.

Speckled trout spawning activity depends on environmental factors such as currents, salinity and temperature. Most spawning activity seems to take place in salinities of 17-35 parts per thousand (ppt). Full strength seawater is 35 ppt. The two most important factors that determine when speckled trout spawn are water temperature and day length. Egg development begins to take place as days become longer in spring. Water temperatures of 68°F seem to trigger spawning, which continues as water temperature increases. Peak spawning takes place between 77°F and 86EF. The cycle of the moon also seems to affect spawning, with spawning peaks occurring on or near the full moons of the spring and summer months. Females may spawn every 7 to 14 days during the April to September spawning period.


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## Salt Lines (Apr 4, 2013)

I'm a bass fisherman converted to salt water. If you want to catch fish, dont worry about spawning, its not the factor that it is with bass. You need to find feeding fish (right place AND right time). The saltwater fish move with tides and bait. Up onto the flats with rising tide and early morning, then as the tide falls they will wait by obstructions, channels, dropoffs and ambush prey moving with the water flow. Reds may be found right up against the marsh grass as tide rises, you may see their tails sticking out of the water as they feed on the bottom. For sight fishing reds, you often have to drop the bait right in front of them. You will have to find the trout by fancasting and focusing on areas where you get a hit. Also look for diving birds or disturbed water. Fish flats early AM.


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## stauty trout (Jul 19, 2012)

Salt Lines said:


> I'm a bass fisherman converted to salt water. If you want to catch fish, dont worry about spawning, its not the factor that it is with bass. You need to find feeding fish (right place AND right time). The saltwater fish move with tides and bait. Up onto the flats with rising tide and early morning, then as the tide falls they will wait by obstructions, channels, dropoffs and ambush prey moving with the water flow. Reds may be found right up against the marsh grass as tide rises, you may see their tails sticking out of the water as they feed on the bottom. For sight fishing reds, you often have to drop the bait right in front of them. You will have to find the trout by fancasting and focusing on areas where you get a hit. Also look for diving birds or disturbed water. Fish flats early AM.


This

sometimes you'll have to cover a lot of area to find where they are biting... once you find them drop your trolling motor, anchor, power pole, etc and cast back in the vicinity of where strike has occurred.. Also sometimes (most of the time IYAM) it's necessarily color that matters of the lure, it's the shape/action of the lure... start off throwing what you are most confident in... if it's not working move away from it... 

With the water being as muddy as it has been at the beginning of this year artificial bait have not worked very well so far (except gulp shrimp), for me... live croaker and shrimp on the free line have been king


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

Salt Lines said:


> I'm a bass fisherman converted to salt water. If you want to catch fish, dont worry about spawning, its not the factor that it is with bass. You need to find feeding fish (right place AND right time). The saltwater fish move with tides and bait. Up onto the flats with rising tide and early morning, then as the tide falls they will wait by obstructions, channels, dropoffs and ambush prey moving with the water flow. Reds may be found right up against the marsh grass as tide rises, you may see their tails sticking out of the water as they feed on the bottom. For sight fishing reds, you often have to drop the bait right in front of them. You will have to find the trout by fancasting and focusing on areas where you get a hit. Also look for diving birds or disturbed water. Fish flats early AM.


Thanks, that clears things up alot. I was focusing too much on the spawning stages thinking they would have similar to same behaviors when it came to spawning. 
What made me do much better in my bass tournaments was studying and understanding and learning the behavioral patterns of the fish. And I do believe that it will happen with my saltwater fishing as well so thanks to both of yall for clearing a lot of those questions up.


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

stauty trout said:


> This
> 
> sometimes you'll have to cover a lot of area to find where they are biting... once you find them drop your trolling motor, anchor, power pole, etc and cast back in the vicinity of where strike has occurred.. Also sometimes (most of the time IYAM) it's necessarily color that matters of the lure, it's the shape/action of the lure... start off throwing what you are most confident in... if it's not working move away from it...
> 
> With the water being as muddy as it has been at the beginning of this year artificial bait have not worked very well so far (except gulp shrimp), for me... live croaker and shrimp on the free line have been king


Yeah I would agree completely with you I started this year (summer mainly) throwing only artificials, trying to learn and better my techniques with them but I might have put maybe two fish in the boat with artificials, I switched back to live bait just this past weekend and did 150% better. I'm going to have to try the artificials out again to see if I can catch em on tho but ill keep the live bait in the live-well as back up!


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

Mac1109 said:


> They feed heavily just before and after the spawn. They spawn at full moon.
> 
> Speckled trout spawning activity depends on environmental factors such as currents, salinity and temperature. Most spawning activity seems to take place in salinities of 17-35 parts per thousand (ppt). Full strength seawater is 35 ppt. The two most important factors that determine when speckled trout spawn are water temperature and day length. Egg development begins to take place as days become longer in spring. Water temperatures of 68°F seem to trigger spawning, which continues as water temperature increases. Peak spawning takes place between 77°F and 86EF. The cycle of the moon also seems to affect spawning, with spawning peaks occurring on or near the full moons of the spring and summer months. Females may spawn every 7 to 14 days during the April to September spawning period.


So, the females spawn multiple times and only for a day at a time? I assume these fish become territorial of the beds at that time. Do the leave after they spawn that day, or do they stay on their beds until they completely spawn out? Like you said they may spawn every 7 to 14 days


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## stauty trout (Jul 19, 2012)

Aze0008 said:


> Yeah I would agree completely with you I started this year (summer mainly) throwing only artificials, trying to learn and better my techniques with them but I might have put maybe two fish in the boat with artificials, I switched back to live bait just this past weekend and did 150% better. I'm going to have to try the artificials out again to see if I can catch em on tho but ill keep the live bait in the live-well as back up!


The problem is the water has been so dirty the fish can't see the bait, and therefore no strikes (unless you hit the fish with it )... The fish can sense the movement and scent of the live bait better and can find it... If you haven't found out about the wonderful product know as Pro-Cure, I suggest you go pick up a bottle... it's some really good stuff :thumbsup:... always keep you some gulp shrimp as well... they are my go to artificial a lot of times


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

stauty trout said:


> The problem is the water has been so dirty the fish can't see the bait, and therefore no strikes (unless you hit the fish with it )... The fish can sense the movement and scent of the live bait better and can find it... If you haven't found out about the wonderful product know as Pro-Cure, I suggest you go pick up a bottle... it's some really good stuff :thumbsup:... always keep you some gulp shrimp as well... they are my go to artificial a lot of times


OH yeah, I definitely have caught plenty of fish on gulp. I know that CA Richardson is a big believer in the pro cure and i have heard him testify by it plenty so I will def. give it a try. 
When that water became muddy like it had been after all that rain we had, I started throwing more vibrating and loud baits, with bass the water getting muddy sometimes helps bc it allows the bass to ambush their prey alot easier since the water was dirtier and the bait couldn't see the bass coming. I assumed since reds use their horizontal lateral lines to detect vibrations of their food that it would be a similar situation with them as well. I threw traps, chatterbaits, spooks, and single Colorado blade spinner baits(redfish magic) that produced alot of vibrations with no luck at all. Was my thinking way off there?


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## stauty trout (Jul 19, 2012)

Aze0008 said:


> OH yeah, I definitely have caught plenty of fish on gulp. I know that CA Richardson is a big believer in the pro cure and i have heard him testify by it plenty so I will def. give it a try.
> When that water became muddy like it had been after all that rain we had, I started throwing more vibrating and loud baits, with bass the water getting muddy sometimes helps bc it allows the bass to ambush their prey alot easier since the water was dirtier and the bait couldn't see the bass coming. I assumed since reds use their horizontal lateral lines to detect vibrations of their food that it would be a similar situation with them as well. I threw traps, chatterbaits, spooks, and single Colorado blade spinner baits(redfish magic) that produced alot of vibrations with no luck at all. Was my thinking way off there?



Those bait will all produce Redfish... one of my favorite wintertime baits to catch reds on is a Rapala Rat-L-Trap.. Crankbaits also work very well... In the spring/summers I like to throw more twitch baits than slow retrieve baits.. such as Mirrodine (standard M17, or the extra large, or the heavy dine) Bomber Ba-donka-donk SS, (all of these which you can slow retrieve as well) or top water (shedog, skitterwalk, zara spook, standard Ba-Donka-Donk)... the spinners (redfish magic) and gold spoons also work very well in the spring summer... Flounder like the redfish magic as well when they migrate back up the rivers in late summer :whistling:


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## BEACH-N-REDS (Jun 11, 2014)

*Spawning reds*

I have been studying Red Drum populations in this area for the last few years. Before the oil spill, Red Drum spawning occurred between Sept and Oct before the cold weather hits. Recently, I've documented spawning Reds in the Pass in Feb. and March. Last month, I caught 4 pregnant females after that spawn, my pic shows a 40 inch pregnant female that weighed 28.6 lbs. Spawning is occurring twice a year roughly which also proves the population in our area is booming. I've caught nearly 400 Reds in 9 months and have pics to prove it.


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## 16983 (Sep 12, 2011)

They're not good mothers, they don't guard the eggs like bass or panfish, they move on to the next party, hit the bars and the like. I think that's why they taste like fish.....


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

stauty trout said:


> Those bait will all produce Redfish... one of my favorite wintertime baits to catch reds on is a Rapala Rat-L-Trap.. Crankbaits also work very well... In the spring/summers I like to throw more twitch baits than slow retrieve baits.. such as Mirrodine (standard M17, or the extra large, or the heavy dine) Bomber Ba-donka-donk SS, (all of these which you can slow retrieve as well) or top water (shedog, skitterwalk, zara spook, standard Ba-Donka-Donk)... the spinners (redfish magic) and gold spoons also work very well in the spring summer... Flounder like the redfish magic as well when they migrate back up the rivers in late summer :whistling:


I have tried most-all of those baits and I really haven't had much luck but I think it may be because what you stated earlier, the water was too dirty. 
I always keep a topwater tied on and I have had some luck with them. The explosive strike keeps me chunkin and winding the bait all day long but the one problem I have had with them is when what appears to be a redfish hit the bait, when they come up to hit the bait the top of their head hits the bait and sends the spook flying in the air, its awesome to watch but hookup ratio is less than impressive. I saw a top water walking bait like a spook that the back end of the bait actually sat in the water and I think that will let the red's bottom oriented mouth grab the bait... Any idea which bait that may be?


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

BEACH-N-REDS said:


> I have been studying Red Drum populations in this area for the last few years. Before the oil spill, Red Drum spawning occurred between Sept and Oct before the cold weather hits. Recently, I've documented spawning Reds in the Pass in Feb. and March. Last month, I caught 4 pregnant females after that spawn, my pic shows a 40 inch pregnant female that weighed 28.6 lbs. Spawning is occurring twice a year roughly which also proves the population in our area is booming. I've caught nearly 400 Reds in 9 months and have pics to prove it.


Thanks, I knew that the redfish spawned more towards the fall season but I was not aware of the second spawning stage...? Do you think that is just this region or the conditions we had this year or is it a reoccurring thing?


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## BEACH-N-REDS (Jun 11, 2014)

Aze0008 said:


> Thanks, I knew that the redfish spawned more towards the fall season but I was not aware of the second spawning stage...? Do you think that is just this region or the conditions we had this year or is it a reoccurring thing?


From my experience, I think it has to do with a few key factors for our area. Menhayden has made a tremendous come back in our waters. In fact, for two winters now, they didn't die off. This bait is like crack for Reds and with the bait in such abundance, the Reds are staying in the bays more. I remember when the Bull Reds would completely disappear, for the most part, this time of year and return in Sept. The last two years though, the fish aren't hitting the gulf as hard and I solely believe it has everything to do with the dead zone in the gulf from the spill. Reports are showing that the well is still leaking and hasn't properly been capped and the oil is on the bottom. Fish are being caught with black innards from the oil. We also have a very deep pass and deep bays here. Go east to Destin, the pass is 20 ft, go to Perdido and Orange beach, same thing, well with the exception of a few spots. Our waters are deeper and are holding a lot more bait than previous years. At one point, a long time ago, officials viewed Menhayden as an "invasive species" and tried to eradicate them using poison and chemicals. Turns out, that was a very bad idea. Even though that was a LONG time ago, I think these fish are now bouncing back in full force, thus, keeping a thriving Red population.


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## Magic Mike (Jun 30, 2009)

I've done well this year with Mirrolures... but that's no different than any other year. Topwater and suspending twitchbaits


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## Aze0008 (Mar 20, 2014)

Magic Mike said:


> I've done well this year with Mirrolures... but that's no different than any other year. Topwater and suspending twitchbaits


How are you working your mirrolures?
I fish it just like I do a jerkbait for bass; a couple twitches on a slacked line to get the bait moving sporadically then a pause, differing the amount of twitches each time.
I've seen some people slowly reel the baits in and twitch every now and then?


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## stauty trout (Jul 19, 2012)

Aze0008 said:


> How are you working your mirrolures?
> 
> I fish it just like I do a jerkbait for bass; a couple twitches on a slacked line to get the bait moving sporadically then a pause, differing the amount of twitches each time.
> 
> I've seen some people slowly reel the baits in and twitch every now and then?



I usually just do either a short twitch or long twitch and retrieve the slack twitch again... Usually only 1-2 twitch... You can just slow retrieve 


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