[sandbar]

Just watched yesterday's episode of Carolina Oudoor Journal where speck fishing was being highlighted. According to the Journal Note, " The spotted seatrout species is euryhaline; which means it tolerates a wide range in salinity levels. Its preference is low to medium salinity found in coastal waters and brackish estuaries." Also, it was the opinion of the guys fishing on the show that this is the best trout fishing season in many years. Anyone care to SPECKulate on that?

 

[sundrop]

Re: This weekend

I know I have seen caught, heard about being caught, and caught (LOL) them this year and all of the people "in the know" have marveled at what a great year it has been. They catch a few of them here around Washington and it is moderate to low salinity here all the time. Some are caught in the Pungo river around Belhaven and that is low/moderate as well.

 

[Topsail Angler]

Sandbar - this is a great subject. I moved it into its own thread so it can get the attention it deserves.

My opinion is they like mid level salinity best. That would be defined as that which is found in the sounds and the lower part of creeks. One of the best speck grounds around Topsail are the creeks that feed into the New River - they are tidal though - they go up and down with the tide so they get an influx of salt each tide cycle but it is then diluted with the freshwater that comes from shore.

With that said, another of my most productive areas is very near an inlet and does best at high tide which is the tide cycle with the higher salinity levels at that particular point. So based on my limited experiences, it seems their range of salinity is very broad but in the 70-80% middle of the range (meaning all salinities but the lowest and highest 10-15% of the range).

As to the quality of the season, last fall was the best I have seen in many, many years but I expect even better this fall as we had such a mild winter again and the bait is so thick this year. It has certainly started strong.

 

[sinker man]

Specks will move out of super saline water but you can find them just about anywhere the is some salt in the water. They seek out high salinity water when they are breeding in the summer but in the winter you will generally find them either in the ocean or or well up the mainland rivers and creeks. It is more of a temperature thing rather than a salinity issue. There have been specks in the surf zone most of the summer but not in huge numbers. Find a comfortable place for them to feed around something that will allow them to get out of the current and that isn't too muddy and you are liable to find some. Like all fishing...there are no hard and fast rules as to where they will be. Some places seem to be more consisent than others but they aren't always the spot to be at. Kind of like quail hunting.

 

[sandbar]

"I have a question...someone told me that fishing in the creeks won't be good if it rains because it dilutes the salinity of the water. Is this true or are the fish still active? A friend was thinking of fishing the creeks @ Jacksonville but might not because he heard this."
__________________
2001 Logic 186 Cool Bay

Can't take credit for the thread. Just responding to the above question by Mattitude.

I have been wondering why trout will hold in a marina from Oct. thru March which I observed first hand beginning last fall. No one was very adept at catching them although many tried. I threw fresh shrimp, mullet strips, jigs with curly tails, and various plugs maybe catching two on a good morning or evening. I watched one guy cast flies to them for several hours with no luck. They were plainly visible holding in the boat slips in large numbers. Guess they had all their needs satisified in the marina but seems an unlikely place to winter. Anyone seen or heard of a simular situation?

 

[sinker man]

Marina's typically have been dredged and are deep compared to much of the surrounding areas. The water doesn't cool off as fast when the temperature drops. During sunny weather they can find the warmer spots closer to the bank but when it turns bitter cold they will normally be right in the deepest spot. The marina you are referring to probably is a dead end without much water exchange. That helps keep the water temp. stable during sudden drops in air temperatures. Any fish that hangs around a marina will get educated real fast...they aren't as dumb as most folks think.
They have very good survival instincts. Cold temperatures also slows down their metabolism so they aren't hungry nearly as often.