How to get children interested in fishing
“Cool Weather Sea Trout”
By Terry Lacoss
Many avid backwater fishermen are simply loving recent near record air temperatures that have plummeted local water temperatures. Certainly cooler water temperatures (72-degrees) signal the beginning of Amelia Island’s fall and winter sea trout season where trout weighing up to 5-pounds are commonly taken while live bait fishing, or casting artificial lures.
Skip Swain and Justin Paulk recently blew away all of the competition during the “Jacksonville Creek Wars Backwater Tournament” with a 7.3-pound spotted sea trout.
Sea trout just under the surface and always close to schooling mullet
“It was just getting light when a huge sea trout slammed my “Jerk Bait”, as the hard bait floated back to the surface,” Skip Swain said. “I actually thought I had hooked a big redfish as my hooked fish made several strong runs for the nearby shallow edges of the river. My hooked fish came to the surface making large boils with its tail sticking out of the water. I told my fishing partner Justin Paulk, “What a Trout”!
After a few more hard runs, Justin netted Skip’s big trout, their success was soon announced with hoops and howlers that could clearly be heard on nearby Centre Street!
“The big speck is my personal best”, Skip Swain of St. Mary’s Georgia said. “I definitely have plans for mounting that big trout!”
Spotted sea trout can live up to 15 years old, but most spotted trout don’t live more than 5- years. Along Florida's East Coast, large sow females weighing more than five-pounds, are frequently called “Gator Trout”..
Saltwater angler Craig F. Carson landed the all time IGFA world record spotted sea trout while fishing the Fort Pierce inlet with live mullet, targeted for snook. Instead Carson landed a new world record spotted sea trout on May 11, 1995 weighing 17Lbs. 7 oz.!
The cooler months of fall, winter and spring are by far the best time of year for taking trophy sea trout while fishing the fertile fishing waters of Fernandina Beach. Some of the better areas to hook up with trophy sea trout include Tiger Basin, where a high flood tide finds clear water conditions and lots of bait fish activity. Live finger mullet, large live shrimp fished under a “Popping” cork is a deadly trout fishing tactic while trout fishing the shallow, oyster laden bay waters of Tiger Basin.
The mouth of Egan’s Creek, where deep shorelines harbor broken dock pilings and a rocky shoreline, are a huge attraction for big specks during the first of the falling tide. Work minnow type jerk baits over the rocky bottom and hang on trout fishermen!
The flats located at the headwaters of Lanceford Creek also harbors trophy sea trout during the last of the incoming and the first of the outgoing tides. Here trout fishermen will find a combination of mud and sand bottoms where numerous oyster bars and small marsh islands make for perfect sea trout ambush points. Topwater fishing is key here for big specks while working Storm’s “Chug Bug” and Rapala’s “Skitter Walk”. Expect massive topwater strikes from better than average sea trout.
At Nassau Sound, the mouth of Simpson and Sawpit Creeks offer excellent trophy sea trout fishing during the high incoming tide as well. Drift a live finger mullet under a “Popping” cork, or large live shrimp under a “Popping” cork as well.
Finally the deep channel under the “Shave Memorial Bridge” offers excellent trophy trout fishing during the slower moving tides. Fish deep with large live shrimp rigged to a traditional trout float and weight.
