Charlie2

I commercial hook and line fished along with my late Pa-in-Law and we caught literally washtubs of BIG! Sow Speckled Trout.

We caught our own live bait, (mostly pinfish and croakers ); some as large as the palm of your hand. The trout that we caught had no trouble ingesting These large baits.

Of course; it was nice to use his 'honey holes'; locations gathered over several decades/generations of fishing.C2

minkmaster

I am not saying big fish only hit at night but my confidence soars for almost all species fishing under the moonlight. I can be way stelthier at night and seems smaller fish hit less too.

speckhound

I went to the New Orleans Boat Show a few years back. A guide from St. Charles, LA had a booth there. He had an ice chest with the previous days catch. There was not a fish in the cooler that was less than 10 lbs. So while you can get a single here or there around here, in west LA and Texas, you can truly find those trout schooling.

Kayakbob

If fishing during a full moon helps catch big specks at night I have a friend who has a son in law in Minnesota who is a big Muskie throphy guide. He takes clients out at night from say ten pm to three in the am. The friend told me the records that his son in law keep caught more monster muskies five days be for and four days after the full moon. During this period he is booked months in advice. He is got this moon chart down to such a science he can almost predict the time during the night they might catch a monster Muskie. They take pictures, weight and measure the fish maybe tag them and let them go.

So why cant we do the same fishing at night with zara spooks in the zones we think the fish are in or under the lights. Last fall I was at the little lagoon and went over to a fellows old boat and he opened up his ice chest and saw nothing but big female trout at least four to five pounds. He was fishing from one am to about 9 am.

Just wished I new where the big females spawn in April and May in eastern Baldwin County or the East end of the Mobile Bay where I live. If I did I would go after them wade fishing or with my kayak. bob

Kayakbob

Hi Chris where is the big lagoon locate and when is the best time to fish it? I found a good site for understanding Speckeld Trout fishing in this area. I will post it for you to look at. http://www.inshorefishingalabama.com/Speckled-Trout.htm

bob

saltbomb

Try St. Joe bay or crooked island sound. Seen plenty of big trout come out of those places.

gator7_5

Have a very smilioar story but it was the summer of 92. We fished big pinfish at the middle of the 3 miles bridge on the bottom and crushed some monster specs for about a week every night. Solid 6+ lb class fish.

Tried it again over the years and never had any success.

BlackJeep

Anyone have any favorite artificials for covering lots of water to locate these bigger trout? As far as trying to locate where big fish are, I can't see covering lots of water slapping big croakers everywhere. I'm sure they can't take that much punishment.

I've often sacrificed quality for quantity and have ended up fishing with small baits and smaller fish tactics which don't seem to cut it for larger trout.

SouthAlabamaSlayer

There are plenty of "spinnerbaits" for reds and specs, but they're cheaper to make yourself. Go get a pack of cocahoe minnows whatever color you want, I like the purple with yellow tail, put it on a 1/4oz jighead, and also purchase a couple of spinners like you would find on a beetlespin or spinnerbait and put that through the eye of the jighead like a spinnerbait. These cover lots of water and since they're farely large in size tend to attract bigger trout. I also like a blue and silver rattletrap to cover water.

Emerald Ghost

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Save me one Jonathan,...... gotta check them out.

__________________
Boomerang !