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Trout Season Has Anglers Seeing Spots

Tribune photo by FRANK SARGEANT

The spotted sea trout season reopens on New Year's Day after the fall closure in the South Zone. Trout remain active in cool water, unlike some Bay area species.

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By FRANK SARGEANT

Tribune correspondent

Published: December 27, 2008

Updated:

Sea trout season, closed since the first of November in the state's south zone (which includes the Bay area), reopens Thursday.

Odds are good the first few days of 2009 will give anglers something to celebrate. Trout numbers seem almost fully restored after the devastating red tides of 2005-06, and the numbers and size of the fish appear to be up.

Trout are among the most cooperative of inshore fish, and that makes them a great target for the casual angler, too. Put yourself where the fish are and success is nearly assured. Unlike snook, trout are not moody. Unlike redfish, they generally don't spook easily. And unlike sheepshead, they are not difficult to hook.

Trout are fish of structure, and the most common place to find them during winter is over grass flats 2 to 10 feet deep. They also hang around hard-bottom areas in similar depths, and they gather in potholes in the flats, sometimes in large numbers, on low winter tides. They also swarm around Intracoastal Waterway piers after dark, making them an easy target for anglers without boats.

They are readily caught by waders along the causeways leading to the Sunshine Skyway. The vast grass beds off Pinellas Point and along the South Shore area of Tampa Bay are prime, as are the waters from The Bulkhead south through Sarasota Bay. Charlotte Harbor, particularly Bull and Turtle bays as well as Pine Island Sound, is loaded with them. To the north, the spoil islands of St. Joseph Bay are famed spots for big winter trout, and there are also plenty of them in the grassy shallows along the east shore this time of year.

It's hard to think of a lure that trout will not readily accept. However, there are three standouts among most area anglers.

First is the DOA Shrimp, a scented plastic that imitates the real thing to perfection. The nice thing about this lure is that you fish it exactly like the real thing, throwing it up-current and letting the flow sweep it down through likely trout habitat, then reeling in and repeating until a trout takes it.

The big advantage over live shrimp is that pinfish leave it alone, as do catfish - more or less. The 3-inch glow model is among the most popular.

Equally effective, and perhaps more so when the fish are active, is the swim bait, a molded plastic jig with a body that looks like a small eel or needlefish. My personal favorite is the 4-inch split-tail Tsunami, but there are many others that work well.

These have a far more vigorous action than conventional jigs, and trout just can't leave them alone; it's a matter of flipping the rod up, letting the lure sink back to bottom, then setting the hook when you feel a nip. (As with other lures, microfiber lines greatly improve your ability to detect a strike.)

Slow-sinking sardine imitations, particularly the MirrOdine, are also deadly. For big trout, it is hard to beat the flash and action of these lures. They work in water as shallow as a foot, and are ideal to about 4 feet. Any deeper and they sink too slowly to be very effective.

The treble hooks on these lures are somewhat of a negative after you've got your four keepers. It's easier to damage fish that you want to release with the trebles than with single-hook lures.

Live shrimp fished on a size 1/0 hook under a popping cork is a time-honored offering for winter trout, and it's still good for limit catches just about anywhere. For young anglers or those with minimal experience, there's nothing easier. Toss it out, pop the cork every minute or so and set the hook when the float sinks. Keep fresh bait on the hook, because dead shrimp mostly catch pinfish and catfish.

The limit on trout in our area is four daily between 15 and 20 inches long, with one more than 20 inches allowed. The moderate limit and the fragility of trout means anglers need to handle fish properly to assure they survive catch-and-release.

All rigs used to target trout should have the hook barbs flattened, period. And the best way to handle trout is not to handle them at all.

Leave them in the water and twist out the hooks with long-nosed pliers or a fish-flipper. If possible, avoid gripping the fish with your hand; this damages the slime coat and usually results in a slow death.

Trout are delicious any way you cook them, but one of the best is simply to fillet, skin, flour and deep fry until just golden brown - there's not much in our waters that's a match.

Correspondent Frank Sargeant can be reached at fsargeant@bellsouth.net.

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