W hen wade-fishing the coastal regions of Texas, speckled trout are available to those anglers who are willing to put forth a concerted effort to locate such prizes. In doing so, however, it is important for the angler to know where they will need to go, when to go there, and what to do when they get there, rather than simply heading to the coast one weekend, fingers crossed, hoping all the while that their hit-and-miss opportunity pans out for them.
Although it’s common to hear that fishing is a matter of luck, there are certain things you can do to help your chances of success. And when it comes to your being lucky enough to join the ranks of those who have bagged a large, trophy speckled trout, certain things like water temperature, salinity levels, wind direction, tidal movement, physical location, and fish activity should all become matters of importance to you. Those who strive to take all of those variables into consideration have a much better chance at achieving rewarding results over those who just show up at the boat ramp, put their boat in the water, and then simply hope for the best.
One key component to prosperous speckled trout fishing is knowing where the fish gather. So, think back upon previous trips, or refer to your fishing logs to see where you’ve located a good number of trout in the past. The fish will gather together in a certain location for a reason. If you know and understand the reason, then you have a much better chance at success. Some of the more common reasons why groups of trout tend to be found in one particular area are water temperature, food, and a sense of security or protection from predators in their environment.
Ideally, speckled trout like to hang out in 70 – 80 degree water, and they will travel bay shorelines and flats areas until they find such conditions, or as close to this as possible. With temperatures rising in May, the flats will tend to warm at a considerable pace each day as the sun rises high into the morning sky. When this happens, the water atop the flats becomes too warm for the trout, and they will head for deeper water because depth represents coolness. So, when you’re looking for big trout this month, it might be wise to consider searching for them in areas that offer structure that’s just adjacent to deeper water – places like jetty areas, mid-bay oyster reefs, shell pads located at the base of oil or gas rigs, and spoil bank areas like that of the Intracoastal Waterway and the many different ship channels scattered along the coastal map of Texas.
Food for the trout, naturally, is made up of an array of different marine life such as mullet, shrimp, croaker, piggy perch, shad, sand eels, crab, and a handful of others. The most common, however, is probably the small baitfish such as mullet. As the temperatures and the tides start to rise this month, the small baitfish will constantly be looking to the skinniest of water for protection.
These little guys will swim way back into the marsh of saltwater lakes and tributaries in search of water that may be only a couple inches deep because they know they’ll be safe in water so shallow. In spite of this, the tides continue to rise and fall, which means these small baitfish are continually required to relocate based upon the movement of the tide; the baitfish are entering the shallow water as the tides rises, and are exiting the shallows as the tide falls. The speckled trout intuitively know this and consequently sit in choice locations on the down-current side of guts and bayous that lead into and out of the lakes and tributaries, where they wait for the small baitfish and other prime morsels of food to be swept by in the water being emptied out of the shallows of the back country due to the falling tide. So, understanding the tide patterns can certainly prove to be another important aspect for anglers to take into consideration as they strive to be successful in locating speckled trout this month.
Another topic that coastal anglers may need to contemplate this month, even though summertime is on its way, is the fact that the Gulf regions might still experience the passage of cool fronts this month, even if very slight in nature. This may only occur once or twice this month, but when it does, a north wind will begin driving water and temperatures downward, and most all of the creatures situated upon flats areas will instinctively begin looking to deeper water for protection, just like they do when the shallow water gets too hot on extremely warm days.
Meanwhile, the north wind will normally continue to blow for a day or two, then the wind speed often dies down to a soft breeze, and the days following the frontal passage are usually bright and sunny, with relatively no cloud cover. When this happens, the sun beaming down through a cloudless sky tends to warm the shallowest water the fastest, and this means that the shallow water will be warmer ahead of the deeper water that the baitfish fled to during the passage of the front. Shallow places like back lake areas, small sloughs, bayous, and marshy canals will warm the fastest and will have the highest water temperature following the front. As the temperature rises in these shallow areas, the baitfish and the trout will both relocate back to the flats with the next rising tides. Because of this, flats areas adjacent to deeper water usually produce the best results for trout enthusiasts under these particular circumstances.
Time has proven that there are any number of ways and methods by which one can attempt to catch speckled trout, and these were but a few words that I hope may help you on your next speckled trout journey. Be safe! Be courteous! And have fun!