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HE LACKS the tremendous body-
shaking leaps of the tarpon, the
tail-walking dance of the sailfish, and
the long speed run of the kingfish.
He is minus the spectacular fighting
characteristics of many game fish.
Yet old Cyn-neb (Cynoscion nebu-
lous), the speckled trout, is still the
most popular of all saltwater fish
along the Texas Coast.
Popularity of the fish stems from
its abundance and the fact that it
knows no seasons. Winter, spring,
summer or fall, speckled trout are
around and can be found in Texas
waters-that is, if you know their
habits.
In spring and summer the best
trout fishing is found in the surf,
throughout the numerous coastal
bays and in the deep water around
the jetties that protect harbor en-
the chances are excellent that there
are others around. Specks are rarely
loners. It generally holds, however,
that the larger they are, the fewer
they are in number in any particular
school.
Speckled trout are extremely wary.
The least bit of foreign noise-bump-
ing the boat bottom or splashing the
anchor-can send a school finning for
the county line. Consequently, the
fish must be approached with stealth.
In shallow water this means killing
the engine early and poling in the
last hundred yards. If you're wading,
it means moving slowly and quietly.
Shuffle your feet along the bottom
to avoid any splashing noises.
Special tackle means a long, limber
rod with bait, spincast or spinning
artificial lure, a leader is a must. Use
monofilament or gut, never wire.
Wire restrains the action of live
shrimp and ruins the action of spoons
and plugs.
In the spring and summer when
clear water in the Gulf moves right
up to the beach, surf fishing for
speckled trout can be terrific. Cast
to the water beyond the seaward
breaker or fish near the cuts and
passes that connect the Gulf with
the bays. In this type of fishing, use
a float to keep your live shrimp off
the bottom and generally away from
bottom-feeding catfish.
Equally good in the spring is wad-
ing the grass flats in the bays. The
right time is on flood tides. Excel-
lent catches of big trout can be
by A. C. BECKER
Galveston Daily News
trances from Sabine on the Texas-
Louisiana border to Brownsville, the
jumping off spot for Old Mexico.
When fall's northers put a chill in
the water, the wily speckled trout
moves from the surf and shallow bay
flats to the deeps of cuts, bayous and
boat basins.
Although speckled trout are nu-
merous and found the year around,
they are by no means caught-con-
sistently, that is-by just dropping a
baited hook into the water.
The speckled trot angler who
wants to keep waterhauls few and
far between must know his fish and
have a reasonable amount of special
tackle for the job.
First, let's talk about the fish. It's
a school fish. When you catch one,
A tasteful composition, this stringer has a little of everything, but mostly speckled trout.
reel. The rod must have a lot of
whip so that light baits and lures
can be cast a long distance.
That whip is a must when fight-
ing a speck, especially a big one. In
many waters the fish is known as
the spotted weakfish. The only weak
thing about the fish is its mouth,
which is quite tender. Too hard a
strike or attempts at horsing the fish
in usually result in the hook being
torn from its mouth. A whippy rod
can cushion sudden lunges-and put
the fish on your stringer.
Prime bait for specks are live
shrimp, the friskier the better.
Spoons and sinking lures run a neck
and neck second to live shrimp.
Whether you use natural bait or
made by working spoons and plugs
rather rapidly just a few inches be-
low the surface. In this type of fish-
ing, you're seldom in water more
than two or three feet deep. Never
attempt this kind of fishing from a
boat because the fish spook very
easily in such shallow water.
During the hot summer months,
specks will often move out into the
bay to deeper, cooler water. They'll
also move to deep jetty waters in
hot weather.
The bays in mid-summer offer ex-
cellent drift- and bird-fishing. With
drift-fishing you let the boat drift
until you get a fish. Then you slip
over the anchor-quietly-and work
Continued on Page 30
MAY, 1964
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