The diet of speckled trout changes as fish grow, get bigger, stronger and faster, and develop superior digestive systems, a process called an ontogenetic change.
Trout less than 1 1/2 inches primarily eat tiny crustaceans called copepods, while trout between 1 1/2 and 5 1/2 inches eat small, shrimp-like crustaceans and worms.
Juvenile spotted seatrout have considerable dietary overlap with juvenile red drum and therefore tend to inhabit similar areas and be caught together.
Smaller trout are also prey for larger fish. Those that survive and grow past the 5 1/2-inch mark become one of the top predators in coastal estuaries and feed on a variety of fishes and shrimp. An N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries diet analysis of trout in the lower Cape Fear River revealed that Atlantic menhaden and brown shrimp are their dominant prey during the summer and fall. Other important prey species included pinfish, spot and striped mullet. While many North Carolina fishermen prefer live shrimp for trout baits and do well catching them with the live shrimp, the research indicates that trout are mainly fish-eaters from age 1.
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