Anglers across the country covet the speckled trout for tackle-testing battles, feisty behavior and, of course, their tasty, flaky, flesh. South Carolina anglers are no different, with speckled trout ranking near the top of the list of most-sought-after inshore gamefish.
But the winter of 2010-2011 claimed a significant portion of the Carolinas’ speckled trout population. While sporadic, cold-stun events wiped out significant trout schools from Little River to Beaufort, the summer of 2011 validated the many winter-kill claims with extremely poor catches compared to previous years.
Speckled trout were not totally absent during last summer’s fishing season, however. Huge breeders moved inshore to spawn and surprised anglers with fish longer than 20 inches, and a slug of speckled trout arrived last fall.
Huge schools of speckled trout showed up, taking live shrimp and a variety of artificial lures within the normal locales, putting smiles back on South Carolina’s trout anglers once again.
But the sizes were off from normal year’s catches. Most fish landed were between 10 and 13 inches, with the occasional sow trout over 20 inches.
In April 2011, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources posted a news report urging fishermen to voluntary release fish, especially the large breeders. But the legal regulations remained posted at 10 fish per day and a minimum size limit of 14 inches total length.
Last spring, SCDNR reported the lowest trout population in more than 20 years.
Recovery from these drastic losses is expected to take several years.
The 2012 season is expected to improve dramatically from 2011 due to the abundance of small fish showing up last fall, and the past mild winter.
Marsh points and oyster bars should come alive during the first few minutes of daybreak with surface crashers, but anglers should consider the future and continue to practice safe handling and catch and release techniques to rebuild stocks.
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