Summer breaks away this month with warming water, warming air temperatures and some hot inshore fishing.
The summer fishing season takes off in June across both Carolinas, and anglers who love to fish artificial lures are in luck. The early summer can bring steady action for quality speckled trout on both hard and soft options.
Most anglers target these fish in the fall and early winter when fish are stacked up on every point, oyster bar and grass-lined bank. Everybody fishes for trout in the fall, but who wouldn’t, because these fish are literally chewing in about every type of habitat around and on just about every stage of the tide. Anglers catch big fish, little fish and every size in-between.
Fishermen who target speckled trout can catch a limit almost every month, but June is one of the best times to catch a limit of quality fish in the estuaries scattered from North Carolina’s Outer Banks to the Savannah River on the South Carolina-Georgia border.
In June, trout will typically be scattered all over the place, but the larger, spawning fish will be heading shallow, according to guide Jot Owens of Wilmington, N.C.
“May and June are major spawning periods in the lower Cape Fear River, and a lot of bigger fish will be available in shallow water,” said Owens (910-233-4139). “The best fishing is around the moons; it can be a full or new moon. These bigger fish get more active closer to one of these moon peaks.”
Like many fish living in temperate climates, warm water and lunar effects invite spawning activity. It couldn’t be any truer for speckled trout in the Carolinas. Trout begin spawning in May and will continue throughout the summer, but May and June are among the best times to find big sows in shallow water hammering finger mullet, peanut pogies and other finned meals.
Spawning behavior generates a hefty appetite, and the available forage fish make for a perfect buffet for trophy trout. According to Owens, these larger speckled trout will be confined to specific habitats and specific types of water.
“In the summer, the best trout fishing is in and around river systems, and for us in the Wilmington area, that is the Cape Fear River,” he said. “We make that run from Wrightsville Beach to the lower river for just that reason. We may not exactly see the biggest numbers, but we definitely see the biggest fish this time of year.”
The lower Cape Fear contains a heavy tannic water input and provides a unique situation for these spawning fish, but the areas where these big fish feed continue to be associated with the typical ambush spots that trout have mastered.
“Shallow grass lines and areas with hard structure adjacent to these grass lines are good places to target,” Owens said. “Artificial rock piles, oyster rocks and anything that breaks water in shallow water are ideal places to find bigger trout this time of year.”
Basically, ambush spots are bait highways, and big trout know this and take advantage of the situation.
“Fish will push up on these shallow structures and ambush bait coming by,” he said.
Since the majority of baitfish are small to medium sizes this time of year, baitfish patterns that can be easily fished in shallow water are prime lure options. Owens’ the first lure choice will always be a topwater offering.
“First-light topwater fishing is the best, especially for the biggest fish,” he said. “You may not end up with big numbers for the day, but you will certainly see some really nice fish before the sun rises too high above the horizon.”
Under most conditions, Owens’ go-to topwater lure will be a MirrOlure Top Dog Jr., but he will fish a MirrOlure She Dog in cloudy or choppy water.
“The She Dog produces a higher frequency (vibration) and will throw a little more sound out there when you really need it,” he said.
While topwater lures are really the optimum way to put a trophy trout in the boat, the action rarely lasts long, and other lure options come into play. Owens will turn to lures that perform just under the surface.
“Subsurface twitch baits are prime lure options this time of year. My favorites are MirrOlure Catch 2000s, Catch Jrs., and 17MRs. All of these hard baits suspend and will not run any deeper than 12 to 20 inches with most retrieves,” he said.
Trout are set up to ambush food coming past in shallow water, and these hard baits are ideal for that type of habitat. Speckled trout can’t refuse a suspending lure taking an erratic, stop-and-go posture. It is no doubt the best and only ways to truly work lures for trout, especially in shallow water.
The rattling cork is another proven method to take summer trout in shallow water, and it is one of Owens’ favorite ways to suspend a 3-inch artificial shrimp.
“I tie a 1/16- or 1/32-ounce jighead 12 to 18 inches from the rattling cork, and I thread on a 3-inch Gulp shrimp,” he said. “The action is perfect with the light jighead and shrimp pattern, because when you pop that cork a couple of times, it brings the shrimp real easily to the surface, and then it sinks slowly, too. They hit it on the drop.”
Owens sticks with his standard, go-to colors including, pearl white, pearl white/chartreuse tail, or all chartreuse. The inshore grounds aren’t flooded with larger shrimp this time of year, but the 3-inch Gulp Shrimp is hard for trout to pass up when it is presented right on the dining room table. A 12- to 18-inch leader is just enough to work an artificial shrimp just above the rocks and oyster beds or right along the grass edges.
Every season in the Carolinas carries its own techniques specific to each fish species in the area. And summer isn’t any different for sow speckled trout. From May until the end of the summer, big speckled trout will be holding in shallow places early in the day, loading up on finger mullet and other baitfish after a full night of spawning activity. Anglers looking to score a heavy stringer of trout should choose tried-and-true lure options for steady action along the Carolinas’ salty shorelines.
Presentation is key
Artificial lures come in thousands of sizes, shapes and colors. From peanut pogey imitations to finger mullet and shrimp imposters, gamefish are duped every day into eating something laced with sharp hooks. Most artificial lures lack the realistic appearance that anglers would expect to work the best, but it is all about impressions, and that first impression that causes fish to commit to taking the bait.
Why would a fish eat something with a set of dangling, metal hooks, colored in chartreuse, pink, blue or purple, and rattling like a jar of marbles? Obviously, if they knew what they were putting in their mouths, they surely would not sink their teeth into it. But it is their natural instincts that lead to their downfall. The basic shapes, colors and rattles capture the fish’s attention, and the presentation or the posturing of the lure makes them commit.
Guide Jot Owens is an expert at his craft, and catching fish of all species with artificial lures is his specialty. But it is not just because of the lures he chooses. While lure choice is important, the action is what makes these lures dupe even the most wary of fish.
“Many anglers like to swim lures at a constant speed. For some fish species, the constant speed can bring results,” said Owens. “But for speckled trout, you need to add a pause in your retrieve to make the magic happen.”
Both hard and soft baits should be presented with a slightly erratic or a stop-and-go retrieve. Sharp jerks should be followed up with a 2- to 3-second pause that will trigger bites when fish are watching.
“Trout are notorious for striking on the pause or on the fall after a sharp jerk of the rod tip,” Owens said. “It is the way I work most, if not all, of my artificial lures when I am speckled trout fishing.”
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