Big speckled trout hitting variety of lures
The speckled trout have turned on during the past few weeks from Atlantic Beach to the Neuse River. And some anglers have been catching true gators. And many have brought them by Chasin’ Tails Outdoors or Neuse River Bait & Tackle for weighing and measuring.
These fish are biting a wide variety of lures and live baits. MirrOlures have been doing well, especially the 17MR. Topwater lures like the Heddon Super Spook Jr are also attracting big bites. And Z-Man soft plastics are also getting a workout.
On March 13, Danny Rodgers weighed an almost 5-pound speckled trout at Neuse River Bait & Tackle.
Brandon Phibbons stopped by a few days later after fishing from the bank on March 16. Phibbons was using a live mud minnow as bait when a giant trout hit. The fish was 27 inches long and weighed 6 pounds.
Over at Chasin’ Tails, Colin Morris brought some big ones by on March 17. He’d been catching good numbers of specks in the 22- to 24-inch range on a variety of lures. Then he caught his personal best, a 30 incher that weighed 7 pounds. MirrOlure Paul Browns, 17MRs, and Yo-Zuri 3DS minnows have been his go-to lures for the big trout.
The big trout continue to bite
On March 20, Jeffrey Mickler stopped at Chasin’ Tails to share some fish stories after fishing in the marsh. He was using a MirrOlure 17MR that got slammed by a 6-pound speck.
Back at Neuse River on the 21st, Kevin Manning brought in a big trout he’d caught on a topwater lure. His fish weighed 5 1/2 pounds.
Capt. Brian Hudson was fishing with a MirrOlure 17MR on March 22 out of Atlantic Beach when he caught and released a 26-inch beauty of a speck.
Trout fishing will get even better as weather stabilizes
And on March 27, David Mercer was fishing the Neuse River area with topwater lures. He caught an released a 27 1/2-inch trout.
Lee Cox stopped by Chasin’ Tails on March 28 after catching big trout on a Z-Man Curly TailZ in Bad Shad color. It’s his biggest trout, and it weighed 5.38 pounds.
Ethan Johnson was fishing with his dad on the 27th when he called Neuse River Bait & Tackle. He was experiencing some boat troubles. Todd Willis had just closed up shop, but stuck around to help get them back on the water with a new battery. Just a few minutes later, Johnson hooked the biggest speck of his life, a 29-inch brute that he released.
The next morning, Thomas Gryb stopped at Neuse River Bait & Tackle with his personal best trout. It was 27 inches long and pulled the scale to 5 pounds, 7 ounces. Gryb caught his speck on a Heddon Super Spook Jr.
Also on the 28th, Don Smith stopped by Neuse River to fill out a release citation form for his biggest trout. He caught a whopping 31 1/2-inch speck using a MirrOlure MR17. Smith weighed the fish on his scale before releasing it to fight another day. The trout weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces.
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