Freckled fish & a catching report

Freckled fish. I heard that term said one day almost in a whisper by an angler answering his wife’s inquiry about what was in his cooler. freckled fish. That is code for Speckled Sea Trout. Or around these parts we just say Specks.

Speck fishermen are some of the most secretive anglers I know. Oh don’t get me wrong, they will tell you exactly how they caught the fish, what bait they used, what tackle was used, what technique was employed. But try to learn the location of the catch and you might as well try to take a piece of meat out of a lion’s mouth.

As one speck fisherman told me, “catching specks is easy, finding them is the hard part”. He went on to say “they will eat just about any bait when they are hungry”.

The hard part is FINDING them. You see specks move around throughout the day in rhythm with the tides, currents and especially the bait. Getting a handle on these patterns will help you locate them next time you go out. So location of a particular day’s catch becomes top secret information!

Here’s a conversation you might encounter with an ole salty speck fisherman while he is on top of a school of specks:

Visitor (V.) How's the fishing today?
Fisherman (F.) Just got here myself (translation - "just" can mean anytime up to a full tide cycle).

V. Having any luck lately?
F. Nary a bite (translation - he's only referring to the time since you arrived).

V. Nice looking trout rod you have there, you have much luck with it?
F. That ole thing? trout you say – ah, so that's what it’s for. (translation - his most prized possession).

V. Well have a nice day, hope you catch some specks.
F. Aye-up (translation - I will just as soon as you get out of my sight).

One thing that will help you catch specks is to take notice of the conditions when you catch fish and keep a log. If you keep track of those patterns you can look for them in the same place when those conditions re-occur. Items you will want to keep in your log include: location, tide, current, time of day, moon phase and the type of underwater terrain where you caught the fish.

By the way, the specks are biting now….somewhere, I just can’t remember where.

Catching report

The big news this past week has been the king mackerel are back on the beach! Vinita at Surf City Pier reported one day last week that they had caught 20, count them 20, kings before noon. Sea View and Jolly Roger piers also have reported excellent catches of kings. The ends of the pier are also producing nice catches of Spanish and blues. Spots, grey trout, Va. Mullet and croakers are also biting hard on this recent NE wind. A few pompano, flounder and specks have been caught as well.

Grouper are being caught in the 12 mile range with some nice size fish being bagged. The mahi bite is tailing off but some can still be caught in deeper water. Wahoo and tuna are being caught near the Gulf Stream although the weather lately has limited the ability of angler to get to them.

Tight lines and hope you catch ‘em up!