Trout season is upon us here on the Space Coast! Spring is one of my favorite times to get on the gator trout. They typically spawn and larger fish are caught this time of the year, more so than others. I will say it seems as if the numbers aren’t quite good this year as others, but I believe the inconsistency in our weather could play a huge roll in my observations.
Although there doesn’t seem to be as many fish as previous years, the bite has still remained pretty good. Shallow water mangrove shorelines that are littered with small finger mullet and thick mangroves has been the ticket. These fish will get super shallow to avoid predators such as dolphins, and even humans. This week, Richard and I were able to catch double digit numbers of fish from the 21 to 28.5 inch range tossing live baits. Your bigger trout will come off live bait 95% of the time — it’s that simple! Larger mullet, pigfish, pinfish and pilchards are great choices and yield those larger gator trout! With that being said, tossing plastics early in the morning such as Rapala skitter walks, and sub surface lures like the Mirrolure mirrodines can produce good fish, too. One tip is to use the lightest leader you can get away with — I like 15-20lb myself.
I highly suggest catching and releasing in the lagoon especially these trout of 18 inches as they are crucial for our years to come. The new laws definitely help but it’s up to us fisherman to make the right decision and to do our part to better the next generation.
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