Spotted Seatrout Fishing in Jacksonville, FL
Aggressive, acrobatic, and great on the table. Specks school over grass flats and around oyster bars, eating soft plastics, live shrimp, and topwater at dawn.
Typical season in Florida
- January: also fished
- February: also fished
- March: peak
- April: peak
- May: peak
- June: also fished
- July: also fished
- August: also fished
- September: also fished
- October: peak
- November: peak
- December: peak
Peak months: March to May and October to December. Also fished: January to February and June to September.
Seatrout harvest is closed all of February in the Panhandle and November through December in the Indian River Lagoon.
Peak months are general guidance for the region, not regulations. Always check your state's current rules and ask us before you book.
Species guide
Speckled Trout (Cynoscion nebulosus)
- How to identify
- Silver-gray with round black spots on the back, dorsal fin and tail, and two prominent canine teeth.
- Size
- Usually 14 to 20 inches; gator trout top 25 inches and 5 pounds
- Lifespan
- Up to about 10 years
- Habitat
- Shallow bays and estuaries over seagrass, oyster bars and marsh edges.
- Range
- Atlantic coast from the Chesapeake Bay south and throughout the Gulf of America.
- Diet
- Shrimp and small fish such as mullet and pinfish
Did you know? Despite the name, specks are not trout at all but members of the drum family.