Best Lures for Speckled Trout and Redfish –
Speckled trout and redfish are some of the most common fishes that are favorite catch by saltwater anglers.
These fishes are quite the fighters as both don’t discriminate between live and artificial baits.
Tips in Choosing Different Baits
Speckled trouts and redfish both go for live and artificial baits. But there are certain varieties that you need to look up for when choosing one.
Here are some tips to help you pick the right baits.
– When using live baits, it is a good practice to go with a combination of live baits such as shrimp, finger mullet, mud minnows, and crab. It is also best to cut bait such as the side of mullet or half crabs fished on the bottom.
– To attract speckled trouts from a distance, use the click and splash of a popping cork.
– White Clouser minnows and chartreuse are an effective pattern for flys.
– Use topwater baits that have “walk-the-dog” retrieve.
– Hard-bodied baits such as MirrOlures can entice savage strikes.
Live Baits for Speckled Trout and Redfish
There are plenty of natural baits to use when catching speckled trouts or redfish. Great live baits are shrimp, small baitfish like menhaden or mullet, or even mud minnows. Live shrimp can be fished under a float or a jig head. Another great technique would be to use free-lining to dangle live shrimp in shallow waters.
Artificial Baits for Speckled Trout and Redfish
When choosing a good artificial bait for catching speckled trouts or redfish, the most ideal lures should have a ¼ lead head with some type of rubber body. You can choose a variety from paddle-tailed, split-tailed, or curly-tailed grubs, which can all be effective using a hop-hop-drag style of retrieve. Lures and plugs are very effective baits. There’s a wide range of lures that works really well when fishing redfish. From topwater lures to deep diving baits, most of these lures resemble black bass.
Color
A lot of people especially those who are new to sport fishing often ask if the color matters when choosing lures or flies. The answer is definitely a yes but under certain conditions. For one, red and orange colored baits and lures stand out in clear and shallow waters. If you want to have a good chance of getting a good haul, using these colored baits would certainly give you higher chances. If you’re fishing deep or going for under low-light areas, using darker hues like blue, violet, and black are the ideal color choices.
While trouts may sense light wavelengths just as humans do, they may not be able to perceive the exact color that we see. Fishes sense light wavelengths differently. It is because when light enters the water, it becomes absorbed and scattered. As a result, the intensity of the color changes the longer the wavelengths are absorbed. In the end, the color may be more important to the angler rather than the fish but it could still improve your chances.
If you’re still unsure of which baits to choose when fishing redfish or speckled trouts, here are some good lures that you might want to pick that will help you get on with your fishing game.
10 Best Lures for Catching Speckled Trouts and Redfish
Before we get started on the top 10 lures for speckled trout or redfish, we want to remind you to use our table of contents to navigate the page. Also, after the review, continue reading as we will answer some frequently asked questions as well as cover redfish and speckled trout information.
1. Rapala Saltwater Skitter Walk 11 Fishing Lure
2. Shimano Suspending Waxwing
– This bait sinks slower and offers a zigzag pattern below the water surface. Its suspending waxwing creates a walk-the-dog action underwater. Twitch and pose the lure kicks irregularly side-to-side motion. It has tin-coated treble hook and size runs from 2.7 inches to just over 4 and a half inches. Definitely one of the best artificial baits for redfish.
3. MirrOLure Mirrodine Suspending Twitchbait
– This particular bait is popular among anglers who like to go fishing for reds and other inshore shallow game fish such as tarpon, trout, snook, etc. This bait is only about 2 5/8 inch and weighs less than 4 ounces. It is also visibly cheaper than other artificial baits. It has a wide flash and darting, side-to-side action. Not only that it sports bright, reflective, and luminescent inserts, it also has natural 3D eyes to enhance its realism and extra-strong hooks. The bait easily mimics wounded baitfish that is very appealing to redfish, trouts, striped bass, snook, and tarpons.
4. Halco Hamma 105
– One of the best-selling fishing sports lures in recent years. This clear-bodied lure weighs just more than 6 ounces and has a size of about 4 inches. This bait comes from a venerable Australian lure manufacturer, Halco. It features lifelike details with its realistic eyes and semi-transparent body that mimics fleeing baitfish. It also has good strong hooks that keep fish at a good angle.
5. LiveTarget Mullet Twitchbait
– This floating jerk bait features amazing detail and a lifelike appearance. The size of its floating plug is at 3 and a half inches in length and weighs almost 6 ounces. Its enticing appearance makes it one of the most effective baits for redfish and other game fishes. The twitch baits flashes and darts just below the surface while the walking bait and wake bait produce a subtle surface commotion. This bait also has an effective lure that calls out predators from a distance using its popper.
6. Bomber Saltwater Grade Mullet
– If you’re looking for a great bait without having to spend a lot, this is the best option for you. Bomber Saltwater Grade is a great suspending jerkbait at a reasonable price. The bait weighs about 5/8 ounces and size that is 3 and a half inches. Its compact shape makes it ideal for long casts. Additionally, it offers irregular dying-baitfish and walk-the-dog action. Aside from its efficient cigar-pencil design, its hooks are pretty sharp and don’t corrode as much as some carbon hooks.
7. Storm Rattlin’ Saltwater Chug Bug
– Despite not having that extremely realistic design, Storm’s Rattlin’ Saltwater Chug Bug is a great piece of bait for an amazingly low price. This topwater bait is one of the most popular inshore poppers for anglers. One of the many reasons is that this particular bait comes with VMC Perma Steel hooks that are incredibly tough and more resistant to corrosion. Additionally, each bait has weighted tails that help to cast while rattles add sound to lure predators even from long distances.
8. Sebile Stick Shadd
– This amazing suspending jerkbait is the brainchild of a famous lure designer and sport-fishing enthusiast, Patrick Sebile. But that’s not the only reason why this particular bait is popular among anglers. Its 3 ½-inch crankbait produces erratic swimming action that perfectly imitates wounded baitfish that is very appealing to the eyes of predators including speckled trouts, drums, bass, and more. Additionally, its streamlined shape is very efficient when casting long distances. The bait appears and remains horizontal even when stationary. Aside from that, it is also an amazingly stable lure that works in all conditions be it on powerful currents, turbulent waters, and breakers.
9. LiveTarget Hybrid Shrimp
– Realistic-looking baits are proven to be great lures and LiveTarget Hybrid Shrimp is as real as it can get. This particular lure has hard-bodied core filled with soft and wiggly parts that mimic a forward-swimming shrimp. When on the retrieve, its soft legs create vibrating patterns and wiggles that are very alluring to predator fish. It has two strong hooks on the front and rear. The shrimp is also available in two sizes, 3 ½, and 4 inches. It is definitely a great choice if you’re going for inshore game fishing.
10. Halco Roosta Popper 105
– This brightly-colored bait from Halco is probably the toughest and most preferred bait for speckled trouts and redfish anglers. The bait is designed with bright colors for it to be easily spotted even during low-light conditions, which is the ideal environment for drum fishes. This particular bait is made to last while being one of the best choices for sport fishing.
Speckled Trout
Speckled trouts, commonly known as specks, are distinguished based on the spots scattered across the upper body extending to the caudal and dorsal fins.
By its physiology, speckled trouts can be identified easily.
One of the things to look for is that they have elongated bodies with spots.
Another distinguishing factor is the structure of their jaw.
The lower jaw is larger compared to the upper jaw that also has two prominent canine teeth.
In general, speckled trouts have an elongated body with a largemouth.
The average male speckled trout is about 19 inches in length (48 cm).
Female speckled trouts, however, has an average of 25 inches (63 cm) long and weighs about 2 to 3 pounds (1 to 1.3 kg).
On the other note, speckled trouts are a schooling species.
So, whenever you go out and manage to fish one, there are usually more.
Where Can Speckled Trout Be Found?
These fishes are some of the most popular game fish found in the Atlantic Ocean. For speckled trouts, a lot of them move to the ocean during winter while others remain in brackish creeks.
If you’re trying to fish for speckled trouts during early spring, you’ll find a decent amount of them as this is the time where they disperse throughout the sound and get ready to breed.
You’ll find a lot of speckled trouts along the edges of the marsh. Look for baits that are jumping out of the water. If you find one, there’s a high chance that there are trouts out there.
The best place to be if you want to catch a lot of them would be to place yourself in moving water. Most of the time, moving water is found to be the preferred feeding area for speckled trouts.
Flowing creeks, wind currents, and tidal currents would be the ideal place to fish. In addition to moving waters, it is also important to find still spots where moving water bumps into.
These still waters are called “edges” or “rip lines”.
Edges or Rip Lines
These fish prefer to stay within low-light conditions. They also tend to move away from shallow waters during sunrise. The best places to be fishing are near deep holes close to their spot or any spots with shade from the local bridges.
Redfish
Like speckled trouts, redfish are also known as a schooling species.
Another thing about redfish is that they tend to struggle a lot when hooked.
So, expect that they will put up a fight whenever you manage to get one.
Redfish has a mild and sweet flavor than is fax superior to other game fish.
However, bigger redfish or ones they call “bull” redfish have a flavor profile that is stringy, coarse, and unpalatable.
Redfish are known in several names including channel bass, puppy drum, red drum, spot tail bass, or just red.
Both redfish and speckled trouts belong to a family of drum fishes which is categorized by the drumming sound they produce through their air bladder.
Among inshore anglers, speckled trouts and redfish are the top game fish choices all over the world.
Where can Redfish Be found?
Redfish, however, are generally found in shallow waters. Most of them are found along the eastern seaboard and gulf coast of the United States. You can see them along with open sounds, backwater flats, salt creeks and rivers, and oyster bars.
Smaller fishes tend to school more than the bigger ones. It’s almost a guarantee whenever you manage to catch one, there’s bound to be more. During winter, these redfish migrate offshore to deeper waters and hold on to artificial or natural reefs.
On warmer months, they tend to move inshore where there’s plenty of bait. During fall, however, they submerge deep into channels where it leads to the ocean. That’s where they get the name, “channel bass”.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s usually a good time to go fishing for speckled trout in the evening. However you would possibly encounter the greatest effects between 10 p.m., either in the morning or late at night. Yes, and 2 a.m. The speckled sea trout and the bait of a yellow jig.
Speckled trout can be in the region if the water temperature is in the 50 degree range. Usually, speckled trout are caught in waters below 5 feet deep.
One of the most exhilarating topwater assaults you will ever see can be delivered by a motivated redfish. By contrast, speckled trout, snook, and any fish with a forward-facing mouth will strike and blow a hole in the water from directly below a topwater lure.
The Best Redfish Fishing Hooks. Scale 1/0 Circle Hooks are the perfect fishing hooks for redfish. Circle hooks are suitable for use because they are simple to remove and have a very low mortality rate, therefore. You may find using one to be a bit of a challenge if you have never used a circle hook before.
Bottom Line
Speckled trout and redfish are some of the most common fish that saltwater anglers like to catch. As both don’t differentiate between live and artificial baits, these fishes are quite the warriors.
When capturing speckled trout or redfish, there are plenty of natural baits to use. The use of topwater baits that retrieve “walk-the-dog” will draw savage strikes.
In clear and shallow waters, red and orange colored baits and lures stand out. If you fish deep or go for low-light areas, the ideal color options are to use darker hues such as blue, violet and black.
Much as humans do, fish detect light wavelengths, but they may not be able to perceive the exact hue. The strength of the color varies the more it absorbs the wavelengths. The color may ultimately be more important to the angler rather than to the fish.
We hope you enjoyed our review on the best lures for speckled trout. You may also want to check out:
https://ulua.com/best-trout-fishing-line-for-spinning-reels/
