Trout recovery

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Why have specks recovered so well? The year the current class of fish were hatched, should’ve froze them all out according to reports. From VA to the SC line, specks have been on fire and biting anything on the water. 3 and 4 pounders hitting drum rigs, specs of all sized biting fish bites on a bottom rig. Specks hitting gotcha plugs, never mind those that actually fish for them. Everybody is catching specs and they’ve been to the point of surpassing pinfish and hog fish as aggregation when trying to catch bait the last two years.

What’s happened that’s made them rebound in abundance? At least the current year class being caught?
Pardon the meme that a VA buddy made, but it did go from a line shy fish finicky and only biting certain colors on certain tides to being the bream of saltwater the last two years. B4927946-7AEC-4799-8D2B-7835E140404A.jpeg
 
Buxndiverdux

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Only thing I can offer is that the 13-14” trout were thick last 2 years no matter where I fished. Everyone threw all those fish back and they are bigger this year. Then the season was closed for ~ 5 months. All that had to help.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
Well you can count on the Bite to stop thursday. I will be after Trout Thur, Fri, Sat and sunday. Yep the bite has been on fire but will probably stop Thursday.

I did just get finished making some awesome trout lures. I will post them IF I catch fish on em.

agree with what the others said plus there hasnt been a winter kill lately. Cold doesnt kill em. it is the sudden quick cold that gets em and we havent had that in a while.

Took me FOREVER to get a 16incher last year so those are all now 18-22................
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
mack the crop that is currently being caught came off a COLD winter with lots of floaters, thus my confusion.

They’ve had everything stacked against them. Biting anything that hits the water, their first winter was COLD (granted I know nothing about E/W movement of trout in the winter, and whether these fingerlings would have been in the ocean and protected from the cold winter of 16/17. Even if they’re not from 16/17, a lot of trout went belly up that winter. Cormorants have been stupidly thick the last few years, and have been observed off Oregon Inlet by the thousands diving on schools of 6-7” trout and devouring them.
 
23mako

23mako

Ten Pointer
I would say the mild winters over the last couple years coupled with a creel reduction from 10 fish to 4 fish has had an impact.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
Justin said:
mack the crop that is currently being caught came off a COLD winter with lots of floaters, thus my confusion.

They’ve had everything stacked against them. Biting anything that hits the water, their first winter was COLD (granted I know nothing about E/W movement of trout in the winter, and whether these fingerlings would have been in the ocean and protected from the cold winter of 16/17. Even if they’re not from 16/17, a lot of trout went belly up that winter. Cormorants have been stupidly thick the last few years, and have been observed off Oregon Inlet by the thousands diving on schools of 6-7” trout and devouring them.
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The Trout that went belly up is/was just a fraction of what was out there. Most made it to deeper Warmer water...
I am sure come tomorrow that I will think a kill got them all.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
they must be the spotted bass of the ocean.
cant killem out. LOLZ
keep stirring Justin. It is great entertainment.
 

darenative

Twelve Pointer
It was all the $$ money and time that the cca crowd personally invested that is responsible for this remarkable recovery. They secretly met on the pungo river each cold night and blew hot air into those magical trout waters...no, wait...that was the cca blowing hot air up our backsides..nevermind
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
darenative said:
It was all the $$ money and time that the cca crowd personally invested that is responsible for this remarkable recovery. They secretly met on the pungo river each cold night and blew hot air into those magical trout waters...no, wait...that was the cca blowing hot air up our backsides..nevermind
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Their heads would explode if they saw what some of the OGs threw when cob heads or spot heads weren’t getting the nod. ?
 
Sportsman

Sportsman

Old Mossy Horns
According to Justin all of a sudden catching speckled trout is as easy as casting a lure anywhere into brackish water, and here I thought I had figured ‘em out. :oops: ? :cool:
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Sportsman said:
According to Justin all of a sudden catching speckled trout is as easy as casting a lure anywhere into brackish water, and here I thought I had figured ‘em out. :oops: ? :cool:
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You can’t deny the amount of trout that have been caught the last two years and the wide array of ways they’re being caught. They’re being caught on anything from sabiki rigs to 8nbait.

I dont target them so I can’t speak to how “easy” it really is, but they’re every where this year. Was fishing for spots for bait the other week and about every third cast produced specks on a sabiki rig or bare hook with just a half of pinky nail sized piece of BW fish bites. Kids turned loose with a grub on a jig head, reeling spinning reels upside down we’re having the time of their lives catching them.
I’ve specifically fished for them less than 5 times in my life, and can attest that they haven’t always been this thick or easy.
 
23mako

23mako

Ten Pointer
darenative said:
?? ya'll boys get puffed up to quick when the cca topic comes up. It's ok to poke a little fun at each other every now and then
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haha I am not in the CCA but geezus it gets brought up on about every thread. Proud wake county navy member though. I think justin has a CCA mannequin at home that he slaps around when he is having a bad day
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
23mako said:
haha I am not in the CCA but geezus it gets brought up on about every thread. Proud wake county navy member though. I think justin has a CCA mannequin at home that he slaps around when he is having a bad day
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That’s a good idea.... but I can’t recall having a bad day in years ? maybe one day when I do, I’ll get me one.
 
Sportsman

Sportsman

Old Mossy Horns
I'm not denying that they are thick as I've ever seen/heard of, and that they've been freely eating whatever they see. I'm sure there have been years similar or better, I just didn't get in on that action. Wish I could explain the boom, but can't so I'll just be happy catching them while they're here and biting.

I think I've been 27 times since July.....only twice have I been and not caught trout. One of the troutless trips we caught stripers, puppy drum and flounder, while the other trip was after some cool weather and I was stubborn and threw topwater baits the entire time with no luck. The other 25 times I've caught between 9 and 50 trout, with most trips producing 18-24.

In years past, the topwater bite has typically been a first light/last light thing, for the most part. This summer, we caught them all day, every trip on topwater. Didn't matter if we were fishing on the bank, 50 yards off the bank, or in the middle of a bay as long as water was 8' or less and there was lots of bait balls around, we caught 'em. It was mind blowing really.

Another exciting, and interesting tidbit is the fact that we have not caught fish that wasn't a keeper in at least 6 trips. Those 21 trips before, I'd say 90% of the fish were keepers as well.

Justin - I'm not disagreeing with you buddy....just think it's funny when a drum fisherman comments about how easy it is a to catch a fish. ? ?
 

darenative

Twelve Pointer
This recovery after the cold stun was about as quick as i have seen in my lifetime. I'm not sure exactly why or what was different, but i'm thankful for it because i love to chase a trout. If we can keep ol man winter at bay and dont get brutal cold weather, next year is gonna be insane. Im looking forward to some classic wintertime speck action in the creeks of eastern nc this winter.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
darenative said:
This recovery after the cold stun was about as quick as i have seen in my lifetime. I'm not sure exactly why or what was different, but i'm thankful for it because i love to chase a trout. If we can keep ol man winter at bay and dont get brutal cold weather, next year is gonna be insane. Im looking forward to some classic wintertime speck action in the creeks of eastern nc this winter.
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Speaking of creeks.... you got an eye on some cob mullets? Have net, will throw. ?
 

darenative

Twelve Pointer
^^ it seems like it's either fingers or 4 pound magnum mullets right now where we're fishing. The cobs are MIA so far.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
darenative said:
^^ it seems like it's either fingers or 4 pound magnum mullets right now where we're fishing. The cobs are MIA so far.
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Nicks been getting a few, and Teddy seems to be catching in the boat. I love those 4lb magnums though. Nice and greasy. They just don’t last long with pickers around in the fall. Give me a bighorse mullet in the spring to chunk up over anything else
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
North Carolina Wildlife Federation out there spreading their egotistical socialist fake news BS too. Divide and conquer from within. ??‍♂️
 
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