Summer Surf Fishing Tips for Catching Speckled Trout

Anglers who surf fish for speckled trout in the summer have a variety of choices when it comes to lures and baits. They have less choice when it comes to time, as early to mid-morning will almost invariably be the best fishing stretch while the middle of the day won't likely produce many trout. Fishing early or late can be very productive, however, if you are tempting the trout with the right offerings.

Although live shrimp is the number one speckled trout bait in most inshore waters you won't find many surf fishermen using it, due to the difficulty in keeping shrimp alive on the beach and on the hook during the cast. For that reason, the most effective choices for specks in the surf tend to be MirrOlure plugs, scented soft baits, and live minnows.

MirrOlure plugs

Plugs in the MirrOlure line have been catching speckled trout for many decades. They are very valuable to a surf fisherman because their mass gives an angler great casting distance and means you can work the lure through even rough whitewater. MirrOlures imitate big baitfish, which are the number one food choice for the big female speckled trout that cruise the surf in the summer.

Tie your MirrOlure directly to your line. You want to cast it as far as you can and then work it back to you in a pull and pause retrieve, like a baitfish struggling against the current. The mirror sides of these plugs really make a shine in the surf which brings roaming trout in. Don't retrieve the plug too fast, like you would for a Spanish mackerel, as trout favor a slower retrieve.

There are many different colors, makes and models of MirrOlures these days and you shouldn't be shy about experimenting with different ones if what you are using isn't working. That said, MirrOlures with red heads and white bodies are traditional favorites, as are those that are purple for night fishing. Trout also love the plugs that have little black spots on them, like a small trout would.

Scented soft baits

Gulp, Fishbites, and many other companies make excellent scented soft baits today that are marketed for speckled trout fishing. They all work; the only problem is making them effective in the surf. To use a soft bait effectively in the surf you are going to have to attach it to a relatively weighty jighead or put it on a Carolina rig with an egg sinker.

When matched with a 1/4 ounce jig head these scented soft baits can be deadly on trout in the surf. The fluke bodies are a favorite of speck lovers and they also like the curly-tailed shapes and the shad bodies. Popular colors for trout in the surf are green, white chartreuse, and that festive Electric Chicken.

You can work your scented soft bait a variety of ways in the surf until you seize on the pattern the trout are in. You can crawl it on the bottom (where you might also get hit by a flounder) or swim it like a swimbait a few feet off the bottom straight through the surf. Another good retrieval is a pull and pause much like working a plastic worm for a largemouth bass on a farm pond. Hop the bait off the bottom with a couple of quick jerks of your rod tip, then let it fall back and drift with the current for a few seconds. Keep your line tight, as trout will hit the lure on the fall.

Live minnows

A variety of live minnows can be effective for speckled trout in the surf. One of the best is the finger mullet. During times of the year when mullet are plentiful along the oceanfront speckled trout will gorge on them. Nothing is better in these situations than tossing frisky finger mullet out on a Carolina rig and feeling the firm tug of a strong speck hit.

When fishing live minnows for trout in the surf you want to use a rounded weight, like an egg sinker, of 2 to 4 ounces and a little bit of leader. I like About 15 inches of 25 lb monofilament line.

Other minnows that will take speckled trout in the surf are mud minnows (any of the varieties of killifish you can buy at the bait store or catch in your cast net), peanut pogies (small menhaden), and small pinfish. Sometimes very large speckled trout can be caught using small spot, croaker or bluefish...just remember to make sure there is no size limit on those fish where you are at before you make them your bait.

Jeffrey Weeks is an award-winning newspaper columnist who regularly writes about saltwater and freshwater fishing.

Other fishing articles by Jeffrey Weeks:

Summertime flounder fishing tactics

Best lures for sizzling Spanish mackerel action

Best summer baits for big speckled trout