Speckled Trout Fishing with DOA Lures
Speckled trout fishing with DOA lures can be exceptional. DOA makes many of my favorite lures for catching inshore fish like speckled trout, snook, tarpon, redfish and flounder.
The best DOA Lures for Speckled Trout are:
Speckled trout will feed upon mullet, threadfin herring, scaled sardines, pin fish, anchovies, shrimp...…. and many other marine species. If you can find a lure that looks and moves like these creatures, then you can catch a ton of speckled trout.
DOA makes a whole bunch of lures that look like the food sources of speckled trout. That is why I use a lot of different DOA lures when I am fishing. I also like them because their headquarters is only about 30 minutes from my house.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats and oyster bars all over Florida for more than 40 years. In the article below, I will teach you what I know about catching speckled trout using DOA lures.
*I am not sponsored by DOA Lures. I use them and like them so I am telling you about them.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more speckled trout with DOA Lures.
Speckled trout fishing with DOA lures can be exceptional. DOA makes many of my favorite lures for catching inshore fish like speckled trout, snook, tarpon, redfish and flounder.
The best DOA Lures for Speckled Trout are:
- DOA CAL 3 inch Shad with a Paddle Tail
- DOA 3 inch Shrimp
- DOA Bait Buster Mullet
- DOA 5.5 Inch Jerk Bait
- DOA 2 3/4 inch TerrorEyz
Speckled trout will feed upon mullet, threadfin herring, scaled sardines, pin fish, anchovies, shrimp...…. and many other marine species. If you can find a lure that looks and moves like these creatures, then you can catch a ton of speckled trout.
DOA makes a whole bunch of lures that look like the food sources of speckled trout. That is why I use a lot of different DOA lures when I am fishing. I also like them because their headquarters is only about 30 minutes from my house.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been fishing the grass flats and oyster bars all over Florida for more than 40 years. In the article below, I will teach you what I know about catching speckled trout using DOA lures.
*I am not sponsored by DOA Lures. I use them and like them so I am telling you about them.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below and catch more speckled trout with DOA Lures.
Speckled Trout Fishing with DOA Lures on the Grass Flats
Speckled trout are denizens of the grass flats. Sure you can catch them miles away from the grass flats but you can bet that they will be back at the grass flats shortly.
Speckled trout will leave the flats to pursue food around docks, mangroves, oyster bars, beaches and tidal creeks. BUT the spotted sea trout, a.k.a. speckled trout, a.k.a. specks, depends upon the grass flats for its survival.
In recent years, the grass flats around Florida have been decimated and consequently the speckled trout numbers have decreased dramatically as well. The Florida Wildlife Commission recently tightened the rules on harvesting speckled trout to help their populations bounce back.
BUT there are still some areas of the state where you can find decent numbers of speckled trout. So break out your DOA lures and start catching some.
DOA CAL 3 inch Shad:
The DOA CAL is my go to speckled trout lure. This lure catches tons of trout for me and my clients on my kayak fishing charters. I like to use this lure for clients because it is so easy to use. All that you have to do is cast it out and reel it back in slowly.
That technique works very well but I like to add a more erratic retrieve to maximize my trout catch. My retrieve is something like a twitch, twitch, pause, reel, repeat. The speckled trout seem to like to hit the lure as it falls from the twitch, twitch part of the retrieve.
The best colors are white or glow followed by a natural color combination. I usually start with a white lure coupled with a red 1/8 ounce jig head. If that doesn't get too many hits, then I will switch to something more natural looking.
DOA 3 inch Shrimp:
The DOA Shrimp is a very realistic looking shrimp lure that catches a lot of spotted sea trout. You can fish it like you would a free lined live shrimp or you can fish it under a popping cork to great effect.
If you choose to use the shrimp with the popping cork combination, then you will want to have about an 18 to 24 inch leader coming from the cork to the lure.
The popping cork or the rattle cork does a great job of attracting the speckled trout to the lure. The best technique is to cast the combination out and give it a pop, pop, pause for 10 seconds then repeat. If you are drifting the flats, then you don't even have to reel. You can just pop, pop, pause to catch a ton of trout.
My favorite colors are the natural color combinations. I like the clear ones with gold or copper colored glitter sprinkles in them the best.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail how to catch a speckled trout. You can read that article by clicking right here.
DOA 5.5 inch Jerk Bait:
This is one of my new favorite lures. I just discovered that DOA had a larger jerk bait. I knew about the 4 inch version and didn't care for it because I wanted something bigger to catch trout that are focused on finger mullet.
Big trout like big lures. It is as simple as that. A speckled trout that is eating 6 inch plus mullet will usually be 22 inches plus in size. Those are the ones that I like to catch. The new larger jerk baits are perfect for big trout.
The technique is very simple. Cast your lure and let it sink in the water column. Give it two quick jerks and let it fall in the water column. So it goes like this; twitch, twitch, pause for 5 or 6 seconds, reel and repeat.
My two favorite colors so far are glow and a natural one with white belly and sides with a black back. These bigger jerk baits also catch big snook and tarpon too. It's not a bad day when you cast for a trout and catch a big snook instead, right?
WANT TO CATCH SPECKLED TROUT? BOOK YOUR FISHING CHARTER TODAY!
Watch the video below and catch more speckled trout with DOA CALs.
Speckled Trout Fishing with DOA Lures around Docks
Docks are another great place to find speckled trout. They seem to be around the docks even more often than they used to be. I think that is because the grass flats are smaller and they have to move further and further to find enough food.
Whatever the reason is, docks are a great place to find big trout. This is especially true when the Spring and Fall bait runs are occurring. There are lots of white baits and finger mullet for the larger trout to feast upon.
The key to fishing inshore is to not fish in a dead zone. There are dead zones all over the place that inshore fishermen must avoid. A dead zone has very little life in it.
Most of the fish that you want to catch will be congregated in an area with three critical factors present. There will be current, bait and a comfortable water temperatures. If you can figure out where you can find those three conditions, then you will find fish.
When you are fishing docks you might have to fish 40 or 50 of them to figure out where all of the predators are at. My estimate is that 80 to 90% of the speckled trout will be in one area so you need to methodically fish all of the docks until you find out where the bait, optimal water temperatures and decent current are.
DOA CAL 3 inch Shad:
My favorite bait for fishing the docks is the DOA CAL. I love to use this bait as a search bait because you can fish it quickly and cover a lot of water. DOA CALs will catch flounder, speckled trout, snook, tarpon, redfish...… AND once you find one fish you might have just found all of the fish.
This is a great bait to swim slowly under the docks with an erratic twitch of your rod tip every now and again. Many people think that trout are only in the upper and middle parts of the water column but I have caught 100s by bouncing lures and shrimp on the bottom.
You can find huge trout in a foot of water if there is bait around. Trust me. The DOA CAL is a great bait to cover water from 8 feet to 1 ft. in search of gator trout to catch.
DOA 2.75 inch TerrorEyz:
You have to remember that speckled trout are fish and shrimp eaters. They evolved to eat all different shapes and sizes of fish. The DOA TerrorEyz is a great choice for pitching under docks. The white works great in clean water and the root beer works great when the water is dirty.
Snook love this lure too so you might want to beef up your tackle a bit when pitching a TerrorEyz. Speckled trout are fun to catch but they are not the best fighters in the world. My trout rod is a medium action rod and the reel is a 2500 series.
You might want to step up to a 3500 or 4000 series reel and a medium/heavy rod when pitching lures to the dock pilings. That way when you hook a big snook or redfish instead of a trout then you will be able to get it out of the pilings.
The technique for fishing this lure is to bounce it off of the bottom or swim and twitch it with just enough speed to keep it off of the bottom.
I wrote another article on this website that covers in much more detail the different types of baits and lures for spotted sea trout fishing. You can read that article by clicking right here.
DOA Bait Buster:
When the finger mullet are running it is hard to beat a Bait Buster for catching BIG trout. This is a very realistic action lure in the water. It comes in a shallow, medium and deep running version. You will have to get the appropriate one depending upon the water depth that you are fishing.
If you are fishing the deep end of a dock then the medium or deep runner might be the best choice. If you are fishing water that is 4 feet or less then the shallow runner might be the way to go. My favorites are the natural looking ones with white or silver sides and a dark back.
The technique is to swim this bait with a twitch or two every few feet during the retrieve.
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Speckled Trout Fishing with DOA Lures in the Mangroves
Mangroves are a great place to catch speckled trout during the higher parts of the tide. The roots of the red mangrove tree are a haven for small fish, shrimp and crabs. The predators know this but can't get at them until the tide rises.
Once the tide comes in the speckled trout, snook, redfish, flounder and all kinds of predators move in to find some lunch. You just have to tempt them to bite your lure offering.
DOA CAL 3 inch Shad:
My favorite lure for finding trout around the mangroves is a white DOA CAL with a red 1/8 ounce jig head. This is the search bait that I use most of the time. Trout love this color combination...… So do snook, redfish and flounder. You can get an inshore grand slam with the same lure fishing in exactly the same location.
That is a versatile lure right there. Just pitch it up to the mangrove roots and work it back to you with a twitch or two every few feet. The key to fishing the mangroves is to get your lure as close to the roots as possible. Most of your hits will happen close to the roots.
DOA 3 inch Shrimp:
Another great lure choice is the DOA Shrimp. This shrimp works very well because it sinks horizontally in the water, just like a real shrimp would.
Pitch this shrimp lure up to the mangroves and bounce it off of the bottom very slowly. You will definitely want to work this lure more slowly than the DOA CAL. Shrimp do not move very quickly like the fish do. You have to remember that if you want to maximize your fish catch.
My favorite colors for fishing the mangroves are the natural looking ones. I like to use the clear shrimp with gold and copper colored glitter inside them. Those work very well for catching speckled trout.
Speckled Trout Fishing with DOA Lures around Oyster Bars
Oyster bars are another great environment for catching speckled trout. Oyster bars attract shrimp, crabs and little fish. Those food sources in turn attract black drum, redfish, flounder and speckled trout. That is why oyster bars are such a good spot to catch fish.
DOA 3 inch Shrimp:
The DOA Shrimp under a popping cork is one of the best lure combinations that you can use around an oyster bar. You have to figure out how deep the water is so that the lure does not get hung up on the bottom. I usually have about 18 to 24 inches of leader from the cork to the lure.
The best technique is to cast your lure up current and bring it back to you with the tide. You will want to give it a pop or two every few feet. You don't have to get it right on the oyster bar but in the channel that is inevitably right next to an oyster bar exposed to a decent amount of current.
The pop of the cork attracts the fish by sending out those low frequency vibrations that fish love. Fish like speckled trout will be called in from many yards away to investigate the noise.
I only use 2 different colors when I fish with fake shrimp. Those are the ones with gold glitter and copper glitter inside of them.
DOA CAL 3 inch Shad:
I probably sound like a broken record at this point but this is my go to search lure. I use it most of the time because it works so well. You can fish it fast and cover a lot of water when you are trying to figure out where the fish are.
You will want to fish the channels adjacent to the oyster bars. You can simply cast this lure up current and swim it back with the tide giving it a twitch or two every few feet.
My favorite colors to use are white, glow and something natural looking.
Watch the video below to see speckled trout fishing at the mouth of a tidal creek.
Oyster bars are another great environment for catching speckled trout. Oyster bars attract shrimp, crabs and little fish. Those food sources in turn attract black drum, redfish, flounder and speckled trout. That is why oyster bars are such a good spot to catch fish.
DOA 3 inch Shrimp:
The DOA Shrimp under a popping cork is one of the best lure combinations that you can use around an oyster bar. You have to figure out how deep the water is so that the lure does not get hung up on the bottom. I usually have about 18 to 24 inches of leader from the cork to the lure.
The best technique is to cast your lure up current and bring it back to you with the tide. You will want to give it a pop or two every few feet. You don't have to get it right on the oyster bar but in the channel that is inevitably right next to an oyster bar exposed to a decent amount of current.
The pop of the cork attracts the fish by sending out those low frequency vibrations that fish love. Fish like speckled trout will be called in from many yards away to investigate the noise.
I only use 2 different colors when I fish with fake shrimp. Those are the ones with gold glitter and copper glitter inside of them.
DOA CAL 3 inch Shad:
I probably sound like a broken record at this point but this is my go to search lure. I use it most of the time because it works so well. You can fish it fast and cover a lot of water when you are trying to figure out where the fish are.
You will want to fish the channels adjacent to the oyster bars. You can simply cast this lure up current and swim it back with the tide giving it a twitch or two every few feet.
My favorite colors to use are white, glow and something natural looking.
Watch the video below to see speckled trout fishing at the mouth of a tidal creek.
Speckled Trout Fishing with DOA Lures in Tidal Creeks
One of my favorite places to fish is in a tidal creek. I like to find places that are not heavily pressured by other fishermen. That is what I love about kayak fishing. I can get into places that boats cannot.
Small little tidal creeks can hold some really big fish. The key to finding a good tidal creek is current and bait. There has to be some water movement and some food for the fish that you are trying to catch.
Depending upon where you live, a small tidal creek might have big black drum, redfish, tarpon, flounder, snook, speckled trout...… So don't pass by those little tidal creeks to go to where all the other boats go. Make sure to go up a few and fish a little while. You might just pull a monster out of that little creek.
Tidal creeks in the northern parts of Florida are dominated by oysters and spartina grass. Those are probably not going to have too many tarpon and snook (unless it is late Summer) but they will have tons of speckled trout, redfish, black drum and flounders.
The tidal creeks in central and southern Florida will be dominated by mangroves. You will have all of the same fish and you can use very similar tactics to catch them with DOA Lures.
DOA CAL 3 inch Shad:
You have probably figured out at this point that my favorite lure is the DOA CAL. The bottom line is that it catches a lot of fish when fished correctly. It also catches fish when fished incorrectly too. That is why this is the lure that is on the rods when I take clients out on kayak fishing charters.
Even the new fishermen who fishes with the reel upside down will still catch fish with these lures. You can literally just cast it out and reel it back and catch fish. It is that simple. You can even troll these lures and catch fish.
The first time that I ever saw the DOA CALs some older guy had two white ones with red jig heads and he was slow trolling them over a 4 foot deep grass flat. He was crushing the speckled trout using this technique. BUT a twitch of the lure every few feet definitely adds more fish to your cooler.
I troll different lures all of the time behind my kayak when I am trying to figure out where the fish are. I use the DOA CALs and the DOA TerrorEyz Big Ones under a cork (for tarpon mostly). My point is don't forget to troll to find fish in a bigger tidal creek.
When you are in a super skinny tidal creek, you will want to find a good choke point where the fish will have to come right past you with the incoming and outgoing tides. Cast the DOA CAL up current and work it back to you about the same speed as the current with a twitch or two every few feet.
The speckled trout are usually in the upper parts of the water column but they will be down deep sometimes too. Bounce your jig on the bottom if you are not getting bites higher in the water column. Sometimes those trout are on the bottom with the redfish and the flounders.
DOA Bait Buster:
If there are finger mullet schools around in your tidal creek, then a DOA Bait Buster might be your ticket to some BIG speckled trout action. The big specks can handle those finger mullet with no problem. The DOA Bait Buster is the best soft plastic finger mullet lure, in my opinion.
Find the schools of mullet and pitch your Bait Buster to the outskirts of the school. Your lure will look like the sick or injured mullet and the predators will want to eat that one first. The trout will often be under or just outside of the schools trying to find the easiest prey to eat.
Your job is to make sure that your lure looks like the easy meal.
Conclusion:
DOA Lures are a great choice for fishing for speckled trout, snook, tarpon, flounder and redfish. The inventor of the lures was a fishing guide in Florida who wanted better lures. So those lures are specifically created to catch those fish.
Those are my FAB Five Favorite Fish to catch so I use a lot of DOA products to catch them with. There are many other lures that this company makes but the ones mentioned above are the only ones that I have tried. Let me reiterate that I am not sponsored by DOA. I just like their lures especially for catching speckled trout.
If I could only use one DOA Lure to fish with for the rest of my life, then I would pick the DOA CAL. If you can perfect the techniques to fishing this lure effectively, then you can catch just about every fish that swims.
I was in Panama fishing for dolphin (mahi) and was sight fishing a weed line from a wooden panga. The dolphin were hunting for small fish in the weed lines. When I would see one I would pitch a DOA CAL to them.
The dolphin would crush the white DOA Cals with a 1/8 ounce red jig head that I was tossing. I am not bragging. I want to impress upon you that the size, shape and action of this lure will catch all kinds of different fish species. The DOA CALs caught so enough dolphin that I paid the guide that day with dolphin fillets.
The bottom line is, try a few DOA Lures some time and I bet that you will catch more fish.
I hope that this article helps you catch more speckled trout with DOA Lures or at the very least have more fun trying.
Do you want to get weekly how-to articles like this one emailed to you? If yes, get on our email list below.
DOA Lures are a great choice for fishing for speckled trout, snook, tarpon, flounder and redfish. The inventor of the lures was a fishing guide in Florida who wanted better lures. So those lures are specifically created to catch those fish.
Those are my FAB Five Favorite Fish to catch so I use a lot of DOA products to catch them with. There are many other lures that this company makes but the ones mentioned above are the only ones that I have tried. Let me reiterate that I am not sponsored by DOA. I just like their lures especially for catching speckled trout.
If I could only use one DOA Lure to fish with for the rest of my life, then I would pick the DOA CAL. If you can perfect the techniques to fishing this lure effectively, then you can catch just about every fish that swims.
I was in Panama fishing for dolphin (mahi) and was sight fishing a weed line from a wooden panga. The dolphin were hunting for small fish in the weed lines. When I would see one I would pitch a DOA CAL to them.
The dolphin would crush the white DOA Cals with a 1/8 ounce red jig head that I was tossing. I am not bragging. I want to impress upon you that the size, shape and action of this lure will catch all kinds of different fish species. The DOA CALs caught so enough dolphin that I paid the guide that day with dolphin fillets.
The bottom line is, try a few DOA Lures some time and I bet that you will catch more fish.
I hope that this article helps you catch more speckled trout with DOA Lures or at the very least have more fun trying.
Do you want to get weekly how-to articles like this one emailed to you? If yes, get on our email list below.