What is the best tide for speckled trout fishing?


The best tide for speckled fishing is the first few hours of the outgoing high tide. The outgoing tide washes shrimp, crabs and small fish out of the estuaries, mangroves and grass flats providing food for hungry speckled trout.

A full moon or new moon outgoing high tide is optimal because there is more current to wash shrimp, crabs and fish out of their hiding places right into the hungry mouths of the speckled trout in the area.

You don't need an outgoing tide to catch speckled trout but you do need moving water. Slack tides are no good for catching speckled trout. Incoming or outgoing are needed to catch a ton of trout.

The outgoing tide is the best one for using lures because the water is usually dirty versus the incoming tides from the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. Speckled trout have excellent eyesight so it is easier to fool them during the outgoing tide.

The author of this article is a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN. He has been fishing for speckled trout on the grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years.

In the article below, we will talk about the the best tides for speckled fishing and the best baits, lures and techniques.
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Let's get started.


​Watch the video below to see speckled trout fishing during high tide in a tidal creek.

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​What tide is best for speckled trout fishing tidal creeks?


The outgoing tide is the best tide for speckled trout fishing in tidal creeks. The schools of speckled trout will move into the creeks with the tide and then move with the tide out of the creeks. They are following the baitfish and shrimp that flow into the creeks with the current.

Your job is to figure out where those schools of spotted sea trout (speckled trout) are going to be before they get there. I like to find a spot that funnels the fish right past me because I know at some point they have to come by.

This is a spot in the tidal creek that I can cast into the deepest part of the channel. That is the most likely spot for the trout to be moving through. It is especially effective if your spot is also a bend in the river. Points are great places to ambush the predatory fish that are there to ambush their prey. You are ambushing the ambushers.

It matters where you are fishing these points. You want to have your natural baits or lures to be coming with the tide right past the point because that is where the predators will be waiting.

It is hard to beat a live shrimp or live white bait under a popping cork for this type of fishing. You just have to cast up current and reel in the slack as your bait is brought back to you by the current. ( A white bait is any small silvery fish like a scaled sardine, menhaden, threadfin herring......)

The same procedure holds true if you are fishing a lure. I like to use 3 to 5 inch paddle tail swimming shad lures for speckled trout. You can add a jig head or a weed less hook to the paddle tails and catch a ton of trout.

I created a FREE online speckled trout fishing course that you can access right on this website. It covers the best baits, lures, tackle, tips and techniques so that you can maximize your next trout fishing adventure. Click here to see the fishing course now.

Another great lure set up is a popping cork with a jig about 18 inches from the cork. You can have a paddle tail shad, a fake shrimp, a curly tail, a plastic jerk bait or just about anything to get the speckled trout's attention. All of those lures will work just fine.

If you are familiar with your tidal creek, then another spot to focus your efforts would be any deep pot holes in the creek. You would be surprised how many fish can be caught in a pot hole as big as your kitchen table. This goes for redfish and speckled trout in the creeks.

A good way to figure out where those deeper depressions are is to explore the creek during dead low tide so you can come back later when the tide is higher.

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What tide is best for speckled trout fishing grass flats?

Grass flats and speckled trout go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you catch a speckled trout, then there is a good chance that there is a grass flat within a mile or two of where you are fishing. Grass flats are where the trout will spend most of their lives.

The outgoing tide is the best one for fishing the grass flats for speckled trout. The dirty water and the current make a great combination to increase your odds of catching trout. As mentioned before, the outgoing current will dislodge shrimp, crabs and fish from their hiding spots making it easier for the trout to find them.

The best way to fish a large grass flat is to drift it with the tide. You will want to focus on those sandy pot holes that are in just about every grass flat. The predators love to hang out in those sandy pot holes and wait for the current to bring them some lunch.

This is the case for flounder, snook, redfish and yes, speckled trout. You want to make sure that your lure or natural bait covers the entire sandy spot before you move to the next one. It might take a few casts but it is worth it in the end.

Once you start catching trout put down your power pole type of anchor or your regular anchor and start fan casting the area. There are most likely many more trout in the area because they tend to hang out in schools.

This is a great process to catch a ton of speckled trout. ie. Drift until you find fish; anchor until the fish stop biting; repeat on another part of the grass flat.

You can repeat this process all day with the incoming and outgoing tides. You just have to figure out what water depth the speckled trout are feeding in. In my area it is 3 to 5 feet of water but it differs depending on the area that you are fishing and time of year so you will have to experiment.


Watch the video below to see grass flat fishing for speckled trout from a kayak.

What is the best tide for speckled trout around docks?

The high outgoing tide is the best tide for speckled trout fishing around docks. You can find some huge speckled trout in very shallow water but it is more common to find them near a deep drop off of some sort. You can find trout at the deep end of a dock during low tide but it is more common to find them when the tide is high.

The docks that I like to focus on are the ones that are older and have larger boats on them. The reason that I like the older docks is because they will have more oysters, barnacles, sponges and marine grasses growing on them.

This makes the perfect ecosystem for small crabs, shrimp and fish to live in or near. The predators like speckled trout know this and come to eat those prey items. New docks don't have the marine growth on them so they don't attract trout as well.

Big boats need deeper water to launch so there is usually a deeper channel adjacent to docks with large boats at them. This is a great place to catch speckled trout during just about any part of the tide if the channel is deep enough.

A great way to fish docks is with live bait from up current. You can anchor up current and let your live bait under a bobber float to the dock that you want to target. That way there is not any splash from your cast to spook wary speckled trout that might be under the dock.

Just let your bait go right up to the pilings or even under the dock a little bit for best results. If you are fishing with lures then it is a better idea to cast up current to the docks because the fish are often facing into the current.

I wrote another article on this website all about catching speckled trout at night. You can access this article by clicking right here.

Fishing the lights around docks are excellent places to catch trout at night. You want to fish the dark water into the light for best results. In other words cast past the light shine into the water so that your bait or lure looks like an unwary prey item coming out of the dark into the light.

You will definitely have to use light leader or no leader at all in these lights. The trout will see your leader if it is too heavy and avoid your offering. A 15 pound leader is about as heavy as you want to go for this type of fishing.

The best baits for this fishing scenario are a live white bait, finger mullet or live shrimp. Cast your live bait offering to the edge of the light because the predators are usually waiting in the shadows to pounce upon any unsuspecting fish or shrimp that allows itself to be seen.

The best artificial lures for this scenario are mimics of the live bait mentioned above. I like to use 3 to 5 inch paddle tail shad lures in either white or root beer colors. My favorite technique is to swim them just on the edge of the light and wait for the strike.

A good fake shrimp will also work very well when you are fishing the lights around the docks at night.

Watch the video below to learn more about the best live baits to use for speckled trout.
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What is the best tide for speckled trout around mangroves?


High tide is the best tide for speckled trout fishing around mangroves. Mangroves are another wonderful place to catch speckled trout during the higher parts of the tide. You need the high tide waters to give the speckled trout access to the roots of the red mangrove trees.

The roots of the red mangrove trees are a refuge for small fish, shrimp and crabs but the predators know all about their hiding places. BUT they need the high tide to give them access to this food bounty.

The speckled trout, snook, mangrove snapper, redfish, flounder and sheepshead all know about the buffet that awaits them within the roots of the mangrove trees. You will most likely want to rig your lures weed less if possible.

You really have to get your baits or lures within about 18 inches or so of the roots to be most effective. This means that you will lose lots of baits and lures in the roots but it is worth it.

A weed less paddle tail shad type of lure is a great choice in this scenario. Just get it to the roots and bounce it on the sand or mud to lure out any predators in the area.

A live shrimp or a white bait with just enough weight to keep them in place is another good option for catching those speckled trout that are hunting in the mangrove roots.

A third option is a piece of dead bait right up next to the mangroves. A large piece of lady fish, mullet or pinfish will not be ignored by any hungry trout in the area. You will be amazed at the size of bait that a big speckled trout can swallow. I have caught 18 inch trout on 9 inch mullet before and I know it could have swallowed a larger one.

I wrote another article on this website that covers in great detail the best baits and lures for catching speckled trout. You can access that article right now by clicking here.


What is the best tide for speckled trout around oyster bars?


The best tide for speckled trout around oyster bars if the outgoing high tide. If you can find an oyster bar, you should fish it for speckled trout and redfish. They are magnets for those two fish species. It really doesn't matter if it is in a tidal creek, mud flat, open grass flat, part of a spoil island......... JUST FISH IT!

Oyster bars are the back bone of many marine ecosystems. These unassuming creatures are one of natures many wonders. They have many useful effects upon their environment like;

1) They can clean up to 50 gallons of water per day. That is an amazing feat if you really think about it. Oysters can clean up some of the most polluted marine environments.

2) They create habitat for numerous species of crabs, shrimp and fish.

3) They attract redfish, snook, speckled trout, black drum, sheepshead and flounder.

4) They limit the bank erosion of tidal creeks.

They do all of these things free of charge BUT #3 is the reason that you should fish ever single oyster bar that you ever come across. They hold fish.

You really want to fish the entire oyster bar but the points and the channels adjacent to them is where the speckled trout et al will be hanging out.

Just make sure to cast your offering up current and work it about the same speed as the current into the channels and past those points to maximize your fish catch.

This is another great place to throw your popping cork with a jig head. You can have a paddle tail, fake shrimp, jerk bait, curly tail or just about anything else for that matter. Make sure to pop it ever 20 seconds or so and wait for the bobber to go under.

A scented bait works the best for this scenario and most scenarios for that matter. Berkeley Gulp lures are probably the best lures for catching speckled trout under a popping cork. They come in fake shrimp shapes; fake fish shapes; jerk baits........

When the trout are not biting your other lures, then it is time to bust out your scented lures like Gulp. I didn't mention them earlier because they are expensive but I keep a couple packs in case of an emergency. ie. when the trout have lock jaw.

I saved these lures for last so that only the fishermen who bothered to read the whole article would get this best of the best lure recommendation. Thanks for reading the whole article.

The video below covers the tips and techniques for using this cork and lure combination in detail.

Conclusion:

The best tides for catching speckled trout are the high tides that are outgoing but you can catch trout on any tide as long as it is moving. The key to speckled trout fishing is figuring out where the schools are. Those schools move all over the place with the rising and falling water depths.

If you are searching for monster gator trout then you will never find them in schools because they are cannibals. They will greedily eat smaller trout so small trout and big trout do not hang out together.

You do not need a whole tackle box full of lures to catch speckled trout. They are aggressive when they are around except in the depths of winter.

I hope that this article helps you catch a lot more speckled trout or at the very least have more fun trying.

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