What size hooks are best for catching speckled trout?
A 1/0 hook is the best size for catching speckled trout. That hook size is perfect for hooking a live shrimp or a small white bait like a threadfin herring, scaled sardine or a pin fish without affecting their swimming abilities too much.
Speckled trout a.k.a. spotted sea trout can get pretty big. The record is almost 15 pounds and over 30 inches long.
Of course if you are targeting huge trout with a large mullet or a large piece of dead bait, then you might need to use a larger hook.
We will cover lots of different trout fishing scenarios in this article so that you have the best size hook for each scenario. We will cover the hook sizes when you are fishing with live bait, dead bait and lures.
The author of this article is a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN. He has been speckled trout fishing the grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years.
In the article below, we will talk about the best size hook to catch speckled trout with different bait selections.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about the best hook sizes for speckled trout.
A 1/0 hook is the best size for catching speckled trout. That hook size is perfect for hooking a live shrimp or a small white bait like a threadfin herring, scaled sardine or a pin fish without affecting their swimming abilities too much.
Speckled trout a.k.a. spotted sea trout can get pretty big. The record is almost 15 pounds and over 30 inches long.
Of course if you are targeting huge trout with a large mullet or a large piece of dead bait, then you might need to use a larger hook.
We will cover lots of different trout fishing scenarios in this article so that you have the best size hook for each scenario. We will cover the hook sizes when you are fishing with live bait, dead bait and lures.
The author of this article is a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN. He has been speckled trout fishing the grass flats, oyster bars and mangroves all over Florida for more than 40 years.
In the article below, we will talk about the best size hook to catch speckled trout with different bait selections.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about the best hook sizes for speckled trout.
What is the best size hook for speckled trout fishing with live bait?
Live Shrimp:
You really need to give a good presentation for a speckled trout. They have excellent eyesight so if you use too large of a hook your shrimp won't be able to move very well.
This is okay if you are using a popping cork because you can pop the cork and make the shrimp jump through the water column like it is swimming. If you use the correct hook size you can just cast out your shrimp and put the rod in the rod holder.
It is really hard to beat a 1/0 circle or J hook under a popping cork of some kind when you are fishing with live shrimp for speckled trout. Trout don't fight hard enough to straighten out your hook so you can use a really thinly wired hook that will not damage your live shrimp bait very much.
Grass flats and speckled trout go together like college football and chicken wings so try to find grass flats when you are targeting trout.
Get your popping cork with your 1/0 circle hooks and drift the flats with the current giving your set up a pop every few feet. If you do that any speckled trout in the area will come to see what the commotion is all about and eat your bait.
You can also catch speckled trout with a live shrimp and a split shot 6 inches above the hook. This is a great way to catch trout in tidal creeks and oyster bars.
The 1/0 Circle or J Hook is still the best way to go for best results. You will want to pitch your shrimp up current and work it back to you near the bottom, then repeat.
The speckled trout will often hit your shrimp as it falls through the water column but they will also pick it up off of the bottom as it moves past them.
PRO TIP: You will want to keep your rod tip high and retrieve your line as it move with the current. This will help keep you from getting snagged on the bottom.
I created a FREE online fishing course all about catching speckled trout. You can find that course right on this website. It covers the best baits, lures and techniques to catch speckled trout. You can see it by clicking right here.
Live White Baits:
White baits are a general term for any small silvery bait. These baits include scaled sardines, threadfin herring, menhaden........ Shrimp are great baits but white baits are even better when it comes to catching speckled trout.
Speckled trout would rather eat fish than shrimp most of the time. AND if you use the proper hook size, a white bait will be much more active than a shrimp will.
They will send out those low frequency vibrations that will attract specks from many yards away.
Once again the 1/0 circle or J hook is the way to go with these smaller white baits. When I say smaller white baits I am talking about a 3 or 4 inch white bait. Once these baits get to be larger than 4 inches you will need to start increasing your hook size to a 2/0 or 3/0 for best results.
It is all about using the least amount of hook that you can get away with so your bait presentation is as natural as possible. If the hook is so big that the bait is just floating there, then you won't catch very many trout.
When I am fishing for speckled trout with live baits I will use a popping cork set up of some sort. That set up is just too efficient for catching trout and controlling where your bait is in the water.
Spotted sea trout like to lie and wait for an unsuspecting fish or shrimp to swim by their ambush point in the sea grass. The best white bait depth will be a foot or so off of the grass.
If you have your line length too long, then your bait will hide in the grass and the trout won't be able to find them as well. This will also lead to getting a bunch of grass on your hook.
Watch the video below to see how much fun live shrimp, tidal creeks and catching spotted sea trout can be.
Live Mullet:
Speckled trout love to eat mullet and the big ones like really big mullet. I am amazed at the size of a fish that a trout can eat. A 25 inch trout can easily eat a 12 inch mullet. It is really amazing if you think about it.
Don't be afraid to use a huge live bait if you are targeting huge spotted sea trout. You will be surprised what the big ones can get down their gullets.
You will have to use larger hooks when you are targeting those big gator trout. A 12 inch mullet will require you to use a 5/0 circle hook to maximize your hook ups.
If you are using a smaller 6 inch finger mullet then you can get away with a 3/0 hook but the big mullet will require a bigger hook size for sure.
A great way to target huge trout on a grass flat is drifting. Take your mullet offering and cast it up current and put it in the rod holder when you are using a circle hook.
This is a great way to find the fish. Once you figure out where the fish are toss out your anchor and fish until the bite stops then repeat.
When I am drifting a grass flat with mullet, I like to have one mullet with a cork and one just free lined to see what set up is getting the most bites.
Sometimes the trout need the bobber to slow down the mullet enough to eat and other times the trout can catch them just fine.
PRO TIP: When you are trolling or drifting live mullet always hook them in the mouth. If you hook them by the tail, they won't look right and they will die when you drag them backwards.
Quite often you will get your best bites when your mullet swims over the sandy pot holes that are on every grass flat that I have ever seen. Be ready.
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What is the best size hook for speckled trout fishing with dead bait?
Yes, I said dead bait. Many anglers do not realize that big fish will often take a dead bait offering over a live bait offering. Those big fish are the older and wiser fish.
Those old fish have figured out that it is better to use the least amount of energy to obtain their calorie needs. They will almost always choose a fresh dead bait offering over a live bait offering because they don't want to waste any energy.
Dead Mullet:
Some fish like to eat the heads of a mullet the best. These include snook and tarpon BUT speckled trout and redfish seem to prefer the body of the mullet better.
You will want to use a 4 to 6 inch chunk of mullet if you are targeting those monster speckled trout. The key is to make the bait too large for the catfish to eat.
If you are fishing with a 2 or 3 inch chunk of mullet you will just catch catfish all day. Catfish are much better at finding dead baits than speckled trout so use big pieces.
The best size hook for using dead bait for HUGE speckled trout is a 5/0 circle hook.
PRO TIP: Always use circle hooks when you are fishing with dead bait. You will catch more fish and you won't gut hook or harm as many fish. Circle hooks are the way to go for all dead bait fishing applications.
Watch the video below to see how to use dead mullet to catch HUGE gator trout.
Dead Mullet Cont'd:
Spotted sea trout do leave the grass flats to find food. This is especially true these days as the grass flats are dying and the water quality in Florida continues to decline.
The really big trout are usually found in deeper water near the edges of a grass flat or near mangroves or around tidal creek mouths.
The thing about huge speckled trout is that they don't hang around other trout. Small trout can be found in large schools but the big ones are solitary or travel with one other equally sized fish.
This is probably because they are cannibals and will readily eat smaller trout.
I like to put my dead bait offering on the shallow areas near a deeper drop off. The big trout feel safe in deeper water but like to have shallows near just in case a shark or a dolphin comes after them.
Dead Lady Fish:
Lady fish is another great bait for fishing for big speckled trout. They are stinky and delicious to trout, snook, redfish and tarpon. So if you can get some fresh lady fish then you can catch a ton of different fish.
Just remember that the big trout like the body of the fish and not the head as much. You will want to use the 5/0 circle hooks and use chunks of lady fish at least 4 inches long to cut down on the catfish catch.
There is really no difference in fishing techniques with a lady fish and a mullet but they are great substitutes for each other if you have problems finding one or the other.
Conclusion:
Choosing the proper hook size based on your bait sizes and target species size is a really big deal. Big speckled trout will require bigger hook sizes than small schooling sized specks.
You will definitely need to choose your hook size wisely if you want to maximize your speckled trout fishing adventures. Just remember that you can usually get away with a 1/0 hook for most live bait applications but when you are fishing with big dead bait for big trout, then you will have to move up to a 5/0 hook size.
Speckled trout populations have crashed in recent years so use a circle hook whenever possible so that you don't injure the trout that you are not planning on keeping. If we would all just keep a few less trout the next time we go out then the populations might bounce back to the way they were 10 years ago.
I hope this article helps you catch a ton more fish or at the very least have more fun trying.
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