These “spec rigs” are very effective off lighted piers and docks and often produce double hook ups when the speckled trout are feeding. When fishing at night under lights, touts or other small jigs are frequently rigged in tandem with one on a somewhat shorter leader than the other. The popping action of the cork simulates the vibrations of other trout hitting the top of the water and the floating action gives the bait movement that will stimulate speckled trout to attack it. Soft plastic touts and curly tailed grubs are often fished under a popping cork very similar to the technique used for live shrimp. These are very good when fished slowly during cooler months as well. Touts and small fishlike soft plastics can also be rigged Texas style or Carolina style to be worked through grass beds and pot holes on the flats. Jigs can also be retrieved faster above shallow grasses and allowed to drop into deeper pot holes to entice stalking speckled trout. They are very effective when they are allowed to drop to the bottom and bounced along sandy drop offs and reefs, simulating a shrimp bumping along the bottom or a small fish pushing up nutrients. Multiple presentations are used with these jigs. Soft plastic shrimp tails, also known as touts are widely used mounted on lead jig heads. For trophy hunters, larger swim bait type fish imitators are the ticket. These lures will catch good numbers of keeper size limits for anglers trying to put speckled trout on the dinner table. The most common soft plastics are one that imitate shrimp or small fish. Soft Plastic lures are very effective for targeting speckled trout. Burn it along the top of grass, let it drop into pot holes, and run it at varied depths along cuts. In addition to trying different speeds of retrieve, vary the depth and action of your spoon. Bait fish tend to move more slowly during cold weather, so should the lure that you are using to imitate them. The spoons undulating action provides a vibration and flash that is tantalizing to speckled trout.Ī rule of thumb with spoons and other artificial baits is the cooler the water, the slower the retrieve. If targeting both speckled trout and redfish, gold may be the better option. While both gold and silver spoons are effective in catching speckled trout, silver is probably the most effective.

Lures that imitate shrimp and small fish will provide larger numbers of small to medium size fish, while lures that match the action of a larger fish will give slower action, but larger fish when they do hit. With speckled trout more than other game fish in the Coastal Bend, determining what size fish you are targeting and what type of diet they have is the key to choosing artificial baits and the size of the bait.

There are several artificial baits used to target speckled trout in the bays of the Texas Coastal Bend.

Trout bait