Spotted Seatrout
Often called “specks” due to the numerous dark spots they have on their upper back, spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) are a popular game fish. These fish can be identified by their elongated bodies, elevated back and long pointed heads with the lower jaw extending beyond the upper. They have silvery gray or greenish color on the upper sides of their bodies, along with an iridescent sheen of light blue or purple on the upper back.The average size of an adult seatrout is about 14 inches long and weighing around one to four pounds; however, there have been records of fish caught measuring over 28 inches long and weighing up to 12 pounds.
Ranging from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico, spotted seatrout are found most commonly in upper estuaries. They favor locations where there are discontinuities in the current, such as mouths of water bodies, gullies, trenches or bends. Seatrout don’t like hard bottoms and are often found near sea grass and salt marshes with flowing waters. Spotted seatrout often spend their summers in high-salinity waters close to the gulf, and their winters in low-salinity waters near the shore. When young, seatrout can be seen traveling in schools of up to 50 fish but begin to move and hunt solo after about 25-weeks-old. This species spends most of their entire life in or near the estuary where they were spawned, with most tagged fish being found within a mile of where they were originally tagged.
The spawning season for spotted seatrout is from mid-April to September, with both females and males moving closer to shore to spawn and release eggs. Sexual maturity is around 12 inches for females and varying smaller sizes for males. Water temperature and salinity levels play a role in the locations the fish chose to spawn in, making estuaries ideal places for the females to release their eggs. The number of eggs released during each spawning season increases as the female grows older, going from 66,000 eggs at age one to 354,000 eggs by age five. The males produce a drumming sound to attract females and fertilize the eggs as the female releases
them. The eggs hatch 18 hours after fertilization, and the fish take refuge in bottom vegetation and shell. At six to eight weeks old, the fish are about two inches long and can reach up to eight inches long by one year.
Seatrout are quick and aggressive ambush predators, making short lunges to capture and swallow their prey whole using their large front canine teeth and smaller lower teeth to hold onto prey. Males often gather in schools to feed with the incoming tide, feeding in early morning hours and at times of strong current flow. Their diet consists of shrimp and other small fish, such average life span of the fish is eight to 12 years, with males only living up to five years. Older and larger fish have been found to harbor an internal parasite popularly known as spaghetti worms, but these worms don’t seem to harm to the fish. Although visually unappealing, these parasites do not harm humans either and can be taken out while cleaning or cooking the fish.
The best method to catch seatrout is with free-line live shrimp near the bottom to entice the fish out of the grass. Attaching a cork will also allow the bait to drift over the grass beds, preventing the hook from getting snagged on bottom debris. The current limits for speckled seatrout in Louisiana are 25 daily per person-bag, or 15 daily per person with no more than two fish over 25 inches. The minimum length is 12 inches for every fish.
For more information:
Aspects of the Biology of the Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, in Mississippi, Robin M. Overstreet, Gulf Research Reports, 1983.
The Reproductive Biology of Spotted Seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Nancy J. Brown-Peterson and James W. Warren, Gulf of Mexico Science, 2001.
The Spotted Seatrout Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, United States: A Regional Management Plan, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, March 2001. Includes an detailed and extensive biological description of spotted seatrout.