Speckled trout are one of the quintessential sport fish of Texas. When you think about fishing the Texas bays its Speckled Trout and Red Drum that come to mind. The Texas slam? Red Drum, Flounder and Speckled Trout. The number one fish targeted by recreational fisherman and guides in the state of Texas? Speckled Trout! In fact, according to the TPWD, an astonishing 79% of catch survey participants say they were targeting Speckled Trout and Red Drum during their outing. So it should come as no surprise that many are worried about fishing for the future of our coast.
The Cause
Texas was hit with record low temperatures and extended coastal freezes during what many have coined “Snowmageddon” in February of 2021. There are tons of photos and videos circulating online showing massive amounts of fish mortality. But it is hard to get a real handle on exactly how devastating these events where to our fisheries. To help provide some insight into what happened and what it means for the future of Texas recreational fishing, we will dig into the habits and tolerances of Speckled Trout.
The Trout
Speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus) also known as the Spotted Sea Trout is found along the entire Gulf Coast of the United States and as far up the Atlantic coast as Virginia! Generally found in shallow, grassy coastal waters, seatrout can grow fairly large. The World Record reached an astonishing 17.7 lbs. Speckled trout begin to spawn along the Texas coast in April and will continue through September. The peak spawning times are when the water temps are between 77-82 degrees around a Full Moon.
While Spotted Trout reach sexual maturity at about 1 year old, they only lay around 100,000 eggs for the first few spawning cycles. As they grow older and larger, the number of eggs a female can lay grows dramatically, with fish over 20 inches laying upwards of ONE MILLION eggs! The Largest females can spawn nearly 10 Million Eggs over a 5 day spawning cycle!
It takes a Trout 4 years to grow large enough to meet the minimal size limit to keep in Texas (15 inches). Although they are exceptionally adapted to their environments, temperature tolerances are a known weakness of the species. Trout become lethargic as water temperatures drop and begin to die in temps below 44 degrees.
How many did we lose?
Getting an accurate count of the fish kill caused by “Snomageddon” has been attempted by a few studies. According to TPWD, there was an estimated 3.8 Million fish killed during the freeze While the majority (91%) were none gamefish, experts estimate that spotted trout account for almost half (48%) of that remain 9% of fish killed.
How you can help
As an angler and sportsman it falls on us to do our part for the Trout populations in Texas. So while you’re out enjoying our fisheries, remember to keep them intact by fishing for the future. When fishing this year, keep in mind the devastating toll our winter kill had on the fish populations. Handle your fish with care, release anything you do not plan on eating immediately and try to target other species for table fare when you can. Remember that the larger the trout, the more of a resource it is for our future fishery. Keeping that one 20 inch fish in the equivalent of keeping 8-10 minimal length slot trout! Release the big females and help ensure a plentiful trout population in years to come!
