World record speckled trout
The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record speckled trout (
Cynoscion nebulosus
) that bests a fish that held the title for more than 60 years.
Todd Spangler, of Merritt, caught the 12-pound, 8-ounce fish in the lower Neuse River in Pamlico County on Feb 9. The previous state record speckled trout weighed 12 pounds, 4 ounces and was caught off Wrightsville Beach in 1961.
The International Game Fish Association All Tackle World Record spotted seatrout stands at 17 pounds, 7 ounces, and was caught in 1995 off Ft. Pierce Fla.
Spangler’s fish measured 33.5 inches total length (from the tip of the snout to the tip of the compressed tail) and had an 18-inch girth.
He caught it with a Daiwa Procyon reel and custom-built spinning rod. He used a Z-Man jerk shad soft plastic bait with a 20-pound braid.
For more information on state record fish, go to the division’s State Saltwater Records webpage or contact the North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Tournament staff at saltwater.citations@ncdenr.gov.
Click here to download photos of Spangler’s fish.
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The juvenile menhaden are clearing out of the North Carolina estuaries with winter’s approach. Cathy Jones, of Belhaven, catches them with a castnet for bait. On November 20, she was down to one of the last of the season — and she made it count.
“I saw a swirl, because the [bait] had come to the surface, and I heard the popping sound you hear when the fish grabs the bait,” she recalled. The fight was on, and Cathy battled the behemoth trout on an Ugly Stik fitted with a Daiwa spinner spooled with 20-pound test monofilament. Fifteen minutes later Cathy reached down and hoisted a 33.5-inch, 11-pound, 3-ounce speckled trout onto the dock.
The big speck was close to the North Carolina state record of 12 pounds, 8 ounces, set just this year by Todd Spangler (there’s no women’s division in the state records). It was certified at Eastside Bait and Tackle in nearby Washington, and Cathy has submitted it to the International Game Fish Association for record consideration.
New Record Pending
Speckled trout are a favorite in the Gulf and Atlantic coast states, and they’re usually smaller than Cathy’s catch. She herself is used to catching them in the 18-25-inch range. The current w
By: Chase Cornell
There is a picture that still hangs in my hallway that my father took nearly 30 years ago. I am in diapers, sitting on his tackle box, with a gator trout hanging from a stringer just behind me. When speckled sea trout reach trophy size, they become gator trout. The Florida record speckled sea trout is 17.7-pounds and was captured in Fort Pierce. The Indian River Lagoon is without question the epicenter of trophy class gator trout in the entire country.
Speckled trout are ambush feeders and can be caught on a myriad of live and artificial baits by shore anglers, wade fishing, or from a boat. Anglers looking to target big trout on live bait should consider offerings such as hand-picked shrimp, large finger mullet, small silver mullet, or a large pilchard. These baits can be fished free lined, under a popping cork or even with a split shot, jig head or small egg weight. A long piece of 30-pound test fluorocarbon and a 1/0-3/0 live bait hook will do the trick. Try fishing these types of baits on deep mangrove shorelines or around resident sea walls and docks. During the cooler months, deep water is a key ingredient for gator trout. Patience and a slow
A 10-pound, 10-ounce spotted seatrout was recently certified as a new IGFA men’s 20-lb. tippet class world record for the species. The gator trout was caught on the fly by Dr. Jay Wright on March 23, 2023, in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Wright was fishing with guide Matt Chipperfield of Chip’s Coastal Charters when his big girl struck a baitfish pattern. The fish was documented and weighed on IGFA certified scales to fill the world record category, which was previously vacant.
In an Instagram post, Chipperfield said he and Wright had been pursuing the record fish for five years and gave the measurements for the huge fly-caught trout. It measured 30 inches in length and 17 inches in girth. After taking measurements, the big breeder female was carefully released.
“Catching a speckled trout of this size is special on any tackle. But doing this on fly… it’s HARD,” wrote Chipperfield. “It requires discipline, patience and skill. Guiding “The Doc” to this fish is a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It’s a hell of a fish caught by one of the baddest anglers to walk this earth.”
Wright is no stranger to the record books. He holds several IGFA fly tackle world recor