Florida Speckled Sea Trout by Ed Valitutto

Posted on February 7, 2019 by VHFC

For the second year, my wife Pat and I are down in warm Cape Coral in sunny southwest Florida. We arrived January 3rd and will depart on 28 February. As nice as everything is here, the fishing is still recovering from the effects of the red tide that plagued the west coast of Florida this year with one of the worst outbreaks. The bloom lasted from summer through late fall before totally disappearing. Despite the beautiful water and abundance of dolphins and manatees throughout the bay, the fish are arriving later than usual.
Fortunately one speckled trout arrived and took my shrimp fished off a pier on a bobber. It measured almost 19 inches and was delicious!

Posted in Member Reports

Membership Form

Fishing Facts

Of the fifty United States, thirty-eight have a striped-bass record. New Jersey has the largest striped-bass record—a 78-pound 8·ounce whopper that was caught in 1982. The state with the smallest striped-bass record is Iowa. That landlocked striper weighed only 9 pounds 4 ounces and was caught in 1983.

There’s something fishy about beer these days. Fish Tail Ale is popular as ever, and New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery is one of the state’s largest specialty breweries. There’s also Washington’s Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, Florida’s Land Shark beer, Delaware’s Dogfish Head beer, and two versions of Stingray beer—a lighter version from the Cayman Islands and a dark beer from Canada.

The triangle fly is probably the most unusual of saltwater flies. It’s one of the few, if not only, flies tied to a treble hook. It’s also barely a fly at all, because hardly any material is used. It is complete after tying the two straw pearl twinkle flashes and the tiny tuft of natural squirrel, leaving an entire hook fully exposed. Incredibly this barebacked treble fly is a knockout when it comes to sea trout.