Friday, November 13, 2009
Trout action hot on coast
LEE TOLLIVER
The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot Virginia Beach's Marte Baro with his 5-pound, 7-ounce speckled trout caught Tuesday.
Mark Taylor is outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times.
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VIRGINIA BEACH -- Marte Baro looked down at the catch lying on his driveway.
A handful of speckled trout glistened in the late afternoon light, but there was no shine that could compare to the one on Baro's face.
The Suffolk firefighter who lives in Virginia Beach had caught his biggest Rudee Inlet speckled trout. While the others all were respectable trout, the 5-pound, 7-ounce catch he was posing with was his second Rudee Inlet citation-winning trout in 20 years of fishing in the popular Oceanfront waterway.
His previous biggie was a 5-pounder.
"Just barely," he said, smiling. "This is awesome. I couldn't be happier."
Baro is a speckled trout diehard. He'd rather catch a cold than something other than a speck.
His shift work as a fireman affords him a decent amount of time to ply Rudee's waters. On any given day, no matter what the conditions, Baro can be seen in his weathered Tracker boat tossing jigs or plugs for all he's worth.
Nothing makes him happier than seeing that polka-dotted splash on the surface when he's hooked up with a trout.
In these parts, at this time of year, he's not alone.
Fall speckled trout action is in full swing in southern Chesapeake Bay waters. This also is a great time of year for specks along the coastal Outer Banks and North Carolina sounds.
Speckled trout are revered by many anglers for a lot of reasons.
Lately -- as in the past couple of years -- abundance has been a big reason.
"For whatever reason, and I don't know what that reason is, we've had a fantastic fishery the past few years," said Lewis Gillingham, director of the state-sponsored Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament -- a program that issues awards for fish meeting minimum weight or length requirements for most species.
"The last couple of years have been phenomenal."
While countless numbers of fish weighing less than 5 pounds are caught each year, Virginia's fishery has earned a reputation for producing an outstanding number of trophy fish.
Last year produced a state tournament record 744 specks that met the 5-pound requirement for an award citation. The heavyweight was a 13-9 caught by Michael Whittaker of Chesapeake. Anglers registered 309 released fish that measured at least 24 inches.
So far this year, 385 weighed fish have won awards, while 128 released fish have scored plaques.
This year's leader again is Whittaker, for his 13-14 giant.
Both of Whittaker's fish were caught near the Hot Ditch area of the Elizabeth River -- an area that annually produces most of the double-digit sized fish.
The number topping 8, 9, 10, 11 -- even 12 -- pounds that come from the Elizabeth River has made the area a destination fishery.
"On the citation forms, we're seeing fish caught out of there by people coming from North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and other states," Gillingham said. "It truly is a trophy fishery that is attracting anglers from outside the area. It's not what the striper fishery is in that regard, but it's pretty much taken over second place."
Speckled trout also are found in the area's inlets and creek systems, and sometimes from around the three bridge-tunnel spans.
Anglers enjoy speckled trout for the relative ease in catching them. They can catch trout by casting or trolling jigs and plugs. Some opt to use live bait either under floats or on the bottom.
In areas know for holding good numbers of fish, the biggest obstacles often are being there when the bite is on and finding what color the fish are liking that day.
Speckled trout are good table fare. While the meat is darker than puppy drum or striper, it still has a wonderful taste when broiled or cooked on the grill.
And catching them makes guys like Baro pretty darned happy.
"I'm still shaking," he said almost 30 minutes after catching his trophy.
"I fish a lot for a lot of things, but there isn't anything that gets me as jacked up as a speckled trout."
