It wasn’t that long ago that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries implemented new regulations for speckled trout. These reduced size and bag limits were said to be aimed at reducing the harvest of female trout by approximately 19.1 percent annually in an effort to rebuild the spawning stock biomass to sustainable levels within five to six years.
Fast forward 17 months: Anglers across Southeast Louisiana have seen a dramatic increase in not only the number of speckled trout coming over their gunwales but also the size of these fish.
Jared Stockstill of Baton Rouge has a track record of fishing in one specific area, so he can attest to the increase in the size of speckled trout being caught. Stockstill fishes the eastern side of the Mississippi River from Hopedale to Chalmette. He’s been targeting big speckled trout for over a decade and said he likes what he’s been seeing the last two years. 2023 and 2024 were both exceptional years for big speckled trout.
“When I used to catch a limit of 25 specks, I would have a few of them in the 18- to 20-inch range,” he said. “Over the last couple of years, I noticed trout over 20 inches becoming more common. Trips went from a 20-inch trout every now and then to seven or eight over 20 inches as a common occurrence.”…