1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

This area is for general discussions about fishing, rigging, baits, etc.
Image

Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels

Post Reply
slow motion
Posts: 103
Joined: December 15th, 2019, 10:49 am

1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by slow motion »

Put in at the park Saturday afternoon. Fished several spots that have produced in the past. Soft plastics, twitch bait, and shrimp. No love from the fishes. Headed out to the 98 bridge and cast around the pilings. By then I had downsized to a 2-1/2 inch gulp minnow. Caught a few 5 or 6 inch baitfish. Not sure what they're called. Silver with yellow fins. Surprised they could get a 3/0 circle hook in their mouth. Not much action but it was good to be on the water. First time out this year.
User avatar
bman
Moderator
Posts: 4800
Joined: December 4th, 2005, 9:26 am
Location: Tallahassee
Contact:

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by bman »

sp.jpg
sp.jpg (54.96 KiB) Viewed 2594 times
Look like that? Silver perch or as my dad called them sugar trout.
small hand sized. mild - almost no fish flavor.
Barry Bevis, Realtor and Owner of BigBendFishing.net
I liked it so much, I bought the company ;-)

http://www.bevisrealty.com
Image
TEAM "Duck Season!"
slow motion
Posts: 103
Joined: December 15th, 2019, 10:49 am

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by slow motion »

Yes sir. That's it. Thanks. Also I misspelled Ochlocknee in the title. Sorry folks.
Greenbone
Site Sponsor
Posts: 424
Joined: January 3rd, 2002, 8:00 pm
Location: Carrabelle

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by Greenbone »

They make for good live bait, I was told by a friend.
ropeman
Posts: 399
Joined: July 23rd, 2007, 1:24 am

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by ropeman »

I caught a few of those on the St Marks river weekend before last. They are called Sand Seatrout on the Fish Rules app. Bag limit is 100 lbs! I was told they are good to eat if you are hungry. :)
EddieJoe
Posts: 861
Joined: December 11th, 2001, 8:00 pm

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by EddieJoe »

Nope, that isn’t a silver or sand trout. It’s commonly called silver perch, or Bairdiella chrysoura, the scientific name.
Pesky little buggers that love a shrimp under cork in winter creeks where larger trout also feed.

EJ
ropeman
Posts: 399
Joined: July 23rd, 2007, 1:24 am

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by ropeman »

I found them on The fish rules app called sand seatrout but I heard they go by multiple names. I figured if they were there some bigger fish should be around to eat them!
Redbelly
Site Sponsor
Posts: 2905
Joined: June 20th, 2004, 10:05 am
Location: Thomasville

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by Redbelly »

I've always called them sand trout
Work 2 fish 4 days

1988 vintage 1436 Fisher Jon
1992 vintage 15 hp Merc
STMU
Posts: 148
Joined: October 4th, 2017, 5:56 am

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by STMU »

EddieJoe wrote: February 3rd, 2021, 6:44 pm Nope, that isn’t a silver or sand trout. It’s commonly called silver perch, or Bairdiella chrysoura, the scientific name.
Pesky little buggers that love a shrimp under cork in winter creeks where larger trout also feed.
That's correct, it's Bairdiella chrysoura, or Silver Perch. Both Silver Perch and Sand Trout (Cynoscion arenarius) are in the drum family and easily mixed up. Silver Perch have a terminal mouth, where the sand trouts lower jaw extends/projects slightly. Anal fin soft rays and Dorsal soft rays are also different, and Bman's picture shows those pretty well. Silver Perch have 8-10 anal soft rays (I count 9 on the image), and 19-23 Dorsal soft rays (I count about 21). Sand trout are 10-12 and 25-29, respectively.

Silver perch max at about 11 inches where Sand trout can also get way bigger (up to 24"). If it's over 10" or 11", you've probably got a sand trout. It's harder to tell on Bmans photo because the mouth is open, but the lower jaw protrusion is fairly noticeable (if you know to look).

They both eat well when fried I think! Just need to catch a bunch more silver trout. Fortunately, they often school in big groups, especially during the summer.
slow motion
Posts: 103
Joined: December 15th, 2019, 10:49 am

Re: 1/30 Ochlocknee River and Bay

Post by slow motion »

Always plenty to learn here. Thanks for the information folks.
Post Reply