BigBendFishing.Net

Thanks Jumptrout for the invite. I have another Christmas party, but maybe another meeting. I have to admit i know nothing of fishing this area and hardly know where to go after I put the boat in, so i don't have much to contribute. Thanks for the hospitality.
Christine

Looks like a White Trout to me too. Especially since the Howell Tackle Show just show cased them, I am pretty sure. We have caught several in the Suwanee area.

I can't tell much for sure from that pic but I'm skeptical about a white that big, assuming that white & sand are the same thing. Last week I caught a big trout with almost no spots.

I used to be a fisheries biologist for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, so I should know the answer to this. I don't want to ID from a photo, but here's what I know. A person here in the Gulf is likely to catch three species of trout:
1) Speckled trout which we all know.
2) Silver seatrout (Cynoscion nothus) -- these are little guys are almost always less than 15". I've got into schools and just caught dozens in Alabama, all about 10". All silver (NO YELLOW).
3) Sand seatrout (Cynoscion arenarius) -- these get a little bigger (1 to 6 lbs). If it has any YELLOWISH anywhere like fins or on top it's a Sand seatrout. When they get over 15" they get a lavender cast on their heads and top. These dudes are the ones that eat most of the shrimp in the Gulf.

Most fisherman can't easily tell the difference between the silver and sand, so they call them both "white trout". There are technical ways described above by someone else, but I can't remember those. For me, silver it's a silver trout. Any yellowish, sand trout.

I prefer to call the three species: breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Hope this helps.

The locally known "white trout" is shaped and colored the same as the speckled trout minus the speckles. It also can be distinguished by the same yellow mouth as the speckled trout.
They are abundant from Lanark to Apalachicola. They are usually found in slightly deeper water than the local speckled trout. This time of year they are frequently caught measuring in excess of 20 inches.
In October and beginning of November this year they were gorging on shrimp between Apalach and St. George. Most were 2-3 pounds.
When hooked, ounce for ounce and pound for pound, they fight harder than speckled trout.

Jumptrout51 wrote:There is a no-limit status on the "white trout". No size, No quantity. Keep all you want.

Jumptrout brings up a practical point. The "weakfish" (Cynoscion regalis) listed in the fishing regs is a totally different species on the Atlantic side, and there is no reason to expect one of those northwest of the Keys in the Gulf. So keep as many of the trout without spots as your conscience permits. (Standard disclaimer: Take your attorney on all fishing trips to ensure regulatory compliance )

I have always known them to be weakfish. "White trout" seems to be a genaric term used for weakfish and sand trout, which are two completely different species. Weakfish get pretty good sized and sometimes get really thick in certain places in certain times of the year. Sand trout only get about 8-10" and dont have the big front teeth.