BigBendFishing.Net

I love looking at them bigguns almost as much as trying to catch them.....

The elusive 30" trout.................

note the lure.

When is NFGFC planning it's first TX tournament?

Any guesses as to the age of this fish?

Ron Wilson wrote:Any guesses as to the age of this fish?

I think the life span of a trout is around seven years...Not sure how old that one would be...I heard the Texas trout and the Indian River/Mosquito Lagoon area trout have the same type genes....Good habitat and plenty of bait and you get trout like that....I want go try for one over there one day

Seven years. Always wondered.

I've missed fishing the Indian River; haven't since I joined the Marine Corps.....may be time for a trip back. What a great fishery, though. Took a lot of things for granted back then. Wished I would have taken the time to learn more when I was younger.

Ron Wilson wrote:Seven years. Always wondered.

I was wrong...I did a search and it said 12 years

Young spotted seatrout grow rapidly, reaching 8 inches by their first birthday and over 12 inches by age 2. Spotted seatrout can live to over 12 years of age. Male trout grow slower and don't live as long as females. Males don't reach 14 inches long until 3 or 4 years old. Few males live over 5, so virtually all spotted seatrout 5 pounds and larger are females.

http://www.rodnreel.com/gulffish/gulffi ... &FishID=77

Ron Wilson wrote:I've missed fishing the Indian River; haven't since I joined the Marine Corps.....may be time for a trip back. What a great fishery, though. Took a lot of things for granted back then. Wished I would have taken the time to learn more when I was younger.

I grew up fishing the Indian River and it is choked with big trout. I was never able to break the 10lb threshold but I caught quite a few like this:



You probably have to break 10lbs in that fishery to qualify as a Gator. I saw a 12lb fish come out of Sebastian Inlet that was absolutely mind boggling . I'm pretty confident we won't see a 12lb fish in our neck of the woods but I suspect a 10lb'er is somewhere out there.

Nole. . . my wife is from Vero and I've fished the IR a little myself. Very nice area, caught some snook there also.

I've also had a few interesting experiences going into and out of Sebastion Inlet, that can be a tricky pass under the right/wrong conditions.
D

Old Dog wrote: I've also had a few interesting experiences going into and out of Sebastion Inlet, that can be a tricky pass under the right/wrong conditions.
D

I unfortunately know that all too well. I read somewhere that it is among the five worst on the eastern seaboard.

Those "gator" trout are out there waiting to be caught. I believe the problem seems to be we let our boats get between us and the fish.... I am getting some crazy idea of getting deep into the rock garden and then anchoring down, climbing out of the boat and fishing the skinnies > 2-3' on foot using a top-water plug or just a jig.... There's bound to be some biguns in the skinnies during the right time of year...

Chalk wrote:

Ron Wilson wrote:Any guesses as to the age of this fish?

...I heard the Texas trout and the Indian River/Mosquito Lagoon area trout have the same type genes....

"Type" genes, yeah, but not related to size. They don't mix & "can't" get selected for size traits.

Chalk wrote:...Good habitat and plenty of bait and you get trout like that...

That is the deal.

Chalk wrote:...I want go try for one over there one day

Yes Yes Yes

Littoral wrote:"Type" genes, yeah, but not related to size. They don't mix & "can't" get selected for size traits.

Meaning they are one in the same, per Keith at Texas Tackle there was a hard freeze in the 70's or 80's in Texas, which is mainly miles and miles of shallow flats...This hard freeze killed alot of fish and part of their restocking program utilized strains of speckled trout from Mosquito Lagoon and various other areas noted for large trout.

Restocking of speckled trout is very big in Texas, redfish as well...I wish Florida would do more

Chalk wrote:Meaning they are one in the same, per Keith at Texas Tackle there was a hard freeze in the 70's or 80's in Texas, which is mainly miles and miles of shallow flats...This hard freeze killed alot of fish and part of their restocking program utilized strains of speckled trout from Mosquito Lagoon and various other areas noted for large trout.

Thanks, I didn't know that. The habitat issue still can't be over emphasized.
A question, how much difference would it make if we heavily stocked the Big Bend with Mosquito Lagoon trout?