Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Bryan · Jan-07-25 4:04PM

Guess I'll break the ice in here.

Took off Friday to sneak in a trip to a Chesapeake tributary before this arctic blast shuts everything down for a while. Got a dozen trout including a 24", 26", 28", and 29.25". Only caught 1 under 20". All but 1 were jigging a Z Man Big Ballerz, with the last one on a drop shotted Panorama shad.

This one wasn't the biggest, but it was my favorite catch of the day. I tag several species for VIMS, and it so happens that I had tagged this speckled trout in June of last year when it was 19", about 35 miles from where I caught it on Friday. So cool to think I caught it on a grass flat last Summer and it went about its life avoiding every other angler only to find my hook again in it's Winter residence in a totally different river system.

Unfortunately this cold front is probably going to do a number on our resident speckled trout population. This will be my last speck trip for a while so I'm glad it was a memorable one.

drxfish · Jan-07-25 4:13PM

YES! The spec king! Awesome catches and excellent report. Hope the cold weather does not kill them all.

Ernie · Jan-07-25 4:51PM

An impressive day of fishing indeed! Way to go Bryan!

That's really cool about the tagged fish. Maybe they know where some warmer water is so they can hide form this arctic blast!

backtofuturetoyota · Jan-07-25 6:26PM

Dude, you never cease to provide to awesome outings!! Thanks for the first of the year!!!!

hookup · Jan-07-25 8:16PM

Fish tacos!

Mhen · Jan-09-25 12:25AM

You've got that speck bite dialed in across all seasons! Beautiful, fat, healthy fish and congrats on braving the cold to get after them.

backtofuturetoyota · Jan-10-25 1:09PM

They look like beautiful fish worth eating too. Out of curiosity, are they good eating?

Bryan · Jan-10-25 2:51PM

backtofuturetoyota wrote:
They look like beautiful fish worth eating too. Out of curiosity, are they good eating?

Most people think so, but I don't. The meat is too soft for me. There are a lot of fish in the bay that I would rather eat so I tag and release all my specks.

Ernie · Jan-10-25 3:11PM

Bryan wrote:
Most people think so, but I don't. The meat is too soft for me. There are a lot of fish in the bay that I would rather eat so I tag and release all my specks.

I totally agree....let them swim away.

Ernie · Jan-23-25 1:05PM

Looks like NC closed speckled trout harvesting for a bit.

I didn't realize there was a commercial fishery for that species.

Bryan · Jan-23-25 1:58PM

Won't be surprised if VA closes our fishery too. They did that in 2015 after we had a really bad winter kill. This cold spell is going to wipe out the vast majority of our resident specks. Really sad because we had a lot of big fish in the bay this year.

drxfish · Jan-23-25 8:11PM

That is sad. Wish it would kill some of the blue cats.

Bryan · Jan-24-25 3:24PM

drxfish wrote:
That is sad. Wish it would kill some of the blue cats.

I hear you on that!

Ernie · Jan-26-25 4:21PM

Adding insult to injury...very sad. Looks like a repeat of a few year back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=deskt … Ks5WvKaSMY

Pacemaker Fishing Forum

#1 Jan-07-25 4:04PM

Specks 1/3/25

#2 Jan-07-25 4:13PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#3 Jan-07-25 4:51PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#4 Jan-07-25 6:26PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#5 Jan-07-25 8:16PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#6 Jan-09-25 12:25AM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#7 Jan-10-25 1:09PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#8 Jan-10-25 2:51PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

backtofuturetoyota wrote:

#9 Jan-10-25 3:11PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

Bryan wrote:

#10 Jan-23-25 1:05PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#11 Jan-23-25 1:58PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#12 Jan-23-25 8:11PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

#13 Jan-24-25 3:24PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

drxfish wrote:

#14 Jan-26-25 4:21PM

Re: Specks 1/3/25

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