Spotted seatrout fishing in The Florida Panhandle

In The Florida Panhandle, spotted seatrout peak April–June and September–November and are around year-round, spawning in May–June, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. April: Topwater at first light on the grass flats.

1. JanuaryAroundDeep bayou bends on the warmest afternoons. Regional closed month — check MyFWC.
2. FebruaryAroundSheepshead spawn stack up on the passes and reefs. Big sheepshead move to the pass jetties and nearshore reefs to spawn. Reds school in the bayous; sight-fish them on sunny afternoons.
3. MarchArrivingThe first pompano hit the beach; cobia start the run. Sand fleas and pompano jigs in the surf troughs; scan the beach from a tower for cobia riding the rays. Trout push back onto the flats.
4. AprilPeakTopwater at first light on the grass flats.
5. MaySpawningSpawning on the grass edges and pass mouths at dusk through summer.
6. JuneSpawningBeach tarpon, snapper on the reefs, trout before the heat. Tarpon cruise the beach at dawn; mangrove snapper are on every nearshore reef and wreck with live shrimp. Fish the flats before nine.
7. JulyAroundDawn or nothing: tarpon and jacks on the beach, snapper on structure. Beach tarpon at first light, snapper on the reefs and bridge pilings, tripletail on the crab-trap floats. The flats are a night fishery.
8. AugustAroundHottest water of the year — structure, shade and moving tide. Fish the shade lines under bridges and docks on the strongest tide; snapper and reds under the structure, trout only at dawn or after dark.
9. SeptemberPeakThe first bull reds in the pass; bait moves and everything follows. Big bull reds stack in Pensacola Pass and off the beaches on the fall bait run; trout come back to the flats as the water cools past 85.
10. OctoberPeakBack on the flats as the water drops past 80.
11. NovemberPeakSchooled on the grass edges through the 60s.
12. DecemberAroundWinter pattern: sheepshead, drum and trout in the deep bends. Slow down. Docks and pilings for sheepshead, deep bayou bends for trout and reds, live shrimp on the bottom for drum.

Deep bays behind long barrier islands — Pensacola, Choctawhatchee, St. Andrew, St. Joseph, Apalachicola — with grass flats on the bay side, bayous and creek mouths, and the passes cut through to the Gulf. Emerald water on the beach side; the surf is a real fishery here.

Fish Scouter charts 783 grass flat, 32 dock / pilings, 12 pass / inlet spots in the The Panhandle map area — the kinds spotted seatrout hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• PigfishFree-lined or under a cork on a 2/0 circle hook for gator trout; on the bottom for grouper.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader15–25 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#1–1/0
• Jig head1/8–1/4 oz
• Braid10–15 lb

Feeds in 54–86°F water, best at 62–78°F.

All about spotted seatrout · The Panhandle, the whole year