Sand Seatrout fishing in Florida

Sand seatrout, better known as white trout, are the pale, unspotted cousins of the speckled trout and are mainly a Gulf fish, schooling off the Panhandle and Big Bend piers, in deeper bay channels and around bridges from Pensacola to Tampa Bay. They come in bunches through spring and fall and bite best after dark under pier and bridge lights on a moving, rising tide, though schools also feed in daylight in deeper, murkier water. Fish a double-drop bottom rig with size 1–1/0 hooks and 1–2 oz of lead, or cast a small jighead or bucktail and bounce it back along the bottom. Shrimp, live or dead, is the top bait, with squid and small strips of cut fish close behind. Light tackle with 10 lb line suits them well. They have soft mouths, so play them gently and lift them onto the pier with a drop net if they are large. Good eating when kept cold.