Silver Trout

The silver trout (Cynoscion nothus) is a wonderful bait for most species of gamefish. I love to use them primarily for king mackerel and barracuda, but they are great bottom fish bait as well. Like most of the fish in this series, silver trout are at the lower end of the food chain and so make good bait for nearly anything in the Gulf of Mexico. Silvers are easy to catch on hook and line close to shore and are a popular food fish during winter. They are also caught frequently in the cast net - usually when you think you are casting on pinfish. They live in sandy or muddy bottom, but I frequently catch them close to rocky bottom. According to the biologists, silvers are a very close relative to the sand sea trout. They are apparently easy to tell apart if you look at the tongue or count the rays in the anal fin, but it doesn’t matter to me - either one is great bait.

Capt. Charlie