‘A great thing’: Spotted seatrout tournament once again successful in conservation efforts

Editor’s note: This story is a sidebar to the Outdoors column that published Dec. 12.

From the start, Capt. Dan Connolly’s late-autumn trout tournament has been all about hosting a quality tournament, yet protecting large spotted seatrout, the prolific female spawners also known as gator trout.

The 5th annual Speckled Studs Trout Tournament held last Saturday continued the tradition of an all-release format — all trout weighed in had to survive to release in order to count in the event.

“All the fish swam away alive again, which is always good,” said Connolly. “Every fish that hits the scale has got to swim away.”

Dave Fladd of Eye Strike Fishing, a Charleston-based fishing products outfit, fished in the tournament, finishing eighth with a two-fish aggregate of 5.44 pounds.

The all-release format fits right in with an initiative — Release Over 20” — between Eye Strike Fishing and Coastal Conservation Association (CCA). The partners are pushing for anglers in the Carolinas to release spotted seatrout measuring over 20 inches.

With fishing pressure on the species at an all-time high especially in the autumn months, releasing the large, prolific-spawning female trout makes more sense than ever.

“I think (the Release Over 20”) is a great thing,” said Connolly. “I think 20 inches is a really good mark, maybe a little low. The fact is they’re trying to promote the idea of people creating their own personal limit, saying ‘Let’s let those big spawning fish go.’

“We’ve got plenty of 16-18 inch fish. It’s probably something the state should put it in writing, but if we’ll see that happens, who knows. We’re one of the few states that still has a 10-fish limit.”

Trout limits in South Carolina are much more liberal than most other states in the South Atlantic region.

Recreational anglers in the Palmetto State can harvest 10 spotted seatrout per day over the minimum size limit of 14 inches.

In North Carolina, the bag limit is more restrictive, with recreational anglers allowed to harvest four fish per day over the 14-inch minimum size limit.

In Virginia, recreational anglers are allowed to harvest five fish per day over 14 inches but only one larger than 24 inches.

Florida is divided into five management zones for spotted seatrout, with a slot limit of 15 to 19 inches state wide (one fish allowed over 19 inches) and a daily bag limit of either three or five fish per person.

Eye Strike Fishing is also involved in a project called Project ReSpeck, with a goal to raise $25,000 to purchase a spawning tank for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ Fort Johnson facility.

Spotted seatrout are commonly called speckled trout, and the idea is to raise up to 700,000 trout fry per year per tank to help replenish the population should a cold kill of the species occur.

For more information, visit www.projectrespeck.com.