Sea trout in the bay

[NONESUCH]

For the past 3 years i haven't seen a good catch of sea trout in the Bay, then i read sometime ago that whole baby croakers are the best bait for them i also notice the disappearance of baby croakers in the bay , i wonder the links between these 2 species, or maybe they taste like chicken breast to TROUT

[cygnus-x1]

That is something to think about. However the croaker population (in the bay that is) has been pretty strong the past few years. I haven't noticed or read anything about baby croakers and unless they have just decided not to make the trip up the bay, they are around somewhere or else the croaker population would have declined somewhat.

Whatever the reason we are on the down side of the trout cycle. And hopefully that is just what it is "a cycle" and that we will begin to see more and more trout as the years go by. Or maybe the trout were severly overfished in the late 70's / 80's when we hit the upside of the "cycle". I don't think the DNR and Fisheries were enforcing limits and laws as they do now. I remember people telling stories about the "nights under the lights" where they would hang flood lites out over the water and just wait and then they would just slay'em. Sounds like a good story but I bet when they meant slay them they meant taking WAY more than the creel limit.

I miss the trout too! I only caught a handful myself this year, most just barely legal (up to 16").