By Jimmy Taomazinis
Happy New Year! We left off last month talking about specks so we are going to get right back into it. Specks, speckled perch, or crappie are a very popular freshwater fish to target all over the country. We have a targetable population of them in the river, but probably not as many as further south or in larger lakes around the state. Current, salinity, and lack of habitat play a large role in limiting their numbers in our area of the river, but area creeks see a seasonal push each year as they search for spawning areas.
If you’re looking for a fish to keep you on the water on the coldest days you’ve got your fish. Specks don’t seem to mind. I’ve caught them in water temperatures as cold as 46 degrees and ice on the boat. That’s not appealing to most, I know, but I just want to let you know that you can.
The most popular method for catching them is with live minnows. Using small slip floats allow you to target the specks at various depths. They are a schooling fish and they suspend at various depths, so you need to keep the bait where they are.
I also like to catch them on jigs and one of the best methods I’ve tried is using both jigs and minnows on the slip floats. The jigs allow you to cover different depths until you find the fish. Once you find where they are with the jig you can use the minnows and floats to keep baits where they need to be. If you are good with electronics on your boat you can find them that way too.
The creeks will have the highest concentration of fish, but average size will trend on the smaller side until the larger females show up to spawn. That can fall from February to March most years. I think the females wait out in the river somewhere before the water temperatures get right. You can catch them on docks, isolated holes, and structure out there. Keep in mind they don’t like current. In the creeks they like docks, lay downs, and holes. Deeper water is best unless they are spawning.
We’ve covered a lot but if you have any questions feel free to send me an email. The bite has been pretty good so get out there.
Tight lines.
Jimmy Tomazinis is a Jacksonville area native who has fished the St. Johns River his entire life. His passion for fish led him to study coastal biology at the University of North Florida. He has since participated in multiple fishery studies in Northeast Florida, continues to implement fish habitat and water quality improvement projects, fishes as much as he can, and has a monthly podcast called North Florida Fishing and Outdoors where the fishing conversation continues. Jimmy can be reached by email to mail@floridanewsline.com.
