White Trout

[Gottogo49]

Sand Trout or Silver Trout
Louisiana’s coastal waters are blessed with a myriad of fish species. In estuaries across the state, anglers catch many members of the drum or sciaenid family, such as red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout and what many call sand trout or white trout. There is a little bit of confusion when dealing with the latter two, since the terms are used interchangeably to describe sand trout, Cynoscion arenarius, and silver trout, Cynoscion nothus. Sand trout, Cynoscion arenarius, is also commonly called white trout and is frequently found throughout the Gulf from the slightly brackish upper reaches of estuaries out to waters of 300 feet. Deep Gulf waters are where the larger brood fish congregate to spawn. Anglers often find these spawning schools of 2- to 5-pound fish offshore at oil and gas platforms. Most of the fish found in inland waters are less than 1 pound. The easiest way to distinguish the sand trout from its cousin, the silver trout, is the sand trout will have a yellowish tint to its upper body and its fins are yellow.

The silver trout, Cynoscion nothus, is entirely silvery white with no yellow coloration on its upper body or fins. It is found throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico in estuaries as well as out to depths of 100 feet. Both species can be found in Louisiana’s inland bays and lakes, and they are commonly taken by anglers along with spotted seatrout. Generally, the sand trout and silver trout will inhabit deeper waters such as ship channels, turn basins or deep holes. They both feed heavily on shrimp and small fish. Whether you call them sand trout, silver trout or white trout, they both make good table fare. However, extra care is needed when handling these fish in the field and during processing. They have a very delicate flesh and gets soft quickly when not iced properly. So, the recommendation is to ice the fish as soon as you catch them and
clean them as soon as you can, keeping the fillets on ice or in a refrigerator until ready to cook. Freezing is a last resort for these fish as they tend to get mushy upon thawing.
- Kevin A. Savoie Louisiana Fisheries - Lagniappe Dec 2010

[longcast]

Good post. Thanks gottogo49

[Montauk17]

Cool post....I never caught a silver trout before,several whites with the yellow tail and fins.

[Hopedale Hustler]

U prolly just didn't realize you caught one before...

[Jedi Lure Tricks]

great post! thanks for the info and tips! cant have too much of either of those!

[LaAngler]

the silvers or "gulf" trout are caught by the hundreds at the beach platforms sometimes

[Ray]

I went to high school with Kevin Savoie.

[Garfish]

Good info. I'm know I've caught plenty of them in the past esp. in late summer and early fall in the surf. Using double yellow and white Speck Rigs or double H&H Sparkle Beetles. I can remember cleaning numerous ice chests full of them around Labor Day weekends of the past. Some of my fishin buddies didn't want me to keep them cause they only wanted specks, but at the end of the day when they hit the grease, no one could tell which was which.

[Seeing Spots]

I just keep a stencil in my tackle box. Put a few black dots and whamo, instant speck! Cooked a bunch for some friends. One buddy in particular claimed he didn't eat them and he could tell the difference. I told him that I would give him a taste test. I put sandies in both plates. He tried both and said very convincingly, "Oh, that's a speck!" I said, "Man you are good!" Didn't tell him for along time.

[Duck Butter]

Thats a good read. We were night fishing in about 250 feet of water for grouper and we were catching white trout ON THE BOTTOM! Some trophies too, I couldn't believe it.

[eman]

"However, extra care is needed when handling these fish in the field and during processing. They have a very delicate flesh and gets soft quickly when not iced properly. So, the recommendation is to ice the fish as soon as you catch them and
clean them as soon as you can, keeping the fillets on ice or in a refrigerator until ready to cook." If you make a slurry of ice and salt water and put your whites and sandies in this as soon as you take them off the hook they will cook up just like specks and wont get mushy.