Speckled trout · Perdido Key
On the Key, the Old River grass and dock lights carry the trout year: topwater over the grass at gray light in spring, shrimp under the lights on summer nights, and fish staging off the pass edges when the water cools.
On the Key, the Old River grass and dock lights carry the trout year: topwater over the grass at gray light in spring, shrimp under the lights on summer nights, and fish staging off the pass edges when the water cools. The sound-side flats fish long after the Gulf side gets crowded.
Trout are the timing fish: first two hours of light, first hour of moving tide. Spring puts the big females shallow at dawn, summer splits the day into a dawn bite and a night bite around lights, and fall regroups fish over deeper grass and shell.
Late April through June for the biggest fish in shallow water, October–November for numbers, and the first two hours of daylight almost any warm month. Check the live Perdido Key bite score before you commit a morning.
Florida's western Panhandle closes trout harvest during February (catch-and-release still allowed); Alabama stays open year-round. Verify current rules before keeping fish.
Conditions decide more than tackle. The live dashboard scores each Perdido Key morning from NOAA tide swing, wind, and sky, with solunar windows and marine alerts, and Entertainer Bait & Tackle and Gray's Tackle carry live bait on the island approach.
Seasons and limits change. Verify with Florida FWC or Outdoor Alabama before keeping fish.