WHERE TO WADE-FISH
Luckily for shorebound anglers, Mississippi’s coastline offers wade-fishermen many miles of sandy beach studded with piers, harbors, and jetties. From the Biloxi Lighthouse heading west, any of the areas around longer piers stretching out toward Mississippi Sound are prime sites to wade. Although Hurricane Katrina ravaged most of their decking, the pilings are still there to lure plenty of speck-attracting baitfish.

As for harbors, the west side of the Broadwater Marina, Long Beach Small Craft Harbor, and Pass Christian Small Craft Harbor all can be productive at times. The shallow cove area just to the west of the Gulfport Harbor near Moses Pier holds specks too.

The beaches in Waveland offer excellent speck haunts, while back to the east in Ocean Springs, near the mouth of Davis Bayou, some prime wading can be found.

No matter where you fish be sure to get to the beach extremely early when a rising tide occurs in the morning. Those first few cooler hours in the morning can often make or break catching a few specks, and fish chase bait closer to the beach on the incoming tide. Excellent evening outings may occur also, but you have to wade farther out into deeper water.

For anglers with access to a boat, getting out to the barrier islands can offer miles and miles of additional surf-lined gullies, tidal washes, current swept points, and vast stretches of grass beds. In these areas look for dark water, which is a sign of the presences of drop offs, gullies, bottom structure or grassbeds. Around the isles specks have a tendency to lurk in the dark areas. A pair of polarized sunglasses can cut through surface glare to make spotting color variations easier -- or you may even see prowling speckled trout.

No matter what area you’re fishing, always be looking for gulls working the surface, concentrations of nervous baitfish, and the oily sheens known as “fish slicks,” which result from trout regurgitating their stomach contents -- all indicators that can lead you to a school of hungry speckled trout.

An additional point about slicks: Have your nose attuned to the action as well! Alert anglers often detect a watermelon or menhaden aroma quite soon after the fish regurgitate, and even before the associated slick appears on the surface. At times you can actually track the movement of a school of feeding trout by following the slicks.