When I was a young man I first heard them called sugar trout. The reason I was told they were called that was when they were cooked they tasted sweet. I agreed with that then and I agree with that now.

Other names I have heard for silver trout include white trout, summer trout and sand trout.

The silver trout looks like a speckled trout without any spots and generally do not grow as big as their cousin speckled trout.

Good places to catch silvers are the channel leading into Port Manatee, right off the Williams Park boat ramp in the Alafia River, the Weedon Island power plant channel, Gandy boat ramp channel, Davis Island boat ramp channel and hard bottom off the Gulf beaches in 10-15 feet.

Silver trout will mark on your fish finder as a cloud from the bottom up. If you don’t have a fish finder try drifting and fan casting the area where mackerel birds dipping and diving. A good cluster of boats also usually indicate some silvers in the area. 

I like to use 1/8 or ¼ ounce tandem jigs tipped with a small piece of shrimp. When I see a fish mark on the bottom I drop my jigs straight down or just flip it away from the boat and jig it up about half way off the bottom. If I don’t get a hit I reel up and do it again.

There is no size or bag limit on silver trout. Most anglers only keep the bigger ones and what they can eat for a good meal.