Spotted Seatrout — Sebastian, Florida

Spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), often called speckled trout, are a seagrass fish of the Indian River Lagoon and a regular catch around Sebastian Inlet. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes them as dark gray or green above, fading to a silvery belly, with black spots on the back that extend onto the dorsal fins and tail and a pair of large canine teeth at the tip of the upper jaw. They live over sand bottoms and seagrass beds, spawn inshore from March through November, and move into deeper, still water in colder months. FWC lists the Florida state record, 17 pounds 7 ounces, as caught near Ft. Pierce, south of Sebastian along the Indian River Lagoon.

Two facts frame the species at Sebastian in 2026. First, the Indian River Lagoon region now has a two-fish bag, no over-slot fish and a two-month closed season, rules adopted by FWC in February 2026 and in force since April 1, 2026. Second, FWC's 2025 Indian River Lagoon seatrout annual review describes a lagoon population under pressure, with fewer young fish since 1996 and the most negative angler ratings of any region in the state.

Under the FWC regulations in effect in October 2026, the Indian River Lagoon region is closed to recreational seatrout harvest from November 1 through December 31 and open from January 1 through October 31. The slot is 15 to 19 inches total length, no fish larger than 19 inches may be kept, and the bag limit is two fish per person per day. The region runs from a line in Volusia County south to the Martin-Palm Beach county line, so the lagoon off Sebastian, Wabasso and Vero Beach lies inside it. For-hire captains and crew may not keep a bag limit, fish must stay whole until landed, and gear is limited to hook and line or cast net.

These rules are new. In a February 4, 2026 release, FWC approved nine seatrout management regions, with regulations taking effect April 1, 2026. For the Indian River Lagoon, the release lists a two-fish bag, a 15 to 19 inch slot and no over-slot allowance, compared with three fish per person and one over-slot fish in the Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Southwest and Southeast regions. Commercial harvest in the Indian River Lagoon region is open May 1 through September 30, with a 15 to 24 inch slot.

Sources written before the change describe different limits. The Sebastian Inlet District's report for the week of January 26, 2026 told readers that two seatrout could be kept, 15 to 19 inches, and that one of the two could be over the 19 inch maximum. That matched the rule then in force; since April 1, 2026, FWC lists no over-slot allowance in the Indian River Lagoon region, and the November and December closure is also new for the lagoon around Sebastian.

Sebastian Inlet District fishing reports mention seatrout most often in the cooler months, when FWC's profile says the fish seek deeper, still water. In the week of January 26, 2026, the District's report described seatrout on live shrimp that would bite on either the incoming or outgoing tide once located, with one outing producing fish from 17 to 22 inches, most of them over the slot. In the week of March 2, 2026, the high tide along the wall and the beach pocket area at Sebastian Inlet produced some nice seatrout on live shrimp and finger mullet.

Larger fish turn up as well. The District's report for the week of March 3, 2025 featured a 26-inch spotted seatrout caught at the south jetty on live shrimp during the incoming tide and released. In the week of December 30, 2024, boaters drifting the mangroves near Sebastian Inlet were getting a few flounder, small snook and spotted sea trout.

Inside the lagoon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists sea trout among the sportfish in the open water areas of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, north of Sebastian, and notes boat launch facilities in Sebastian, at the Wabasso Causeway and at Sebastian Inlet State Park. FWC's profile ties seatrout to seagrass, describing live shrimp or small pinfish drifted over grass beds as a common way the fish are taken, and notes that seatrout are delicate, so unwanted or illegal fish need to be returned to the water promptly, a point that matters in a region where every fish over 19 inches goes back.

FWC's 2025 annual review for the Indian River Lagoon region, the area that includes Sebastian, draws on the agency's Fishery Independent Monitoring Program, federal recreational survey data and angler surveys. It reports that young-of-year seatrout, fish under a year old and 4 inches or less, have declined since 1996. In the northern Indian River Lagoon, seatrout 8 inches or longer have declined since 2010 and are now at levels similar to 1997 to 2009.

Anglers in the Indian River Lagoon region rate the fishery poorly. In FWC's 2025 Spotted Seatrout Angler Satisfaction Survey, 41 percent of recreational anglers and 43 percent of for-hire guides in the region called their fishing experience poor or very poor, which the review identifies as the most negative perception of the fishery in any region of the state. Recreational effort has generally fallen since 2005, and recent effort and landings are the lowest since data collection began in 1997.

The review places those local trends inside a healthier statewide picture. FWC reports that Florida's Atlantic stock of spotted seatrout, which includes the fish of the Indian River Lagoon, is exceeding the 35 percent spawning potential ratio management goal. The review also notes that red tide is uncommon in the Indian River Lagoon region, while other harmful algal blooms are common there and can harm water quality and seagrass habitat.

Seagrass is the habitat thread in every FWC description of seatrout in the Indian River Lagoon. The 2025 review reports that seagrass in the south Indian River Lagoon monitoring zone in 2023 was 45.8 percent below its 1943 extent, and that seagrass in the north Indian River Lagoon was 69.9 percent below 1943 levels, although it has increased since 2021, especially in Mosquito Lagoon. Stakeholders continue to name habitat loss and water quality as the main concerns for the fishery in the Indian River Lagoon region.

Habitat restoration was on the agenda when FWC held its Seatrout Symposium in August 2025: the program included a presentation on habitat restoration initiatives by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program. Near Sebastian Inlet, the Sebastian Inlet District has monitored seagrass in the inlet flood shoals since a 2007 channel realignment, continuing beyond its five-year permit requirement, and reports that the beds near the inlet held up rather well through the 2011 algal blooms that affected much of the Indian River Lagoon. The District's 2023 series also notes that the marine biologist behind its fish profiles has published on the reproductive habits of spotted seatrout, among other Indian River Lagoon species.