The Perfect Predator

Not everyone would put the Speckled Trout at the top of the list when describing the Perfect Predator. After what I observed on Friday night under the lights in the Colorado River, I would have to disagree.

The weather was cool and clear and I had some live mullet to offer up. Tracy was throwing the glow shad and the fishing was slow at best. I like to hook the mullet just behind the dorsal fin so they can swim and wiggle to attract the trout. Generally the light attracts bait and the bigger fish figure out that if they hang around near the lights they can make easy pickings of the unsuspecting shad, mullet, or glass minnows.

Trout like other fish have the ability to detect prey from a distance by smell or by sensing vibrations. To be a perfect predator though there must be the means to capture and kill the prey. Specks are fast and deadly, using their powerful tail to accelerate and overtake the fleeing baitfish and their formitable fangs to grasp and hold on to the struggling victim.

I freelined a three inch finger mullet beyond the circle of light and let it drift and struggle along through the light and down stream. Just as I was about to retrieve and recast I saw and heard a violent scene on the fringe of the light as this 21" trout busted the mullet off the surface and inhaled it. I had a nice fight and before Tracy could go back for the net I had her on the grass.

If the Speckled Traou aren't the Perfect Predator they are pretty close!