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Speckled Trout
OpenCynoscion nebulosus
The NC rulebook, translated for the Banks.
The Short Version
North Carolina sets the keep floor at 14" — measure carefully, short fish go back. The daily creel is 4 per person per day, and the fishery is open through the whole calendar year.
Keep Size
14"
Size fish must clear to be kept
Run the tape from the snout to the far edge of the tail pressed flat together — a pinched tail adds the half inch that decides a citation.
Daily Creel
4 per person per day
What one angler may take per day
Counts are per person unless the rule says "per boat," and they aggregate across everywhere you fished that day — sound, surf, and ocean all land in the same tally.
Season Window
Year-round
When harvest is legal
Open through the year unless an emergency closure posts.
Where It Stands
Open
Harvest is legal; emergency in-season shutdowns are rare but do happen — glance at the DMF proclamations page anyway.
Winter Specks on Hatteras
When the tourist fleet leaves, the speckled trout season on Hatteras Island begins. The marsh drains and deep sloughs from Oregon Inlet down to Hatteras village hold gator trout December through February, and a suspending twitchbait worked slow in the cold is the standard program. The bite often switches on the second day of a warming trend after a front.
Watch for cold-stun events: after a hard freeze, DMF sometimes closes trout fishing temporarily to protect the stacked-up stock — a rule written after Hatteras Island die-offs.
The Fine Print
- •14" total length minimum.
- •No closed season, but cold-stun emergencies can trigger temporary closures after hard freezes.
- •Specks (spotted seatrout) are the number-one winter inshore target for locals from Manteo to Hatteras.