Speckled Truth State Trophy Trout Citation Program Guidelines

Last year was a resounding success for the Dirty 30 Program. As stated we had 59 entries in the inaugural year across 5 of the 9 different states (TX, MS, AL, FL & NC), but like anything there is always room for improvement. Since our focus lies purely with data collection, there is something to be said for capturing trophy trout just mere inches from that magical 30” mark. As a result, we’re starting a Trophy Trout Program for 9 different states (TX, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC & VA). Before I get into some program specifics, I want to say that this program is completely separate from the overarching Dirty 30 Program, which is a compilation of all the 30” trout regardless of state affiliation.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Understanding completely that a 27” or greater trout from the South Carolina coast is as impressive as a 30” Texas giant feeds directly into growing our data set. By capturing both, regardless of estuary, we now have a larger sample size of fish in a similar class. By having a larger sample size provides us greater fidelity to how we target, and even more important, how we manage this special subset of fish. As a result, we created this program for trout 27” or greater but less than 30”. The program will start 1 Oct 2018 and run through 30 Sep 2019.

*As aforementioned, this is a program for each of the 9 states:
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas

HOW DO I ENTER A FISH?

Like the Dirty 30 Program, each entry is free and can be submitted in a variety of ways.

• Email: Speckledtruth@gmail.com
• Direct Message the Speckled Truth Facebook or Instagram pages
• Hashtag (#trophytroutcitation or #speckledtruth) on Instagram or other social media
• Post directly to Speckled Truth Facebook Community Tab or tag @speckled_truth on Instagram

WHAT INFORMATION IS REQUIRED?

In order for us to accurately capture your catch we will need to provide the following:

• A clear picture of the fish on any measuring device (Check-It Stick, Seamstress Tape, Rod Wrap, etc…)
• Name
• Date Caught (must be after 1 Oct 2018)
• Time Caught (am or pm, dawn or dusk, etc…)
• State
• Length
• Weight (if available)
• Area Fished (Doesn’t have to be specific. i.e Lower Laguna Madre)
• Lure (can be live bait)
• Released (Yes or No)
• Mailing address

IMPORTANT: Fish/Pictures without a measuring device will NOT be accepted

WHAT DO I GET?

For each valid submission, each participant will receive a State Sticker specifically drawn by Brandon Finnorn at The Bonnie Fly (www.thebonniefly.com) For fish caught/submitted on estuaries with bordering waters (Biloxi Marsh, Sabine, etc…) the State Sticker will be issued for the waters where the fish was actually caught, not the home address of the participant.

OTHER PROGRAM DETAILS

• Each participant can submit multiple entries. Having said that, we will only mail 2 stickers/participant.
• Guides/Charter Captains CAN submit fish into the program. This includes clients or guests on a charter. As long as the submission criteria is met we will mail a sticker to the participant.
• Not every valid submission will be shared on Social Media. We are very cognizant and respectful of fishing spots/areas, if you tell us not to share on social media, we will not - that’s out of respect for you and the fish. In addition, we remain the right to share pictures and content as appropriate. In other words, our goal is to build and grow the program, not be a charter service marketing throughput. So we will be fair and equitable as to what, who and how we share each submission.
• Lastly this is not a tournament so be good stewards of the resource. Be cordial on the water and release the fish if at all possible. Please don’t keep the fish in a livewell and run around creation looking for a measuring device. If the only measuring device you have is a couple cans of bud light, that will suffice as long as you give the fish the best chance at survival.

As with the Dirty 30 program, we are embarking into the unknown of how this will truly play out. However, after witnessing the incredible support all of our followers displayed I have no doubt that this will be as equally as successful and popular.

So now with a basis of guidelines set, I wish each of you a productive Trophy Trout Season.

Tight lines and God Bless!
Chris