As of July 1, 2026, the recreational harvest for spotted sea trout (speckled trout) is officially reopened in all North Carolina coastal, joint, and inland waters. If you fished through the spring, you know the NC Division of Marine Fisheries implemented a mandatory harvest closure back in February to protect our trout populations following severe cold stun events. Their goal was to give the surviving fish a clean, uninterrupted window to complete their spring spawning cycles