A big fish story last week out of South Carolina has caught the attention of fishermen at least as far away as Acadiana.

Local anglers, whether saltwater or freshwater, or both, are flashing the big fish photo on their cell phone of a 10-pound, 2-ounce, speckled trout caught June 14 by Justin Carter, a charter boat captain from Mt. Pleasant, while he was fishing the mouth of a tributary of the Wando River in Charleston area waters. Catches like that often spread like wildfire in the fishing community.

When ol’ yellowmouth hit that day, Carter believed it was a redfish, until he and his fishing buddy, Dolphin Dave Hamilton, got their first eyeful of the huge speckled trout.

“The fish hit the jighead and tore off about 75 feet of line. Then she came back around and when the fish turned sideways, both Dave and I saw it was a trout and we nearly fell out of the boat,” Carter told the Carolina Sportsman magazine’s Phillip Gentry in a story posted June 19 on carolinasportsman.com.

The fish inhaled a Blue Pearl SwimmerZ on 3/8-ounce Z-Man Trout Eye leadhead. The fish hit along a dropoff in 7- to 8-foot depths on a falling tide halfway through the cycle.

“We were waiting for the tide to get lower, and we were going to start targeting reds,” Carter said.

An approximately 8-minute long fight ensued before he got it to the net wielded by Hamilton.

Carter, who runs DIG Charters, said it was a true team effort to land the monster speckled trout because those fish are known for shaking off leadheads at the boat.

In fact, he said, “As soon as I touched the jighead with the pliers, it fell out of the fish’s mouth. She was just barely still hooked.”

The 28-inch long speckled trout was photographed, measured and released quickly. Its size remains a pleasant surprise to the anglers because while it’s a catch of a lifetime anywhere, it’s nearly unheard of around Charleston.

Speckled trout fishing there has been phenomenal, especially for good-sized speckled trout, so far this year. Earlier this month while scouting, he landed a 6-pounder and he and his fishing buddy have gotten their hands on numerous speckled trout in the 3- to 4-pound range.

“I think we have some big trout in the state, but the better ones seem to be in those cleaner water areas to the north. Trout are sight feeders and eat more often in clear water,” Carter said. “I also think it helps that we’ve had several mild winters in a row that have provided a longer growing season, but this fish was old and has seen a lot of years, both good and bad.”

He’ll remember that fish forever.

“I guess I’ve got a trout reproduction to order in the near future,” he said.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.