Nearing the end of 2017, one local resident, Keith Carter of Gloucester, held the lead for the largest fish of a species recognized in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament.

Carter caught the 9-pound, 5-ounce speckled trout in the Ware River on Sept. 18, according to tournament web statistics. As of Dec. 27, his fish was the leading entry among 195 speckled trout that qualified for capture and release citations last year.

Each year’s saltwater fishing tournament runs with the calendar year, and the final figures for 2017 were not available at presstime. ...