big weakfish?

[Chrisper4694]

just saw a verified 10.5lbs weakfish catch (submitted into nj skillful angler). anyone know anything about this catch? maybe some decent weakfishing this year up in north jersey?

[bunker dunker]

now is when you should be out looking.the li boats are getting them already.
every year at this time they catch a few big ones on bunker spoons in the bay.

[captmark]

Chrisper, yeah I saw on another web site that it was caught down in the Barnegat bay and he was out on his kayak with even a bigger one that he released. He weighed it in at Lacey Marine.

[Jigman13]

Guys who target weak fish are tight lipped like the sea run brown trout sharpies.

Think pink and shedder crab oil!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Finesse minnows on a 1/2-1 ounce darter jighead! Slow rolled outside the inlets! They're close to home! Used to be my favorite fish to play with! Watch out for there paper like lips! Easy, easy!:D

[SaltLife1980]

Yeah every year around now when we go to LBI to open the house i hear about someone getting a really nice one. Last year in July i saw a guy get a 9lbs at the fuel dock at the inlet. Also we were catching bass at the boat slips all summer long on scallops guts that the scallop guys gave us

[Detour66]

Another hot spot for big weakfish is Peconic Bay out in Long Island. Almost ever year they get a run of tiderunners and humpback porgies in that bay this time of year. So the fish still exist but you need to know where and when.

[Blackfish Doug]

Another hot spot for big weakfish is Peconic Bay out in Long Island. Almost ever year they get a run of tiderunners and humpback porgies in that bay this time of year. So the fish still exist but you need to know where and when.

I used to fish out of South hold Marina in the 60's & 70's in Peconic bay. When the lilacs where in bloom the Weakfish would always show up & that goes back into the 1920's my father as boy would tell me, I still keep in touch with my buddies from out east & from what I hear it's still the same as it always was. Three great spots were the Greenlawns,Jesups Neck & Robbins Island. Still to today they are there early morning fishing first light & late evening. They are very skittish to boat traffic so if you see nobody on those pieces try them it won't let you down.

[bulletbob]

I still believe there will be some in the channels in and around Raritan Bay in another month or so, but they are really skitish and boat traffic is insane these days during daylight hours.. Not many guys fish nights anymore but I bet if some guys tried for them drifting sandworms at night on a 3x3 rig they would find some...Of course we'd never hear about it... bob

[birddog]

I used to go down to cape may this time of year and slam monster weakfish using a bucktail and rubber worm. I miss that trip!

[Gerry Zagorski]

I still believe there will be some in the channels in and around Raritan Bay in another month or so, but they are really skitish and boat traffic is insane these days during daylight hours.. Not many guys fish nights anymore but I bet if some guys tried for them drifting sandworms at night on a 3x3 rig they would find some...Of course we'd never hear about it... bob

Those were the days... Get out of work early, pick up a flat of sandworms worms, drive around the Reach until you see a big red blob on your fish finder, drop down a sandworm worm tipped with a rubber worm and game on...


A few late falls ago we got into them when fishing for Stripers out by West Bank light.... They were thick as thieves and hitting diamond jigs.

[bunker dunker]

pink fin-s 5-3/4" on a 3/4 oz head.drift and jig around the mouth of the shrewsbury river.used to get a little of everything from stripers,fluke,blues
and some good weakies.

[dakota560]

I used to go down to cape may this time of year and slam monster weakfish using a bucktail and rubber worm. I miss that trip!

That was before the commercial guys destroyed that fishery. Tide runners in Delaware was an annual pilgrimage for many. Huge breeder weakfish and the fishery was absolutely abused. Commercial guys netted the spawners by the thousands and the rest is history. Another incredible fishery destroyed by absolute greed.

Chris check your pm.

[bulletbob]

That was before the commercial guys destroyed that fishery. Tide runners in Delaware was an annual pilgrimage for many. Huge breeder weakfish and the fishery was absolutely abused. Commercial guys netted the spawners by the thousands and the rest is history. Another incredible fishery destroyed by absolute greed.

Chris check your pm.

Dakota,, agreed, but us "sports" were no bargain in those days either.. I can remember very well, teams of "recreational anglers" fishing all night, catching hundreds of massive weaks, many 10-12 pounds, night after night, filling 2- 80 quart coolers.. I recall the numbers games played out every week on the pages of the NJ Fisherman magazine...Those fish were often sold to local markets, restaurants, smokehouses etc for pennies, to buy gas for the boats of these fishermen, and the next nights fishing.. The area know in those days as "between the channels", was like fishing in a bucket.. they were there every year, big tiderunners, until they weren't... We sports did as poorly on the weakfish resource as the commercials.. I HATE the idea of limits in saltwater, but in the modern age, people being people, I can understand the need.. A little self control goes a long way.. problem is, too many human beings have NO self control... bob

[bunker dunker]

"between the channels" we had the same spot name up here.back in the 70's
we would jump on with capt ron sr on the fisherman for the magic hour trips.all ya needed was your jigging rods and a hand full of Nordic eels in different colors.we would drift out there and catch bid weakfish 10-12lbs.miss those days for sure.

[dakota560]

BB,

I completely agree the recreational catch year in year out was over the top as well, was an abuse of the resource and contributed to the decline of the fishery. I still believe recreational fishing pressure in itself will almost never deplete a fishery the way commercial will. What makes the weakfish story even more sad is in my opinion they're not really great table fare and don't keep well at all. Catching a double digit weakfish was like catching a 12 lb. rainbow trout in salt water. They were a prize catch which weren't protected, as most fisheries weren't years ago, and were decimated by too much fishing pressure and greed. It amazes me still today the spike weakfish we see almost every fall migrating south are still allowed to be over harvested by both recreational and commercial interests so they can be sold for next to nothing in the markets. Complete waste. I'd vote to close that fishery for 5 years or so and bring back the tide runners for the public to enjoy, protect them during their spawn and still allow a commercial quota for harvest but a sustainable one. Why this hasn't happened in the last 30 to 40 years is disappointing to put it mildly. Most people on this site have no idea how great that fishery was and could still be. You can't wipe out the one year class fish every year and think we'll ever see the great fishery that it was return.

[Jigman13]

Stories like this make we want temporary moratorium on weakies! If that would bring them back in numbers it'd be pretty damn sweet. Such gorgeous fish!

[Dino]

well worn territory but i think its a combination of the nets, the health of the bays going south, and the comeback in predators striped bass and also all the large bluefish..every fall we get these huge globs of spike weakfish schooling off the beach but how many of these are coming back as tiderunners? mortality is high somehow. also could be a long natural downturn the species is notorious for that.. it will eventually come back tho !!

[Capt Sal]

"between the channels" we had the same spot name up here.back in the 70's
we would jump on with capt ron sr on the fisherman for the magic hour trips.all ya needed was your jigging rods and a hand full of Nordic eels in different colors.we would drift out there and catch bid weakfish 10-12lbs.miss those days for sure.

What about tiger tails?

[Blackfish Doug]

I think the biggest problem are predetors in the bay in the fall the bluefish,dogfish & stripers are gobbling them up like candy there are tons of them mixed in with the peanut bunker. I caught quite a few of the predetors that spit them up on the decks. Gill netting during the 60's & 70's did a lot of the damage. Killed tons of weakfish most of the weakfish plus there was no money in it commercially. I remember catching the weakfish on Nordic eels during the 60's plus a pink plastic shrimp I forgot what we called them but they worked great.

[dakota560]

well worn territory but i think its a combination of the nets, the health of the bays going south, and the comeback in predators striped bass and also all the large bluefish..every fall we get these huge globs of spike weakfish schooling off the beach but how many of these are coming back as tiderunners? mortality is high somehow. also could be a long natural downturn the species is notorious for that.. it will eventually come back tho !!

The resurgence of bass and bluefish definitely take there toll on the spikes in the fall but the healthy weakfish fishery we had in the 60's and 70's coexisted with a very healthy bass and bluefish population back then before bass almost completely collapsed. Food chain in my opinion isn't the issue, it wasn't back in the day and don't believe it is today. These spike weakfish get destroyed every year as they migrate down the coast by gill netters. Stop the gill netting, give these fish a chance to rebound and in 3 - 5 years you'd rebuild the stock. You can't net up all the one year fish every fall and you can't gill net millions of pounds of breeders every spring like they did back in the 60's and 70's and think the fishery is sustainable. Inshore migratory fish especially need protection and closed seasons, bass have it weakfish don't it's that simple. If you don't protect the spawners and allow them to spawn and protect the young of the year the fishery doesn't stand a chance.

[reely]

Had a 8-9 lb 2 weeks ago in RB. Very close to were you leave from chrisper.

[bunker dunker]

years back when the bass were scarce.we would rent a boat at franks.we would have a trash can half full of water and go out and snag bunker by the rocks.our airator was a 5 gallon bucket that we changed water with.we would drift livies over by the pier for big weakies.my best was 13.6 but I saw bigger ones caught.i miss fishing for those big goldies.yea Sal those tiger tails were good but not as good as the Nordics.we used to go see Joe at julians and he
had the long ones in 6 or 7 different colors.just glad I had the chance to catch them.

[Detour66]

Had a 8-9 lb 2 weeks ago in RB. Very close to were you leave from chrisper.
Now that sounds like good news! Any pics?

[Gerry Zagorski]

Now that sounds like good news! Any pics?

Yes, preferably with land marks in the background please ;)

[Detour66]

Yes, preferably with land marks in the background please ;) GPS coordinates would even be better ...:)

[dakota560]

Fish any bridge in the Highlands area at night this time of year with pink finesse, small jig head and light fluorocarbon leader and you're chances of catching a big weakfish will increase. Concentrate casting upstream of the shadow lines and let your presentation swing into the dark water. Highlands, Rumson and in particular the Oceanic. Years ago when they allowed fishing on the Oceanic we caught them every year, most fish weighing double digits. Best chance of landing a trophy all year. Have no idea where these fish go after they come into the rivers in the spring to spawn but they're there every year for a few weeks and then they vanish.

They are without doubt one of the most beautiful fish in salt water, real shame someone doesn't do something in earnest to bring them back. As Fast Eddie mentioned, mouths are paper thin. You want a slow action rod for this fishing. We used noodle rods with 10 lb test and 6 lb fluoro leader with a 1/4 ounce jig head and pink or green finesse. Size finesse was about 3 - 4 inches, imitates spearing this time of year. We used a bridge net to bring the fish up for release. Not sure if fishing is allowed any more from Oceanic and the new Highlands bridge is too high and not sure fishing is allowed anyway. Not sure about the Rumson but if you have a boat, night time incoming was the tide we focused on.

Also did well fishing large rattle traps at the mouths of the Manasquan and Shark River. Never saw the big tide runners inside of these two rivers but we'd catch fish at the mouths of the inlet on out going. Manasquan north jetty at times was a very good spot both river and ocean side.

Fish your presentation slow and on the bridges just let the current do most of the work. Big girls are there every year, just have to put the time in. If you hook up this time of year it won't be a spike. Real bruisers swimming around, shame this fishery was destroyed. And if your lucky enough to connect, please consider release as these fish are mostly females loaded with eggs. As I mentioned earlier, they're not that great eating wise so take a picture for prosperity sake and let the big girl swim away. Without doubt one of the greatest fish you'll ever catch in your life!

[NJ219bands]

Oyster Creek nuke is the best weakfish spot.

[SaltLife1980]

Oyster Creek nuke is the best weakfish spot.

Very true

[Capt Sal]

20A off Great Kills holds the biggest weakfish on the East Coast! Live lining is the ticket. This way you are still catching stripers when live lining. One spring da after Ric Swisstack broke the world record we went to 20A and had four Weakies over 16 lbs. with the biggest at 18 lbs. Just sayin!

[John D.]

They hav been banging tiderunner weaks (9-13#) at night for the past 2 weeks at the spy house pier on live bunker. Same guys show up every night with their portable live well contraption and have been crushing the tiderunners.

[John D.]

Tomorrow I will release the secret location for 30# stripers from the RB shoreline.

Weds will be where Joe gets his haircut

Thurs will be where shrimp lost his mojo

Lol--obviously I am kidding

[Chrisper4694]

how is this post still going? haha

[Charlie B]

how is this post still going? haha

A lot of people find it interesting. I know I do...Charlie

[Capt Sal]

Oyster Creek nuke is the best weakfish spot.

Tide runners not glow in the dark dinks lol