Weakfish in the Bay

[blindalfred]

Kayaked from Guardian Park off the officers housing on the Hook. A ton of small weakfish (up to 15") on Gulp shrimp. A good sign for the future. Lots of bait, but no big blues yet.

[BigRock44]

would be great to have a good run of decent sized weakies again.

[JusGlase]

How do you fish the shrimp? What depth? thx!

[LIGHTACKLE]

rumors of bigger weaks by Princess Bay..

[bulletbob]

If there are small ones biting during the day with all that boat traffic, as well as that intense sun we have been having the past week, i would bet a good buck that there are a lot more big ones out there than anyone thinks.. If I weren't 225 miles away, I would drift the channel edges and bottom dips on the flats between the ammo pier and the point of the hook in the dark with whole sandworms on a 3x3 rig, and see what happens.. Might not be any 12 lb tiderunners, but i bet there are more 3-5 pounders there than most people realize.. One of the main reasons no one catches weaks these days, is that they try and catch them during the day in hot weather.. It won't happen.
Even when there were a ton of weaks, it was mainly a low light bite, at the crack of dawn, or during night tides.. Many good fishermen seem to forget that weaks are mainly nocturnal;.. Yes we all remember years when the bottom was covered with them that they would bite good mid day.. Thats an anomaly.
I hope someone here gives it a serious try, starting at 3 am till about 7 am or so, or say 8 PM till midnight... I used to catch a lot of weaks years ago, and it was always best before the sun came up or after it went down, and thats also when the bigger ones would bite as well. Can't tell you how many times over the years where I was in the middle of a hot weakfish bite, that shut down as soon as the sun came up and a few boats started roaring past.. Just as though someone flipped a switch.. bob

[pcheesesteak]

Thanks for the reports. Been wondering.

[blindalfred]

Originally Posted by JusGlase

How do you fish the shrimp? What depth? thx!

Octopus hook matched to size of shrimp c. 18" behind a long 12" in. dropper loop for the sinker. A basic drift rig with a longer dropper to keep the bait up off the bottom a bit. An assortment of gulp shrimp 2-3", no particular color stood out. Bounced it constantly, no dead stickin'.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

If there are small ones biting during the day with all that boat traffic, as well as that intense sun we have been having the past week, i would bet a good buck that there are a lot more big ones out there than anyone thinks.. If I weren't 225 miles away, I would drift the channel edges and bottom dips on the flats between the ammo pier and the point of the hook in the dark with whole sandworms on a 3x3 rig, and see what happens.. Might not be any 12 lb tiderunners, but i bet there are more 3-5 pounders there than most people realize.. One of the main reasons no one catches weaks these days, is that they try and catch them during the day in hot weather.. It won't happen.
Even when there were a ton of weaks, it was mainly a low light bite, at the crack of dawn, or during night tides.. Many good fishermen seem to forget that weaks are mainly nocturnal;.. Yes we all remember years when the bottom was covered with them that they would bite good mid day.. Thats an anomaly.
I hope someone here gives it a serious try, starting at 3 am till about 7 am or so, or say 8 PM till midnight... I used to catch a lot of weaks years ago, and it was always best before the sun came up or after it went down, and thats also when the bigger ones would bite as well. Can't tell you how many times over the years where I was in the middle of a hot weakfish bite, that shut down as soon as the sun came up and a few boats started roaring past.. Just as though someone flipped a switch.. bob

Exactly!!! I've missed these fish! And now there back and I need to make time somehow!!!!!! Don't forget outgoing tides near the deep inlets. I've got quite a few this way in the past!

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by FASTEDDIE29

Exactly!!! I've missed these fish! And now there back and I need to make time somehow!!!!!! Don't forget outgoing tides near the deep inlets. I've got quite a few this way in the past!

Boy, I miss them too... I used to catch them from rental boats in the 70's, big ones right at the end of the Ammo Pier.. In those days, you could fish out there by yourself for awhile early mornings, and weaks would blast a drifted sandworm a few feet off the bottom, away from the sea robins. Once a few boats were on the scene, they stopped biting..

Later on, when I had my own boats, and could move around more, jigging was good very early in the morning, until the boats showed up..
Best fishing of all however, was off the hook, in the area we used to call "between the channels", after sunset, just drop a Tiger Tail down, and put the rod in the holder.. Non stop, lights out fishing, for the biggest of the big tiderunners.. It saddens me as I look back on those days and remember, guys staying out all night, and catching giant 55 gallon garbage cans full of those big weaks, and then selling them for pennies a pound to help pay for their gas.. Such a tremendous waste. bob

[Gerry Zagorski]

One of my most memorable trips was catching weakies at the end of the naval weapons peer...My Uncle Al was the one who got me into fishing at an early age... Every time he'd come and visit he'd take me out....

Fast forward several years later and I finally had a boat and got a chance to take him out... This one particular time with his Grandson Tim...Uncle Al had lost a few steps by this time and could not stand to fish. He just sat back and beamed with tears of joy as he watched me, his apprentice, pass on the love of our great sport to his Grandson. ...

It was a special moment for sure and I day I still remember like it was yesterday.