Weakfish in the Bay

[jmurr711]

see the spikes every year by the ton nothing to catch 100 in the surf while targeting kingfish in south nj but once they get to about 15inches they vanish, no one wants to hear it but the bass population exploding has adversely affected the weakfish #s

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by jmurr711

see the spikes every year by the ton nothing to catch 100 in the surf while targeting kingfish in south nj but once they get to about 15inches they vanish, no one wants to hear it but the bass population exploding has adversely affected the weakfish #s

I can buy that .. to an extent..
Back when the bays were loaded with weaks, there were almost no stripers at all.. A few on the ocean side, caught at night by a just a few guys that knew when and how, and that went on for many years.. The stripers came back strong in the late 90's, and the weaks were simply gone not too long after..

Only thing that makes me pause is the fact that during those years the bass were gone, there were blues everywhere, all day every day from April into Dec.. Big and small, but still the weaks were there, often right in with the blues, underneath them... But yes, even though the blues are down from where they were, the weaks are still scarce, and the stripers have rebounded.. Too many bass certainly might be a factor.. or not.. Its a plausible theory.... bob

[blindalfred]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Never fished with Peanuts..... Rubber worms tipped with a Sand Worm was our bait of Choice...

You got that right. The mate on the Atlantic Star was giving out "Fire tail plastic worms" and you added just a piece of sandworm for flavor and you were good to go. Thanks for the memories.

[Solemate]

Caught a few

[Capt. Debbie]

It (that theory) still holds water. No pun intended. Well maybe a little

Typically weakies and stripers are bottom huggers. While blues infest everywhere top, middle and bottom. Yes blues are more savage, and the hordes rip up everything in sight.

But an imbalance of too many munching bottom dwelling stripers and the lack of decent sized weakfish in the same area explains a lot. The opposite hold true to in the Barnegat

Barnie has always had weakfish, but striper fishing there is a waste of time.

Perhaps the nail has been struck right on the head with this Striper v weakfish theory for Raritan Bay?

\

Originally Posted by bulletbob

I can buy that .. to an extent..
Back when the bays were loaded with weaks, there were almost no stripers at all.. A few on the ocean side, caught at night by a just a few guys that knew when and how, and that went on for many years.. The stripers came back strong in the late 90's, and the weaks were simply gone not too long after..

Only thing that makes me pause is the fact that during those years the bass were gone, there were blues everywhere, all day every day from April into Dec.. Big and small, but still the weaks were there, often right in with the blues, underneath them... But yes, even though the blues are down from where they were, the weaks are still scarce, and the stripers have rebounded.. Too many bass certainly might be a factor.. or not.. Its a plausible theory.... bob

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Capt. Frank

It (that theory) still holds water. No pun intended. Well maybe a little

Typically weakies and stripers are bottom huggers. While blues infest everywhere top, middle and bottom. Yes blues are more savage, and the hordes rip up everything in sight.

But an imbalance of too many munching bottom dwelling stripers and the lack of decent sized weakfish in the same area explains a lot. The opposite hold true to in the Barnegat

Barnie has always had weakfish, but striper fishing there is a waste of time.

Perhaps the nail has been struck right on the head with this Striper v weakfish theory for Raritan Bay?

\

Yes, could be.. All I do know for sure is that when the stripers were missing, the weaks were everywhere.. Once the Stripers returned, weaks were MIA...
Only thing is that they really both eat the same things... Yes 10 pound stripers will eat a 10 inch weakfish, but a 10 pound weakfish will eat a 10 inch striper as well... I wonder how intense the commercial fishing for weaks[Grey Trout south of NJ] is further south, or are they protected down there these days??/.. bob