big weakfish?

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by 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

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.

Originally Posted by 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!

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]

Originally Posted by dakota560

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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.