Weakfish

[skinner]

I wanted to try catching some weakfish. I heard they are around in the cooler water. When do the weakfish come in and how long do they stay around?

[voyager35]

I don't know where you are fishing, they are around in the back of Raritan and Barnegat bay. I like to use live or fresh-dead peanuts on the bottom. Some guys like sandworms, but that can get expensive.
Get a castnet, go to any harbor, and get yourself a few dozen. Put them in a livewell, and fish in water from 15-30'. I like the channels because they school up in there.
Downsize your hooks to a 2 or a 3, and give the rod a slight jerk when they are on. They have weak mouths, that's why they're called weakfish. Set the hook like with a bass or bluefish and you will lose them. Good luck.

[stripercrazy]

We have had them in the back bays of LI for awhile, there have been some big ones caught at night on the flats near the channels. IME they stay as long as the peanut bunker and mullet are around. The mullet will move out first and then the peanuts. I like to fish for them on a float rig, cork or small styrofoam bobber. Most will be small so downsize your gear as suggested. They are a great fish to bring kids fishing for when you are going for snappers as well.

[captnemo]

You can also try to chum for them with grass shrimp. There is a Capt Alex who is well-known for doing this in the Barnegat Bay. There are a few others, I think Foley, Dave Azar, and a core group of guys who fish for them early every year. When they catch you know the season has officially begun. You can get grass shrimp by using a very fine net and scraping the dock pilings at marinas. Or you can seine for them. Either way, it is a labor-intensive job. The rewards are many, as few fish can resist a grass shrimp snack.

And yes, they are catching them now. Early AM is my most successful time at getting the decent ones, though in the darkest of night works also... not my thing to be out there in the blackness for weakfish.