In terms of fishing, Weakfish do not mean that the fish are actually weak. In general, gray seatrout refers to the Weakfish because they can free themselves against the hook because of their weak mouth structure.
Well, if they can tear their mouth from the hook easily, then how to catch Weakfish like them. It’s all about technique.
You have to choose specific lures, fish rods, and reels for catching Weakfish. Besides this, you have to find a proper area for fishing weakfish considering wind, water depth, and condition.
Now I am going to describe the Techniques of fishing Weakfish. By reading this and using some common sense, I hope you will be able to catch Weakfish.
Recognizing Weakfish
To catch weakfishes, you need to identify them first, so how to recognize them! In Weakfish’s mouth, the lower jaw will clearly project beyond the upper jaw.
In the front side of the upper jaw, there will be two large recurvate canine teeth that stand out noticeably. There will be ten spines in the first dorsal fin and 26-29 soft rays in the second one.
It also has two spines with 11-12 rays in it’s anal fin. The scales are ctenoid and stretch out onto the soft dorsal and anal fins except for some similar type seatrout like Cynoscion nebulosus.
There should be 11-13 gill rakers on the Weakfish’s lower limb but only 8-9 in the spotted seatrout. Sometimes weakfishes have a black margin on the tip of the tongue.
Where & When to Catch Weakfish
You probably find Weakfish in the western Atlantic Ocean, northern Florida Mid-Atlantic, US bays, and Nova Scotia. Besides this, in similar types of places, Weakfish can be found.
The ideal time of fishing for weakfishes is April, as this time, the weakfishes start filtering.
During the winter’s late fall period, the adult weakfish good to eat and they are generally shift to the warmer water, which is the time to catch them.
Specific Spots for Finding the Weakfish
In terms of catching weakfishes, you need to expand your search area if your usual spots are empty. Fishing on the same spot repeatedly sometimes leads to a rut.
Finding out as many spots as possible is good for catching Weakfish. For that, you can take the help of an electronic fish finder.
It can save you from wasting your time if the Weakfish you are currently searching for is unavailable in your current spot.
You cannot find the Weakfish in the same spot every time as the wind, weather, and other factors continuously change.
Suppose the wind direction goes to the north; you cannot catch Weakfish from the south side then. So gathering more places will be wise in terms of catching Weakfish.
How To Catch Weakfish: Selecting Lures
Understanding your lures which can be attractive to the fish, is important to catch Weakfish.
Weakfish generally feed smaller forage fish and invertebrates like small crabs, scup, shrimps, squid, herring, killifish and worms.
Many anglers prefer artificial lures over live ones like shrimps and killifish as it is time-consuming. You can go for artificial lures as it is also possible to reel regarding catching Weakfish.
Soft-plastic swim shads, small bucktails, Z-man swim weakfish bait, epoxy jigs, Berkley Gulp, and diamond jigs these artificial lures can be used to catch the Weakfish.
The best lure is the jelly worm for weakfish fishing as it has a slow wagging tail and slender body, which is very tempting to the Weakfish.
Choosing Rod and Reel
For weak fishing, the proper rod is 6-foot-6-inch which should have medium or light power with fast action. Do not use any heavy rod as it may cause more force to tear the fish’s mouth.
Choosing the ideal reel is also important when you are weak in fishing. You need to keep the drag loose as the mouth is literally weak of a weakfish.
The reel may end up causing the hook to pull if the reel offers heavy resistance.
Facts to Remember While Catching Weakfish
- Current speed
- The Wind Direction
- Weather conditions
- Water depth
- Time of the Day
- Boat Traffic
Current Speed
In the fast-moving water, choose the weakfish lures which can be driven through the hole where the Weakfish are.
On the other hand, using 3-inch swimbaits on lightweight jig heads in slow-moving water is enough to catch Weakfish.
There is a popular proverb among the anglers, “spring weakfish tide runners,” so it will be wise if you try to catch Weakfish in moving water.
Usually, weakfishes are lazy feeders staying in the holes they are waiting for meals.
When the water movement shifts/changes direction, they follow the water movement shifts or direction, hoping an easy meal will pass by and this is the time to catch them.
Wind Direction
You should be more careful about wind direction in terms of weakfish fishing. Against the wind direction creates an extra force to pull the fish out from the water,
and the boat also may go against the fish’s heading, which ultimately leads to impossible to catch them for their weak mouth structure.
Weather Conditions
The perfect weather condition to catch Weakfish is mostly from the fall season. Coldwater makes weakfishes uncomfortable, and they start switching to warm water,
and this movement will help you to catch them. On the other hand, in winter, they usually keep themselves in a hole, so if you put the prey into the hole, they will have it, and you can easily catch them.
Water Depth
You have to select the perfect reel length according to the water depth. According to the current speed and depth of the water, the reel size should be flexible.
Understanding water depth is important to find out whether the Weakfish is in a hole or they are moving.
Time of the Day
The ideal time for fishing weakfish is the time with minimal winds and light traffic. If you are an early riser, go fishing as early as possible, which causes low boat traffic, and the wind also calm in the morning.
Boat Traffic
You should choose an ideal spot to avoid boat traffic as the Weakfish are kind of skittish. They will vanish soon if they find any boat traffic on the spot.
So avoiding boat trafficking is the most important thing while you are off to catch Weakfish.
Final words
Catching the Weakfish can be hard in the beginning. But it can turn into an addictive hobby if you understand how to hook and land the fish.
All of my discussion is pretty enough to learn how to catch Weakfish. But still, you have to practice more and more as you need some experience to catch Weakfish.
Just use a proper lure, rod, and reel by considering Current speed, Wind Direction, Weather conditions, Water depth, Time of the Day, Boat Traffic to catch the Weakfish.
Try again and again to gather experience as it is not an easy job to catch the Weakfish.
