Spring weakfishing can be spectacular. Pictured to the right is a 34.50″ 11.70-pound tide-runner weakfish that I caught during a year when conditions lined up. Actually, it was the largest weakfish caught in the world in decades.
The sea trout (AKA weakfish) hit my bucktail just in time. I had told myself that I was going to fish for two hours, and it was approaching 3 hours when this weakie showed up. The conditions for this spot were not perfect, but good. I am hunting for tide-rummer weakfish, so I expect the fishing to be tough. However, this year, the number of weakfish caught was way down. I ended the spring season with the biggest weakfish at 26.5″, followed by 25.25, and also three 24″ weakfish, 27 weakfish total. Note: A 24″ weakfish usually weighs around 5-6 pounds in the spring. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch or see a true tide-runner (10 pounds plus) all season. There has been speculation as to why the weakfish season was so slow. My synopsis, the spring weather conditions, with the wind direction being the most important, did not align. Even during the best years, you only get about 10 tides of conditions good for catching tide-runner weakfish. I am hopeful for a better 2026 spring weakfish season here in Cape May co., NJ.
