Weaks have been saving my late summer

[pequa1]

Have now taken home just one less weak than fluke this season. Nothing to brag about but doing better than last year. Got this guy (or gal) while drifting to my "third favorite spot", feeling lazy instead of paddling there. Very last of the outgoing, backbay, no wind, green flies. Livelining snappers is my go-to this time of year although the hooks are way down the gullet when fishing the Abu on clicker.
Fortunately, any fluke or weak able to swallow a snapper is a keeper.
This one eclipsed the 19 1/2" marks on my deck.

 

[captmike28]

Have now taken home just one less weak than fluke this season. Nothing to brag about but doing better than last year. Got this guy (or gal) while drifting to my "third favorite spot", feeling lazy instead of paddling there. Very last of the outgoing, backbay, no wind, green flies. Livelining snappers is my go-to this time of year although the hooks are way down the gullet when fishing the Abu on clicker.
Fortunately, any fluke or weak able to swallow a snapper is a keeper.
This one eclipsed the 19 1/2" marks on my deck.

That's a nice Weakfish, Perqua. As you noted anything that can swallow a live snapper is going home for dinner!

Ironically, while Weakfish are soothing your late season Fluke woes, the last good Weakfish run we enjoyed in the Peconics had saved my spring Fluke trips for the 5-year period between 2020 and 2025. As the Fluke bite began to wane in the months of May and June, we put a lot of smiles on people's faces and filets int he box thanks to the Weakfish bonanza.

I am fortunate, and old enough, to have enjoyed the fantastic Weakfish run that took place in Peconic Bay and many other locations around LI in the early 70's. We had a very large number of fish available then and there were many double-digit fish landed with regularity. However, my recollection is that you still had to fish around sunrise, sunset, or overnight in the spring or the fall to really score well. During the last 5 years the schools of Weakfish I encountered in the Peconics were so large it didn't matter what time of day or what season you fished. They could be found over a really wide area throughout the bay and were willing to bite even mid-day in August with a blazing sun overhead! I did not record any DD fish during this recent run but plenty in the 6-8# class. However, the sheer volume was amazing.

Sadly, this spring's Weakfishing has been reduced to a handful as a by catch with one or two exceptions. So, I am afraid we are heading to another one of this species long term downward trends. Too bad because I am not feeling very optimistic about the trend for our Fluke fishery.