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Weakfish fly ???

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Orca

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On 2/24/2022 at 11:00 AM, JCH said:

 

Curious - why do you think you'll see weakfish this spring?

Last year was the biggest run I've seen in about 30 years. Let's hope this year is nearly as good. No guarantees, though. They're more inconsistent than just about anything else we target.

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Thanks to all for the all the input.  It seems to me that the flies targeting weakfish haven’t evolved much from the 70’s. Unlike the multitude of striper flies that have been created since that decade. No doubt after the crash of the weakfish stock there was not much incentive.  Some years pursuing weakfish was like chasing a unicorn.  Here’s to better years.

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we have them right now at Cape Lookout.  They are in an inconvenient place and hard to fish for them on fly --60' down over a wreck. But the Sarah caught a handful this week on fly.  We see them every winter and spring over our nearshore wrecks an artificial reefs. We use big half and halfs chartreuse and white. 

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Brian Horsley

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9 hours ago, Orca said:

Thanks to all for the all the input.  It seems to me that the flies targeting weakfish haven’t evolved much from the 70’s. Unlike the multitude of striper flies that have been created since that decade. No doubt after the crash of the weakfish stock there was not much incentive.  Some years pursuing weakfish was like chasing a unicorn.  Here’s to better years.

The reality is that a smallish striper fly amounts to a weakfish fly; the fish largely eat the same bait, and if bass average larger than weakfish, my experience is that a weakfish is willing an able to tackle a bait larger than a bass of similar size would attempt (if you ever caught a 5-pound weakfish on a livelined bunker--and not a peanut bunker--you know what I mean).

 

We can never forget that fly-tying is a practical art, and that many of the flies developed for bass over the past few decades represent the art side of that at least as much as the practical.  You can still catch an awful lot of bass--and weakfish--with nothing more than a handful of the Blonde-series bucktails developed by--if I recall correctly--Joe Brooks during the late '60s and/or '70s.  Or with Clousers.  Or Deceivers.

Edited by CWitek

"I have always believed that outdoor writers who come out against fish and wildlife conservation are in the wrong business. To me, it makes as much sense golf writers coming out against grass.."  --  Ted Williams

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I agree with you CWitek.  Just like a Quill Gordon the oldies are still goodies

and I witnessed my friend take a 10 lb plus weakfish on a god awful flamboyant

clouser which probably had half a pack of flash bound to the hook.

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2 hours ago, Orca said:

bhorsely

Brian is that a northern weakfish ? Looks like it.

as far as I know.  we call them grey trout 

 

eating them not so much--the last couple I have cleaned were wormy 

Brian Horsley

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On 2/24/2022 at 1:27 PM, KidDkivahh said:

I still throw Jelly worms at large mouths purple or black are still good producers . Never heard of them being used for Squets though. 

Oh, my, you are young.  My first use of Mann's jelly worms was for weakfish, and as a teaser above a Vi-Ke jig for cod. Red was preferred, for whatever reason.

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Current areas, Jiggies were always my go to. White, yellow over white were mainstays with oddball colors being hot here and there. 
 

Flats, lighter jiggies, deceivers and the like. 
 

Night, black deceivers or deer hair type flies were always good and the first fly on any given night. Some back bay spots at night, one would do well with gurglers or anything that could be waked and moved intermittently. Again, black generally ruled. 

Edited by Drew C.

ASMFC - Destroying public resources and fisheries one stock at a time since 1942.

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4 hours ago, BrianBM said:

Oh, my, you are young.  My first use of Mann's jelly worms was for weakfish, and as a teaser above a Vi-Ke jig for cod. Red was preferred, for whatever reason.

Young ? That's the best thing I've heard all day ( gonna be 68 in July ) . Btw red is another Jelly worm I like tossing at Bass. Never used any soft plastics at all in the Salt ,Flies and many moons a go plugs was all I ever used .

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