Vineyard Weakfish

Got an email over the weekend from OTW Subscriber Don Lynch that read:

Hey Jim
just wanted to let you know that the weakfish are around!

On the very first cast I hooked into a fish and when landed discovered that it was a 24 1/2″ 3+ lb Weakfish!  woot!
ive included a couple pics as proof.

I was also wondering if you have heard of anyone else hooking into any weakfish or am i the first to do so this season?

in any event just wanted to let ya know that they’re around and this was my first fish of the season…great way to start out!

I caught it on a 6″ Storm, Wild eye swim shad 7/8oz….

I told Don, not only was it the first weakfish I’d heard of on the Cape this year, it was the first I’d heard of in two years. Weakfish numbers have been way down in the past couple seasons, with only a few very big fish caught on rare occasions. Fish like Don’s 24-incher have been hard to come by, and hopefully that catch is a good sign that weakies are staging a comeback.

When I did most of my fishing in Southern New Jersey, weakfish were more popular than stripers. Guys would pursue big tiderunner weakies with every bit as much fervor (and secrecy) as surfcasters chase after cow striped bass. In fact, many anglers I knew wouldn’t even think about targeting anything but weakfish during the month of May.

Don’s catch has inspired me to make a couple trips targeting weakfish this spring. I’d like to see if the same ingredients for big weakfish in South Jersey (pink soft plastics, outgoing tide, mud flats) will work here on the Cape.

Has anybody else had luck with weakfish this season?