Saltwater
Weakfish
Where to find them, how to catch them and the tackle to use.
01Introduction
The weakfish is a sleek, colorful member of the drum family, with an olive-green back, an iridescent sheen of blue, green and lavender, dark spots in wavy lines and yellow fins. It's also called squeteague, sea trout and, for big ones, tiderunner. The name comes from its tender mouth, which tears easily, not from its fight. Weakfish usually run 12 to 18 inches but can reach about 3 feet. Their numbers rise and fall in long cycles, which makes a good weakfish year something anglers wait for.
02Where to Catch
Range: Nova Scotia to Florida, most abundant from New York to North Carolina.
Habitat: bays, sounds, estuaries and nearshore ocean water. Weakfish hunt in eelgrass beds, along channel edges, around sandbars and at the mouths of rivers and creeks with marsh banks. During the day they tend to hold in deeper water, moving into the shallows toward dusk.
Seasonal movements: in spring, weakfish move inshore and north from their offshore wintering grounds into bays and estuaries to spawn and feed. Larger fish range farther north. In late fall, as the water cools, they leave the estuaries and head south and offshore to the continental shelf. In fall they're often caught in shallow nearshore ocean water on the way out.
03How to Catch
Timing
From shore, fish at dusk and after dark, when weakfish come into shallow water. Weakfish are sensitive to current. On The Water's writer does best on the falling tide as it pulls bait out of the estuaries, and less well on the incoming. They run in schools, so when anglers down the beach start hooking up, fish may be headed your way.
Lures
- Soft plastics on jigheads: a small paddletail with just enough weight to reach bottom is deadly when weakfish hold low. In strong current, switch to a straight-tail bait. Work lures down-current and close to the bottom, hopping them or dragging them over sandbars.
- Bucktails and shad darts: a bucktail dressed with a brightly colored curly tail is a proven producer.
- Plugs and spoons: subsurface swimming plugs and spoons catch weakfish, especially bigger fish and fish feeding on young menhaden. Keep a variety of colors; weakfish can be color-sensitive.
Bait
In bays, chumming with live shrimp and fishing shrimp in the chum line is a classic method. Shedder crab, squid and spearing are also excellent baits.
Where on the spot
Weakfish often hold on the down-tide edge of a drop-off, picking off bait as it washes over. Cast so your lure or bait drifts over the edge to them, and let it hang and flutter in the current before working it back.
04Tackle
A 7- to 9-foot light-action spinning rod handles most shore fishing, with lures usually around an ounce and under two. The soft rod keeps the hook from tearing out of the fish's thin mouth during head shakes, so play fish gently. Fly anglers use an 8-weight rod in calm back bays and a 9- or 10-weight on exposed shorelines, with weighted flies and shrimp patterns. Weakfish limits are regulated and change often, so check your state's current rules.
05Questions anglers ask
Why is it called a weakfish?
The name refers to its thin, tender mouth, which tears easily when the fish is hooked, not to how it fights. Use a rod with a soft, light action and don't horse the fish, or the hook can pull out during its violent head shakes.
Why are weakfish so hard to find some years?
Weakfish numbers rise and fall in cycles. Maryland's fisheries agency describes coastwide catches as at an all-time low and links the decline to rising natural mortality, with too little forage and more predation by striped bass as leading causes. On The Water reported in 2024 that the past several years had been better in its area.
When do weakfish feed in shallow water?
Weakfish are shy about coming into the shallows in daylight. They tend to move in toward dusk and later, and hold in deeper water during the day. On The Water's writer finds the falling tide around dusk the most productive, as the current pulls bait out of estuaries.
Do weakfish have teeth?
Yes. Weakfish have a pair of large, fang-like canine teeth at the tip of the upper jaw. Grip them carefully, or use a lip gripper, when unhooking one.