Photo: SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Cynoscion regalis · also gray trout

How to catch Weakfish

Weakfish feed in 55–80°F water and bite best at 60–74°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 10 waters; in October they are at their peak in The Lowcountry, The Southern Outer Banks & Cape Fear, The Outer Banks and 3 more.

15 pts · trophy at 24"Feeds 55–80°FBest 60–74°FIn season nowChannel edgePass / inletBridgeFishing pier

About

The gray trout of the First Coast: the spotted seatrout's bigger northern cousin, in the deeper channels and inlets of Northeast Florida in the cool months. A soft mouth and a purple sheen.

How to fish it

Drift the deeper channels and the inlet on a moving tide with a jig or a shrimp on the bottom; a soft mouth wants steady pressure.

What it eats

live shrimpcut baitjigs bounced on the bottom

Live bait for it

Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.

Mud minnows (killifish)Lip-hooked on a jig head or a 1/0 hook dragged along the bottom — the flounder bait.

BloodwormsA piece threaded on a #2 to 2/0 hook on a hi-lo or fish-finder rig — the striper, spot, croaker and white perch bait of the Chesapeake and the surf.

Sand eelsFree-lined or on a light jig head for stripers, fluke and bluefish; strips teased on a fluke rig.