This lunker weakfish took a Deceiver fished over a nearshore reef during a bright summer day.

It wasn’t a case of “I never thought this would happen to me but...” Rather, it was a case of “I never thought this would happen to me again.” The last weakfish ( Cynoscion regalis) I’d caught nailed a bloody bunker chunk on an 8/0 hook in 30 feet of water off Madison, Connecticut. That was in 1980, and it seemed awfully optimistic to head out with the express intent of catching a weakfish—especially on fly tackle—just because of dockside scuttlebutt claiming, “the weakfish are back in western Long Island Sound.” After five unsuccessful drifts I again cut the motor 50 yards upcurrent of a rip while partner Al Buchman started paying out his fast-sinking fly line. Al let the gaudy Clouser Minnow sink to the ledge and began his retrieve with a slow jigging motion. Moments later, his rod bent double, the loose line rushed out and the spool started spinning.

“Fish on!” he said. “It’s definitely not a bluefish. It feels more like a decent bass.”

“Just be careful,” I said. “Let’s at least get a look at it.”

Our first glimpse of the long fish revealed iridescent flashes of gold and purple about six feet beneath the surface.

“Don’t lose him Al, I’ll get the net.”

“Trying not to, coach. Trying not to.”

It was almost too good to be true, and the weakfish piqued my curiosity.

According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), weakfish have recently experienced significant stock growth due mostly to declines in fishing mortality over the last eight to 10 years. And local scientists agree with the ASMFC’s assessment.

“Weakfish are a mysterious fish,” says Vic Crecco, Ph.D. biologist and research coordinator for the Connecticut Marine Fisheries Division. “While the overall local population has been down, there are reports of improving fishing in certain areas in western Long Island Sound. Still, the overall weakfish stock—remember, this population ranges from northern Florida to Massachusetts—is much higher now than it was in the early 90s. And it seems like the recovery is contributing to an aggregation of weakfish in our area. The fishermen say they’ve recently caught large numbers of big fish.”

The fishing for weakfish was outstanding between 1975 and 1980. Then it dropped off precipitously until the early 90s. Thanks at least in part to better management, weakfish made a comeback that peaked about 1998. During the late 80s and early 90s the stock was fished at a level three times higher than the ‘over-fished’ definition. So, ASFMC passed a series of amendments that regulated commercial take through seasonal closures, area closures, net mesh regulations and bycatch reduction devices on shrimp boats. The recreational fishery was regulated through state-specific size and bag limits. The latest amendment, Amendment 4, aims to return weakfish populations to the highest known historic levels, which occurred circa 1980.

“We can’t do much more,” says Crecco. “We’ve reduced the commercial and recreational removal rates. And we think we are in a range where the stock can grow very easily. But the environment isn’t constant; fishing isn’t the only impact. It’s just the only aspect, beyond habitat conservation, that we can control.”

Beyond habitat loss and fishing pressure exists the likelihood that stock growth has been impeded by other species.

Though similar in shape to seatrout, weaks have more body spots, and no spots on the tail or second dorsal fin.

“We’re speculating that the low weakfish counts are partly due to the ‘fluke effect,’” says Crecco. Weakfish are largely bottom dwellers that live in the same general area as the fluke. Small weakfish have been found in the stomach contents of fluke.

“We think that the increases in fluke, striped bass and Atlantic croaker are playing a roll in retarding the stock recovery of weakfish. We know that the croaker in the Mid-Atlantic area, particularly in Chesapeake Bay, feed heavily on young-of-the-year weakfish. Bluefish eat them, too.”

Weakfish are members of the family Sciaenidae, the drum family. Like their relatives, they can make a drumming noise with their swim bladder when under stress. Known by many other names, including northern seatrout, squeteague, gray trout, tiderunner and gray seatrout, weakfish derive their name not from lack of strength, but rather from the delicate tissue around their mouths.

Weakfish live along the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Florida, although they have occasionally been caught as far north as Maine and Nova Scotia. In winter, they are most common from North Carolina to Florida, and in the summer they stack up from Delaware to Rhode Island.