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As a kid caught them every spring in late 60's and early 70s in the bays of LI. Great fish on light tackle. Lots of fun. Very tasty and mild. We had them for breakfast with eggs! I got a few in the 13# class and saw some as large as 16# back then.
During the early 80's there was a run that came up this way. There were some big fish that would feed with bass. They were even a derby fish for a few years. For the same period on BI they caught some monsters in the surf right with the bass at night feeding on sand eels. I saw a world record fish get fillet-out by a local there and never saw the scale. was over 20# easy...
These fish have dramatic cycles where they disappear for years then return. I am not sure if they know exactly why. I have seen commercial gill netters fill the cockpit of a boat and unload them for $0.15 /lb back in the what they call "the good old days" during the spawn in 4' of water. Made me cry as a kid. All those fish filled with roe.
They love shrimp. They go in the bays with eel grass in search of grass shrimp. They would gorge themselves on them. Lots of ways to catch them but If you really want to catch a tide runner (tiderunner are weakfish > 10#) then chum with grass shrimp and use light gear near a channel drop off in a bay with moving water. Beautiful fish. It is kind of like a saltwater rainbow trout...really pretty with yellow fins and a pinkish pearl like hue to a speckled back. They put up a decent fight too. You can rip their mouth pretty easy...hence the name weak. Don't horse them in too quick.
I heard they showed in decent numbers last year along the mainland bays in MA. I saw the show. It brought back memories. Lets hope they don't get wiped out before they make a comeback.
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