Grass shrimping for weakfish is an old school but effective tactic, and done right, reigns supreme to catch autumn weakfish that are pushing into the backwaters of Jersey’s shallow bay systems.

I fished with Captain Dave DeGennaro of the Hi-Flier this week, www.hiflier.com and learned the ins and outs of proper shrimping. Start by buying roughly 3 to 5 gallons of grass shrimp at the local tackle shop or from a bay shrimper. You want to find a solid ledge that dips into a channel to allow the shrimp slick to churn out, attracting fish to come up from the deeper water onto the ledge to feed. Set anchor and start dishing out handfuls of shrimp to get a slick going, and keep doing so every minute.

You can fish 4 rods pretty effectively and without hassle. Go with very light set ups, such as a 5-1/2 to 6 foot rod such as a Tsunami TSCS561L matched with a Penn Battle 2000 or an Okuma Avenger ABF30. Spool up with 8-pound Trilene monofilament running line.

Each rig will have a 50-pound Spro barrel swivel, to a 28-inch section of 12-pound Seaguar Fluorocarbon leader and a size #2 Gamakatsu or Mustad Baitholder hook on the end. Two lines will be weightless, one will have a size B split shot above the barrel swivel and the fourth will have a slip bobber float adjusted for about 10 feet above the shrimp bait.

When baiting the hook, lance on the first grass shrimp through the carapace and thread it on, then pile on three to four other shrimp hooked through the meat section behind the rostrum to in effect make a shrimp ball. Always have a little bit of slack in each of the lines and keep the bails open. This allows the shrimp baits to flow freely and natural with the slick so it doesn’t trigger and suspect activity from a weakfish. You’ll see the hit when the line starts peeling off or the bobber goes under, immediately engage the bail and set the hook. Bay weakfishing via grass shrimping is a fast paced affair as you can really dial in dozens of fish when the slick gets rolling.