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Gray Trout (Weakfish)
OpenCynoscion regalis
The NC rulebook, translated for the Banks.
The Short Version
North Carolina puts no size floor on Gray Trout (Weakfish); measure nothing, but count everything. The daily creel is 1 per person per day, and the fishery is open through the whole calendar year.
Keep Size
No minimum
Any size is legal to keep
Run the tape from the snout to the far edge of the tail pressed flat together — a pinched tail adds the half inch that decides a citation.
Daily Creel
1 per person per day
What one angler may take per day
Counts are per person unless the rule says "per boat," and they aggregate across everywhere you fished that day — sound, surf, and ocean all land in the same tally.
Season Window
Year-round
When harvest is legal
Open through the year unless an emergency closure posts.
Where It Stands
Open
Harvest is legal; emergency in-season shutdowns are rare but do happen — glance at the DMF proclamations page anyway.
A Bonus, Not a Target
Gray trout — weakfish — run the piers, inlets and sounds from May into the fall, and they are caught most often on a spec rig or a jig fished near the bottom. They are a schooling fish in decline, and North Carolina manages them accordingly.
The one-fish creel is the whole story here. Gray trout are legitimately good eating, but the honest local advice is to treat them as a bonus bycatch rather than something to target, and to release the rest carefully. They have soft mouths, so fight them gently and handle them with wet hands if you are letting them go.
The Fine Print
- •No size limit, but the stock is why the creel is set at one fish.
- •1 per person per day — the tightest creel of any common OBX species.
- •Caught on spec rigs and soft plastics near the bottom around piers, inlets and sounds.
- •Soft-mouthed fish; keep the drag loose and release carefully if you are not keeping it.
Updated Oct 30, 2026