The weakfish is considered a single stock and range along the Atlantic Coast from Florida to Massachusetts. They are currently most abundant from Rhode Island to North Carolina. The center of weakfish abundance in the winter ranges from North Carolina south and in the summer from Delaware north. Weakfish are considered year round residents of the Carolinas and migrate only seasonally to the north.
Adults migrate inshore to estuaries, bays and sounds during the spring to spawn.
After spawning, the adults may remain inshore or return to the ocean. The largest weakfish tend to congregate in the northern parts of their range during the summer. When water temperatures begin to decrease in the fall, adults begin to migrate south. Larger and older fish move south but offshore. The wintering grounds of adult weakfish are unknown but evidence suggests they winter along the continental shelf from the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Fear.