If possible, bleed, gut, and ice these fish as soon as possible to minimize rehandling. If you cannot bleed or gut them immediately, ice them whole and process them as soon as possible. If weakfish are not properly iced, their flavor will change after only a few hours at summer temperatures. Pack gutted weakfish on ice with the gut cavity down to prevent meltwater from collecting. Pack the gut cavity of large weakfish with ice to speed cooling.
Weakfish fillets are fairly fragile.
Weakfish are best when used as soon as possible.