Not this again
Ok, here is the deal, it's really understandable how confusion arises;
For any fish, there are three names:
1) The Latin scientific name
2) The "official" NMFS Federal "common name" used by states when they publish regulations for the public. This is the same all over the country, pretty much.
3) The "common" name which local fishermen call something, which can instantly change if you drive 10 miles, and one species may have 5+ different names in different parts of the country.
A) CYNOSCION REGALIS, official common name "Weakfish"
These are the common fish with the tiny shimmering spots.
In universal common
ANGLER and tackle shop parlance in Maryland and Delaware,
WEAKFISH ARE CALLED SEA TROUT OR JUST PLAIN "TROUT." They are the same species.
In VIRGINA, weakfish are called "Gray Trout."
Thus
WEAKFISH ARE SEA TROUT ARE GRAY TROUT. They are all the same species.
The ONLY people that use the term "weakfish" in Maryland or Delaware are tourists from Pennsylvania or New Jersey or people that grew up in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or New York.
The
Federal "Official" common name for these for the entire coast is "Weakfish." So unfortunately in their brochures and on their website, MD DNR doesn't use the term "Sea Trout" as almost everyone in MD does, they use "Weakfish."
As an aside, a tiny handful of ancient oldtimers around here call these fish "Yellowfin trout" and an old dead term for weakfish from New England is "Squeateague."
B) CYNOSCION NEBULOSUS official common name "Spotted Sea Trout."
These are the much rarer and harder to catch fish (in MD especially, I've never caught one) with the really big dark spots.
NOBODY in MD, DE, or VA ACTUALLY ever calls these "Spotted Sea Trout" or "Sea Trout," the universal common term around here is "speck" or "Speckled Trout."
HOWEVER, in states like South Carolina and some parts of the Gulf, since they don't have any Weakfish at all, many people call Specks "Sea Trout." These are NOT the same Sea Trout as what people and Maryland call Sea Trout, which are Weakfish, and if you read or post on a national fishing board this can lead to infinite amounts of confusion.
Unfortunately, once again MD DNR on their website and in brochures uses the "Spotted Sea Trout" term which nobody around here actually uses.
Hope this helps

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