From weakies to porgies to winter flounder, it’s hard to keep up with the latest fishing regs. Here’s a quick status update.

Weakfish:

For many anglers, 2009 represented the worst weakfish season ever.

Despite early signs in the Sandy Hook region that the season had some potential, anglers’ hopes were dashed when the spring run of tiderunner weakfish - the biggest of the season - lasted only a few days and was generally thought of as a trickle of fish instead of the sustained surge of years past. Some argue that the proliferation of dogfish and striped bass may be responsible for the decline of weakfish. Others argue we’re in the midst of a natural “down period.”

Weakfish represent one of the few species where recreational anglers themselves called for tighter limits to be implented to help rebuild stocks. The state Marine Fisheries Council is expected to adopt a resolution in March limiting weakfish to a 1-fish bag limit in 2010.

Winter flounder:

The scoop on winter flounder goes back to last spring, when regulators met in Toms River to discuss options for the species, which has been largely non-existant south of the upper haunts of Barnegat Bay in recent years.

New Jersey anglers used to get two seasons - one in the fall and one in the spring - to catch the blackbacks but that was reduced several years ago to a single spring season once the species became rare. Unfortunately, it was largely agreed that reducing the seasons did not help. Last year, anglers did reasonably well with winter flounder near the Mantoloking Bridge in Brick and in the Shark River near Belmar. But Oyster Creek was the absolute southern cutoff of the majority of any notable winter flounder action.

As currently proposed, anglers will have a 2-fish bag limit and a 45-day season beginning in late March. The final date on which the season will start has not been determined. Commercial netters are also facing significant cutbacks this year which will greatly diminish their season as well.

Porgies:

Proposed regulations for the 2010 porgy catch have puzzled anglers since they were proposed in Decemer 2009.

The plentiful species has been a favorite of anglers - especially in the northern portion of the state - in recent years and reports in more southward locations from Barnegat Inlet and below were largely positive in 2009. Still, regulators met in December and decided to slash the bag limit from 50 fish to just 10 fish in 2010. The minimum size limit for porgies will remain at 9-inches, though anglers often find it’s not worth it to keep the smallest fish, instead preferring offshore trips to catch the larger members of the species.

The season will be open from July 1 through Dec. 30. The Jan.-Feb. season will not be affected by the new rules in 2010.

Summer flounder (fluke):

New Jersey’s most important fishery by leaps and bounds, summer flounder (fluke) remains the hottest off-season topic among anglers since the tasty flatfish is the prime target at the peak of the summer fishing season each year.

The good news is that the overall recreational quota is being raised to 22.13-million pounds from 18.45-million pounds in 2009. The bad news is that the feds felt recreational anglers caught more than their quota in 2009, so the difference will have to be made up in 2010.

If your B.S. meter just went off, you’re not alone. The same flawed data that showed sea bass quotas were overreached is being applied to summer flounder, so there still could be some changes made before the annual March vote on fishing regulations for 2010 in New Jersey.

Though we can only speculate on how the regulations will pan out for 2010, anglers should be prepared to face a season similar to 2009 in terms of size and date restrictions, assuming the government sticks to its guns on the quota disparity. Needless to say, there will be the usual wrangling on the state level as to whether or not the season should begin early or last late.

Check out the fireworks March 4, when regulators meet to vote on the 2010 limits at the Toms River Township Office, 33 Washington Street. The meeting begins at 4 p.m.