Virginia Fishing Report

Article by Julie Ball

The summer heat is becoming a little more bearable as alternating cold fronts become the norm this month. Although this can make getting out on the water a little more difficult, the fishing trend is still good, with an upswing in the action in several species lately.

The cobia bite finally turned on over the past week, with catches improving daily. Sight casters are thrilled with the abundance and size of the fish, with a smattering of citations also hitting the scales. Good numbers of nice fish in the 30 to 40-pound range are cruising in open water in the lower Bay and along the oceanfront. Anglers are also spotting fish along tide lines, under schools of rays, frolicking among pods of bait, and hanging out on navigational beacons.

Chummers and bottom anglers are still catching some decent fish in the usual hot spots with cut bunker.

Captain Jake Hiles, skipper of the ‘Matador’ out of Rudee Inlet, conveys that anglers are staying busy with an exceptional number of large sharks along the oceanfront lately. His crew released five tiger and hammerhead sharks measuring over 6-feet long over a three day period.

Spanish mackerel are still available off Cape Henry and Sandbridge, but the bite slowed up lately.

Flounder action is still on a roll. The larger flounder were more plentiful last week, with some fish pushing over 7-pounds mixed in with respectable 4 to 5-pounders. Both live baiters and drifters are finding good luck, mostly in the southern portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Flatties are hitting along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel structure, mostly south of the 4th Island, along the edges of the boat channels, on most lower Bay wrecks, and on many inshore wrecks. Local inlets are also giving up some keeper fish, with many ranging up to 22-inches in both Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets.

Red drum continue their late-summer trend, with good action around the 3rd and 4th Islands of the CBBT, as well as the Nine Foot and Latimer Shoals areas. Small puppy drum are still active within both Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets this week, with speckled trout action on the rise within the inlets as well as the Elizabeth River, Mogothy Bay, and around the Poquoson Flats area.

Sheepshead are still hitting well, with nice fish taking fiddlers, crabs, sand fleas and clams. The entire span of the Bay Bridge tunnel, as well as the tubes of the artificial islands, are holding fish. Folks are also hooking into lots of keeper tautog in these same areas.

The triggerfish action is still a go, with some nicer triggers hanging on several inshore structures, along with some keeper sea bass.

Larger spadefish were hanging around the 4th Island last week, with reports of some spades reaching up to around 7-pounds.

Croaker continue to hit in most areas of the lower Bay. Some of the better spots include the MMBT, the CBBT, the Cell and the Concrete Ships. According to the folks at Chris’s Bait and Tackle, the croaker bite in Oyster is still marching right along, with coolers full of hardheads weighing to about 1.5-pounds the norm last week.

Some amberjack are still available at the South Tower and Jack Crevelle are also a possibility at the Chesapeake Light Tower, especially later this month. A variety of nice tilefish, grouper, blackbellied rosefish and barrelfish are accessible for deep droppers along the Canyon edges.
Offshore, the billfish bite is hit and miss. According to Captain Don Malkowski of Get Reel Lure Company, the water off Virginia left much to be desired last week, but a northerly blow could straighten things back up again. Scattered billfish and wahoo are still possible, along with some yellowfin tuna and nice mahi. Boats running to Carolina waters are finding a better selection, especially in the sailfish variety. Exceptional catches of sails, along with some scattered yellowfin tuna and bailer and gaffer mahi were the main event for the Carolina fleet last week.

Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A. representative for Virginia Beach, VA. For information, go to www.drjball.com.