Article by VMRC - Saltwater Review
Chincoteague
According to Donna at Captain Bob’s, eel grass and wind have been a problem this week. Despite the poor conditions, Four Mouths and Queen’s Sound have been productive flounder areas, while the Assateague Channel action has quieted down. Jumbo minnows and squid have been successful baits, and a few flounder have also been caught using Gulp tipped with jumbo minnow. The biggest catch of the week was a 5 lb. 10 oz. flounder.
Onancock
Captain Wil of Onancock, said that high winds have made it difficult for anglers to get out this week. A few legal-sized flounder were caught in the bay right outside of Onancock. Croaker have not really arrived yet in the area, but there have been a few large catch-and-release striped bass reported.
Wachapreague
According to staff at Captain Zed’s Bait & Tackle, fishing in Wachapreague was good until the wind slowed things down. Anglers were catching a lot of nice flounder (despite numerous throwbacks). All the usual hot spots were producing, including the Hummocks, Cedar Island Cove, Bradfords Channel, Day Marker 134, and Drawing and Green Channels.
Cape Charles
According to Chris at Chris’ Bait and Tackle, anglers started catching black drum out of Oyster two weeks ago. Red drum were available in the surf, and there are rumors of good catches of flounder out of Oyster.
Lower Bay/Bridge Tunnel
Staff at Wallace’s Bait and Tackle reported flounder and tautog catches over the past week. The best tautog action was from the 3rd and 4th islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.
According to staff at the York River Fishing Center, croaker are numerous in the area. Speckled trout are also around, and last week, a 6 lb. 2 oz. citation speckled trout was weighed in.
Ken Neill of the Peninsula Anglers Club and IGFA representative, contributed the following:
Red drum fishing is red hot. Bull reds are being pulled from the surf line along Fisherman's and Smith Islands. Most of these fish are caught on bait fished on the bottom, but keep a good lookout and have a jig ready to cast. Roaming schools of big reds are providing some sight-casting opportunities. Small- to medium-sized black drum are being caught in the same area and inside some of the seaside inlets. Look for the first citation-sized fish to be caught this week.
Flounder continue to be caught in all of the normal flounder spots. That fishery has not been red hot with a lot of short fish caught. There are enough keepers and a few doormats around to keep anglers interested. This fishery will continue to get better as the waters continue to warm. Some larger flounder have been caught from the Buoy 36A area on up to Buoy 42.
Croaker are biting in the rivers from the James to the Rappahannock, with the occasional fish pushing the 3-pound mark.
The speckled trout fishery in the Mobjack Bay basin has started to turn on.
Tautog are going out with a bang. The tautog season is closed as of May 1.
May 1 also marks the opening of the two-week trophy striped bass season. You are allowed to keep one rockfish, at least 32 inches long, per person, per day.
Small bluefish are roaming throughout the lower bay. Large bluefish are on the offshore seamounts with the first citation-sized bluefish of the year caught at the Cigar.
Offshore bottom fishing out of Virginia has not been great this year. Blueline tilefish citations are at a fraction of what they were at this time last year. This is due in large part to the black sea bass closure that has kept many boats from heading out there. It is also due to the fact that fishing is just not as good as it has been the past several years. The dog sharks will be leaving and the sea bass fishery will open back up May 22 (unless something else changes). There will be more offshore bottom fishing activity once this happens.
The pelagic fishing season is just heating up out of Virginia. Tuna fishing continues to be good out of Oregon Inlet. This past week, boats from Virginia got in on the action by running to the Triple 0’s area. They found good numbers of bluefin and yellowfin tuna, plus some mako sharks.
Virginia Beach
Fishing has picked up in the inlet near the Virginia Beach Fishing Center. Anglers are finding plenty of Taylor bluefish, a few speckled trout and puppy drum, and flounder over 20 inches in length.
On the nearby beaches, anglers are reporting a few croaker, and from the Bay, flounder, tautog, and cod were reported.
Offshore, large bluefin tuna (well over 100 pounds) continue to be hooked, and deep dropping has been doing very well with grouper, tilefish, wreckfish, barrelfish, and blackbellied rosefish.
Outer Banks, NC
The bluefin tuna bite has slowed down considerably from Nags Head compared to the previous few weeks. Bonito, dolphin, wahoo, yellowfin, and blackfin tuna were also absent. Bottom fishing in the deeper waters was giving anglers something to brag about with amberjack, tilefish, and snowy grouper.
Closer to shore, striped bass were hanging out around eight miles offshore, and the artificial reefs saw black sea bass, sheepshead, tautog, and triggerfish. Nearshore trolling was producing bluefish with red drum and sea mullet outside the breakers. Good catches of puffers, sea mullet, red drum, and speckled trout were reported off of the piers. Inshore, anglers saw the speckled trout bite improve with some sheepshead and black drum in their usual haunts.
South of Oregon Inlet, bluefish were biting, especially in the evening with Ramp 43 rumored to be a good spot. A few puppy drum and flounder were found around the Point, and sea mullet and spot were caught on the northern beaches.
Offshore fishing off Hatteras saw limited action due to strong southwest winds; the boats that did go out concentrated on nearshore bottom fishing. Amberjack, black sea bass, and triggerfish could all be found in angler’s coolers.
