Article by VMRC - Saltwater Review
Chincoteague
Donna, at Captain Bob’s, reports bad weather this week. Despite the rain and wind, Queen’s Sound has just started to turn on again for flounder. The Four Mouths, Buoys 5 and 7, and Buoys 20 and 17 near Captain Bob’s are also producing flounder. Throughout the area, snapper bluefish are mixed in as well, and skate and dogfish have moved in to aggravate everyone. The surf is sizzling with black drum and striped bass. At the end of last week’s flounder tournament, over 300 fish had been brought in—great job everyone!
Wachapreague
According to staff at Captain Zed’s, flounder are plentiful in Wachapreague. The keeper to throwback ratio is about 1 to 10, and Drawing and Green Channels and the Bull’s Head area continue to be active hot spots. Black drum are also biting off of the surf throughout the area.
Cape Charles
According to Chris, at Chris’ Bait and Tackle, they filled out a pile of red drum release citations last Saturday and Sunday. Most were caught near Buoy 13. On the seaside, flounder was hot out of Oyster until the wind picked up. Several black drum were weighed in as well last weekend, and one was over 80 pounds.
Captain Ray Cardone, of Cherrystone, reported that a few small croaker have shown up in the bay this week. He has also seen the beginning of the grey trout bite and landed a few kingfish.
Lower Bay/Bridge Tunnel
A few flounder were reported (up to 20 inches) from Salt Ponds Marina this week. Staff says that the weather has kept fishing to a minimum.
Dr. Julie Ball, IGFA International Representative for Virginia Beach, contributed the following:
The black drum action is slowly rising each week, with more and larger fish beginning to make a showing. Big black drums are still active in the more northern seaside inlets along the Eastern Shore, such as Great Machipongo Inlet off of Hog Island. Chowder clams on bottom rigs is the method of choice in this area.
In the bay, most catches are coming from near Buoy 13 off Cape Charles, where sea clams and peelers are the ticket. Most of the local black drums are averaging around 40 pounds. A few anglers are also reporting hooking black drum around the islands at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel while casting lures. Mark at Chris’ Bait and Tackle anticipates a good weekend, just in time for their First Annual Kiptopeke Black Drum Tournament.
The red drum bite is also picking up, rebounding from a lengthy decline after an early spring run. Boats are reporting as many as 2 to 6 fish per outing lately. The best success is coming from anglers presenting peeler crabs and bunker inside the inlet off Fisherman’s Island.
Anglers are also finding great results casting Power Baits and Storm Lures into the breakers off Smith Island lately.
Bay flounder continue to elude anglers, but those targeting flatfish within the local inlets are finding good results. The seaside backwaters of Oyster are productive, with limits of keeper-sized fish pushing over 4 pounds hitting bare hooks donned with either white grubs or minnow and squid combos. According to the folks at Ocean’s East 2, anglers working the Lynnhaven River and the basin area are also scoring with some nice keepers on jigged Berkley Gulps. Folks are also finding scattered keeper flounder near the mouth of Rudee Inlet.
Striped bass are still a sure thing, with the islands and the pilings of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel giving up school-sized fish on Storm lures. Top water action is also good, with a few fish topping 40-inches available. Small sea mullet and scattered smallish croaker are available around the 3rd island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.
Deep dropping is still a good bet, with a few trips scoring on bottom dwellers last week. Nice grouper, barrel fish, wreckfish, and rosefish were reported. On a recent trip to the Canyon, anglers caught blackbellied rosefish, wreckfish, golden tilefish, and grouper weighing almost 70 pounds. Although the dogfish are exiting the area, reports of blueline tilefish are on the slow side.
A few Virginia boats tested out the warmer water near the Triple 0s with yellowfin tuna, school-sized bluefin tuna, and dolphin to show.
Virginia Beach
Staff at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center reports that anglers in the inlet are doing really well with keeper-sized flounder (well over 20 inches), puppy drum (juvenile red drum), taylor bluefish, and a few speckled trout and croaker. Inshore, anglers are finding striped bass and flounder.
Offshore, the deep droppers are still doing well with grouper, tilefish, wreckfish, barrelfish, and blackbellied rosefish. 2 weekends ago, one of the headboats caught a 68-pound snowy grouper (tied with the world record).
Outer Banks, NC
Offshore fishing out of Oregon Inlet has seen the full range of tunas over the last week; bluefin, yellowfin, blackfin, bigeyes, and skipjack tuna have all been biting. In addition, trolling has produced dolphin, wahoo, king mackerel, and a few billfish.
Cobia continue their northward migration, with a few being caught offshore of Duck, mostly in the one- to three-mile range.
Bottom fishermen had beeliners (vermillion snappers), blueline tilefish, black sea bass, snowy grouper, and triggerfish.
Pier and surf fishing has seen cobia at night, sea mullet, bluefish, croaker, puffers, spot, red drum and striped bass.
Fishing in the sounds has produced the hit-or-miss speckled trout fishing that is typical during the summer months.
Flounder fishing has improved as more fish have moved into the sounds, and other summer denizens, such as bluefish and Spanish mackerel, have started to show up as well.
South of Oregon Inlet, the surf fishing hasn’t been bad or great. A few large bluefish and red drum have been seen around Ramp 55. Sea mullet were caught around Ramp 43. Hatteras Inlet had small bluefish in abundance, along with some small flounder.
Offshore fishing out of Hatteras has seen good numbers of gaffer-sized dolphin along with a few billfish, blue marlin, white marlin, and sailfish. Tilefish and grouper were being caught in deeper water. Cobia, Spanish mackerel, grey trout, flounder, and bluefish were being caught in the inlet and sound.
