Article by Julie Ball
The Memorial Day weekend provided a great start to the summer fishing season. With the decent weather, anglers had the opportunity to target a variety of fish.
Many were very interested in the newly arriving cobia. Although a few cobia have been boated, the action has not really taken off yet. Chummers off of Grandview and Bluefish Rock caught scattered fish ranging to around 45-pounds this week. A few sight casters have also managed a few fish, with some going to around 50-pounds. This trend will only heat up over the next few weeks. The word from Carolina anglers also indicates the best is yet to come, with acres of cobia reportedly headed this way.
Red drum are still providing good action right now. According to the folks at Chris’ Bait and Tackle, boats are still releasing nice bulls from the Eastern Shore barrier islands. Large schools of reds are also cruising the surface along the oceanfront. The Virginia Beach Fishing Center reports that the crew aboard the “Waterman” released over 17 large reds from a school they encountered off of Rudee Inlet last week. A few black drum are still taking clam offerings near Buoys 10, 13 and 16 off the Eastern Shore, but most are now schooling around the islands of the CBBT.
Flounder pounders continue to sift through many shorts, but the bite is picking up. For those drifting strip baits near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Buoys 36A, 40, 42, and the Cell areas, mostly throwbacks are the norm, but a few doormats are also in the mix. Live baiters are finding much more consistent action with the respectable flatfish, with many ranging from 22-24-inches along the Bay Bridge Tunnel. The lower Bay Inlets, and back waters of Oyster and the ditch to Magothy Bay are giving up a smattering of keepers, with a few pushing to over 5-pounds. Some speckled trout are also responding in these same areas.
Tailor blues are still available within the local inlets, and a few puppy drum and croaker are also coming from within Rudee Inlet. Pier anglers along the oceanfront and the southern section of the Bay are picking through a few small flounder, croaker, Tailor bluefish and nice sea mullet. Croaker are now an easy target as decent hauls come from all over the lower Bay, with larger hardheads hitting in the back waters of Lynnhaven. Another summertime favorite, Spanish mackerel, debuted this week. In the Bay, a few boats fishing off of Grand View found a few Spanish mixed in with bluefish.
Anglers are watching the spadefish closely. With the water temperatures inching up, they should begin biting soon, along with sheepshead. Spades are schooling around the Chesapeake Light Tower, the CBBT and other inshore and Bay structures.
Striped bass are still available for those live-baiting over the tubes and near the rocks of the artificial islands of the CBBT, as well as at the curve approaching the 3rd Island.
For those venturing a little further offshore, keeper-sized sea bass are biting on many wrecks. The Triangle Wreck area is a popular sea bass destination this time of year. Even further out, deep dropping is still a good choice. For those fishing on the bottom near the Norfolk Canyon, tilefish, with a smattering of grouper, wreckfish and black bellied rosefish are available.
Jamal Esfahani and Whitney Bennis of Virginia Beach each scored with a 17 lb. 10 oz. and a 16 lb. 4 oz. blueline tilefish while deep dropping off Virginia Beach aboard the “Just Right” captained by Justin Wilson out of Lynnhaven last week.
Offshore, good water is becoming more approachable from Virginia, where decent catches of dolphin and yellowfin tuna are happening. Boats are busy deciding which way to go since bluefin and yellowfin tuna are already to our north at the Washington Canyon and big mahi and yellowfin tuna are more predictable to our south, along with a shot at a wahoo or a billfish. For more information, go to www.drjball.com.
Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A representative for Virginia Beach, VA. For more information, go to www.drjball.com.
