Article by Julie Ball
The fall fishing trend is off to a great start, with plenty of backwater, inshore and offshore action available…just take your pick. But trending fisheries can always change abruptly with severe weather, so with hurricane season approaching it’s peak, anglers are watching tropical developments with crossed fingers. Fall’s main players, such as spot, speckled trout and puppy drum, are beginning to draw more interest, while summer favorites such as flounder, cobia and red drum are staging to leave local waters.
Cobia continue to track out of the Chesapeake Bay with enthusiastic casters in hot pursuit. Look east for targets of fish concentrated in schools and pods on the surface in open water near the mouth of the Bay, and along the oceanfront, where many fish are exceeding 50-pounds lately. Nice fish are also cruising along bridge pilings and circling inshore and near shore buoys, which is typical for this time of the year. Both chummers and site casters are hooking double-digit numbers during recent outings.
Schools of big red drum continue to delight sight casting anglers near the CBBT and off the Virginia Beach shorelines, while the surf action is also picking up on the Eastern Shore barrier islands as these fish fatten up to head out of the Bay.
The flounder bite is the best it has been this season, and continues in an encouraging fashion. Keepers, with some flatties ranging to over 7-pounds, are taking live bait and jigs worked near the CBBT structure and drop-offs, with the 1st, 3rd and 4th Islands producing well lately. Boats working the channel edges along the Thimble Shoal and Baltimore Channels at the mouth of the Bay are also experiencing good results with fresh cut bluefish as bait working the best. The flatfish bite in the Rudee and Lynnhaven Inlets has been good lately and offshore wreck action in deeper water is also a good bet. Strip baits bounced over structure works well for wreck flounder. Expect nice sea bass as a by-catch on many of the same wrecks.
Spanish mackerel are available along tide rips near the Bridge Tunnel, along Cape Henry and along the buoy lines at the mouth of the Bay. A few rumored king mackerel encounters are occurring off Sandbridge, but nothing significant as of yet.
Anglers are finding bluefish, gray trout and schoolie-sized striped bass while casting, jigging and drifting baits around the HRBT and the CBBT, especially at night. Big sheepshead are still taking late season offerings along the entire span of the Bay Bridge Tunnel, with the action on the tubes escalating recently. Lots of big hungry triggerfish are also in the same vicinity. Triggerfish are also available on several inshore and offshore wrecks. Spadefish, ranging to around 3 to 4-pounds, are still hanging around the 3rd and 4th Islands, but the bite is very slow.
Nice yellowbelly spot and horse croaker are infiltrating the lower Bay and local inlets. Pier anglers are taking advantage of the abundant spot and croaker presence occurring from Buckroe to Sandbridge, toting away coolers of spot ranging to 3/4-pound and croaker pushing to over 15-inches last week. Good numbers of spot are also coming from within the Rudee and Lynnhaven Inlets, with bloodworms being the best choice.
Speckled trout are making a good showing in the Lynnhaven Inlet, the Poquoson flats, the seaside of Oyster and the Elizabeth River. This bite will continue to improve over the coming months. Plenty of aggressive puppy drum are responding for anglers casting jigs or offering fresh bait within the Lynnhaven, Rudee and Little Creek Inlets. Shrimp and peelers presented close to the bottom on jigs are working very well for larger pups right now.
Big amberjack are available on local wrecks, at the Chesapeake Light Tower and at the South Tower. Jack crevelle are also a possibility around the Tower Reef area. Deep droppers are still having good luck near the Canyon edges lately. A few boats are reporting limits of nice blueline tilefish, blackbellied rosefish, scattered golden tilefish and nice sea bass.
Offshore action is still very good, although the billfish action is spread out. If you can find a concentration of fish, the white marlin bite can be amazing. But in general, good numbers of white marlin and scattered blue marlin are keeping those boats venturing to bluewater busy. A few sailfish, spearfish and swordfish were also reported last week. Some 50-pound class yellowfin tuna and occasional bigeye tuna, some big wahoo, mako sharks and bailer dolphin are also rounding out catches.
Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A. representative for Virginia Beach, VA. For information, go to www.drjball.com.
