Article by Dr. Ken Neill III
Drum fishing is the best thing we have going. Both red and black drum are being caught along the seaside of the Eastern Shore and around the shoals near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Some black drum are starting to show in the general “Cabbage Patch” area. Other than drum, nothing is great.
There are flounder being caught inside seaside inlets and some have been caught along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, on Hampton Bar and inside the York and Back Rivers.
The trophy striped bass season is open (36 inches and greater) and the bay season (20 to 28-inches) opened on May 16th. Be sure to check and understand these regulations. There are some striped bass at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, along the seaside of the Eastern Shore and in the York, James and Mobjack Bay Rivers.
Some speckled trout are being caught, but again, not in great numbers. Some nice fish have been hooked inside of Rudee Inlet. Some are being caught in the York River, in the Mobjack Bay, on the Poquoson Flats and inside of Back River.
Croaker fishing is decent in the Hampton Roads area.
Tautog fishing is excellent but the season is closed.
Sheepshead and spadefish will be arriving soon.
The black sea bass season reopened on May 15th. We were shut down during the best of our season but there will still be plenty of sea bass out there giving us a reason to venture back out into the ocean. Anglers will be fishing areas like the Triangle Wrecks and Tower Reef for sea bass and a possible flounder. Others will head further offshore for combination sea bass/tilefish trips. Fishing should be good.
The tuna bite could start anytime. It is good to our south, out of Oregon Inlet, where solid numbers of yellowfin are being caught.
Out of Hatteras, blue marlin are being targeted. Blackfin tuna and increasing numbers of dolphin are being caught.
Of special interest to local anglers, the cobia bite “is on” down in North Carolina. Cobia fishing will close in federal waters on June 20th. It remains to be seen if Virginia and North Carolina will follow suit with closures in state waters. This would be much more problematic for Virginia as the closure would occur just about the time the cobia season begins to heat up here. Virginia will decide at the May 24th VMRC meeting. This is one you may want to attend if cobia fishing is important to you. Options are anywhere between closing state waters effective June 20th to keeping the season open as is. In between, there are many combinations of boat limits, changes in size limits, different closure dates and so on. You can send comments in via email: rob.o’[email protected].
Dr. Ken Neill, III writes a Virginia fishing report for Virginia Beach Sport Fishing website (vbsf.net).
