Article by Julie Ball
It is difficult to decide what to fish for right now since so much is available. Inshore, the summer flounder scene is worth the effort, with more and larger flatfish becoming more common. The bigger fish are still coming from live bait offered along varying bottom structures toward the lower part of the bay. The Cell, Back River Reef, the CBBT structure, and inshore wrecks are just a few of the best flounder hot-spots lately. Drifters are also having good luck with strip baits near buoy 42 and the Thimble Shoal Channel near Cape Henry. Judy Isak of Virginia Beach scored with a nice 8 lb., 8 oz. flattie while working a live spot along the structure of the CBBT this week.
There are plenty of 3 to 7 lb. spadefish ganging up on suspended clam near the Bay Bridge Tunnel islands, with the 4th island providing the larger fish this week. The Chesapeake Light Tower, Tower Reef area, and near shore wrecks are also providing similar action. The biggest fish are still available at the Cell, but action is slow.
Sheepshead are faring well, with most of these structure-oriented fish coming from the Bay Bridge Tunnel proper. Clams and fiddler crabs are the best bait. Tautog will also take your offering in the same areas, along with triggerfish. Triggers are numerous again this year. These aggressive little fish will hit most any bait.
The cobia scene is still going strong in lower Bay waters. Sight casters are cleaning up, with big fish pushing up to around 80 lbs. Chummers are also finding steady action on the Latimer and the Nine-Foot Shoal areas. Barry Smith of Aylett, Virginia took a nice 77-pounder while chumming on Latimer Shoal using cut bait this week. Folks are also hooking red drum in these same areas. Black drum are continuing to offer results to casters targeting these massive fish around all four islands of the CBBT.
Croaker are biting around the CBBT, the HRBT, the Hampton Bar, and the Cell, where hardheads can range to over 2 lbs. lately. The back waters of Oyster are giving up daily coolers full of medium-sized croaker. Nice spot are also available around the Concrete ships, with smaller spot making a showing in Rudee Inlet. Puppy drum are taking baits within both Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets.
The excellent Spanish mackerel bite happening in lower bay waters and along the oceanfront is still a crowd pleaser. Captain Jake Hiles aboard the “Matador” out of Rudee Inlet reports that he is getting limits of good size Spanish averaging 21 to 22-inches and larger. With the frequent easterly winds lately, the king mackerel bite could take off soon.
Virginia tarpon made their debut on the Eastern Shore, but they have all but vanished over the last two weeks. Chris at Chris’ Bait and Tackle theorizes that the cooler weather lately has caused the water temperature to drop. Silver kings are very sensitive to water temperature, making the tarpon fishery questionable for the season.
Inshore wrecks are holding some decent keeper-sized seabass and triggerfish. Deep droppers are still pulling in good numbers of tilefish, rosefish and grouper, along with a smattering of seabass and white hake. Captain Skip Feller, aboard the “Rudee Angler”, reports that his crew caught several nice golden tilefish, blueline tilefish, and large blackbellied rosefish on this week’s long range deep drop trip out of The Virginia Beach Fishing Center.
Amberjack are ready for action on the local wrecks and at the South Tower. Jigs and live bait work well for these powerful fighters.
Offshore, the billfish bite is heating up, with multiple white marlin flags flying over the past week. The best action is coming from east of the Cigar area, with some nice gaffer dolphin in the mix. Yellowfin tuna are a little hard to come by, but the bluefin tuna are filling in. Good bluefin action is coming from the inshore lumps, with the Fingers and 26 Mile Hill providing solid action. Some of these fish are weighing up to over 100-pounds. Russell Mall of Lurey, Virginia boated a 135-pounder, which helped the crew of the “Ocean Pearl”skippered by Captain Steve Wray secure 2nd place in the Virginia Beach Tuna Tournament this week.
Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A. Representative for Virginia Beach, VA. You can find Dr. Julie’s reports at www.drjball.com.
