Article by Julie Ball
This year, the unofficial first day of summer is a special one. This is the first time the full moon falls on the same day as the Summer Solstice in nearly 70 years. So the longest day of the year happened on June 20th and so did the full moon.
The biggest inshore draw is still cobia, and with the decent weather recently, the action has been hot. Sightcasters are having the best success, with many boats scoring with double-digit hook-ups while cruising the lower Bay and Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) areas. Many of these fish are pushing to well over 50-inches. Boats using the chumming technique are also having good results from the Buckroe area off Hampton to the Inner Middle Grounds and the Nine Foot Shoals closer to the mouth of the Bay.
Red drum are still on a roll, with the Nine Foot Shoal and Latimer Shoal areas still consistently producing excellent catches of big drum. Most catches are occurring via bottom fishing with crabs, but casters are also finding some good top-water action while throwing lures to big schools of reds meandering around the mouth of the Bay and along the oceanfront.
Spanish mackerel are available along the Virginia Beach coast line, where the bite is still a bit scattered. The best catches are coming from the cleaner water and tide lines. This action will continue to evolve over the summer, and their close cousin, king mackerel can make a showing any day.
Flounder action continues to improve, but the recent stormy weather could throw the bite off. Anglers are finding luck with nice keeper fish from Oyster, the Cell area, off Kiptopeke, Back River Reef and near the artificial islands of the Bay Bridge Tunnel. Working jigs and live bait around the pilings and the tubes of the CBBT is most productive lately, especially near the 4th Island. Local inlets are also giving up good numbers of decent flatties, with several fish pushing to over 23-inches coming from Lynnhaven Inlet last week.
Nice-sized croaker and plenty of bluefish are available at the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, off Ocean View and around the CBBT. Some speckled trout are providing improving action along with some puppy drum within most lower Bay inlets and shallows. Surf and pier anglers continue to find a widely mixed bag along the lower Bay and oceanfront, including nice sea mullet, bluefish, puppy drum, small flounder, spot and small croaker. Bloodworms are always one of the top baits for these pan fish.
Spadefish are schooling in the usual spots around the Chesapeake Light Tower, nearshore wrecks and around the islands and pilings of the CBBT. Anglers are having good luck catching big sheepshead, with a few fish already pushing to over 10-pounds coming from lower Bay structures and bridge pilings.
Although the interest in deep dropping is waning with the evolving offshore action, deep droppers are still finding good catches of blueline tilefish, scattered big golden tilefish, some decent grouper, nice rose fish and side catches of jumbo sea bass. Sea bass are also available on several offshore wrecks. Amberjack have established residency on many offshore wrecks and at the Southern Towers.
The Virginia offshore scene has been good when boats can get out. Nice yellowfin tuna, tackle-busting bigeye tuna, along with very good numbers of nice gaffer mahi, are the main catches recently. Mako sharks and wahoo are also around, while arriving billfish are also adding some variety lately.
Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A. Representative for Virginia Beach, VA. For more information, go to drjball.com.
