Article by Julie Ball
Most anglers are chasing the man in the brown suit. Cobia action is still on the upswing, with decent numbers of fish responding to a variety of techniques last week. Sightcasters are content with quantity, although the much larger fish continue to elude the hunt. Both live bait and lures are working for most fish. Chummers are also having good luck with nice fish hitting in-between critter bites, which is common for this time of year. Using live bait on a float can help reduce this nuisance, but the chum slick always attracts uninvited dinner guests. The Inner Middle Grounds and Latimer Shoal are providing good results with some larger fish being caught on live croakers, eels, and cut bait.
Big red drum continue to school around the Eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay, where a few reds are taking bait intended for cobia. Black drum continue to hit around the artificial islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, where anglers are hooking an occasional fish while casting grubs and shads.
Flounder action was more solid last week, with limits of keeper flounder becoming more common. The folks at Ocean’s East 2 report that drifters are scoring with nice flatties along the lower Bay channels and off Ocean View using strip baits and gudgeons. Those jigging along the Bay Bridge Tunnel and other lower Bay structures are finding larger flatfish on average, with many ranging over 5-pounds last week. Live spot is working well near structure, while 2-ounce jigheads adorned with plastics are a good choice for jigging around the piling bases and along the tubes. Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets are also giving up some good catches of keeper flatfish recently.
The Spanish mackerel scene is on a roll lately, with plenty of big fish available for boats trolling the lower Bay, the CBBT, and the oceanfront shorelines. Limits of big fish, ranging up to 24-inches, are delighting inshore trollers, with plenty of Tailor bluefish mixed in. The largest fish came from off Cape Henry last week.
The CBBT structure is offering some decent catches of big sheepshead, where clams and fiddlers worked well, especially near the 3rd and 4th Islands last week. Big triggerfish are also biting in the same areas. Spadefish are pretty much everywhere right now. The Chesapeake Light Tower and the CBBT are giving up good numbers of fish, with most spades averaging around 4 to 5-pounds lately.
Puppy drum are becoming more active within the Lynnhaven Inlet, with reports of some fish measuring up to 28-inches lately. The Virginia Beach Fishing Center reports that spot showed up inside Rudee Inlet and speckled trout are also still a good possibility. Croaker are an easy target throughout the lower Bay, with some fish pushing to over a pound near the Bay Bridge Tunnel, the Cell and the Concrete Ships. Smaller hardheads have shown up in Oyster, but the larger fish should debut any day. Tarpon are making a stealthy showing in the backwaters of Oyster, where sightings have been verified, but no word of any hook-ups yet. Nice sea mullet are hitting in the southern, Small Boat Channel at the CBBT, and within the inlet to Magothy Bay.
Amberjack are a good bet at the Southern Towers and at some offshore wrecks such as the Triangles, Ricks and Hanks. Deep droppers are still finding nice blueline and golden tilefish, wreckfish and blackbellied rosefish. Some nice seabass are available on the nearshore wrecks as well as on structure 30-miles out. Sea bass are also scattered among the schools of blueline tilefish in deeper water.
Offshore patterns are still scattered lately, but can be awesome once the bite is pinned. Some huge, scattered yellowfin tuna are still rewarding boats putting in their time, with some of these fish weighing over 90-pounds. Some bailer mahi are around, along with an occasional shot at a billfish. The action out of Carolina is still very good, and should be heading this way!
Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A. representative for Virginia Beach, VA. For information, go to www.drjball.com.
