Article by Julie Ball
With the passing of Labor Day, many summer favorites are beginning to show more late summer patterns as they stage to leave for the season.
Making up for a less-than-favorable summer showing, cobia continued to earn the top spot with inshore anglers last week. Fish of all sizes are surfacing all over the lower Bay and along the oceanfront as they prepare to migrate south. Folks are finding cobia around structure as well as free-swimming in singles, pairs and small pods. More of the larger fish were around last week, with several fish pushing to over 60-pounds hitting the scales. Chummers are also faring well, while those working the oceanfront continued to encounter good shark catches of varying species and sizes.
Flounder are behaving in the lower Bay again as they continue to assemble along channel edges, shoals and along the CBBT area. Good numbers of respectable flatfish continue to keep anglers content, although the trophy doormats are still scarce this year. Live bait and jigs are still working well on structure and wrecks, with most anglers reporting limits of fat keepers up to around 24-inches. Drifting off of Cape Henry and near Buoy 36A is generating nice fish, while the Baltimore Channel and High Rise areas are also producing for anglers dragging strips of bait. Coastal wrecks are providing good results, but most boats are finding no need to travel past the lower Bay area to target fish. Expect some nice sea bass and triggerfish as a by-catch on many of the same wrecks.
Sheepshead are still around, with decent fish taking fiddler crabs, crab and clams. The entire span of the Bay Bridge tunnel and all the tubes of the artificial islands are holding fish pushing up to 12-pounds.
Spadefish are still biting around the islands of the CBBT, with anglers finding scattered 4 and 5-pounders near the 3rd Island.
Triggerfish are still everywhere, often becoming a nuisance to anglers targeting other species.
Spot are gaining more attention with good hauls of decent fish coming from the local inlets, Willoughby Bay and the lower Bay rivers. A few speckled trout are still mixed in with the spot, along with scattered croaker inside Rudee Inlet lately. Specks are also showing within the branches of the Lynnhaven River.
The Lynnhaven basin area continues to host groves of small puppy drum, but Atlantic Bait and Tackle reports that nice keeper puppy drum were caught near the Lesner Bridge last week for shorecasters.
Speckled trout are also making a decent showing on the Poquoson flats, the seaside of Oyster on the Eastern Shore, as well as the Elizabeth River.
Spanish mackerel are zipping through tide rips near the Bridge Tunnel, along Cape Henry and along the buoy lines at the mouth of the Bay. A few king mackerel encounters are occurring off of Sandbridge, but nothing significant as of yet.
Amberjack are still available at the South Tower, and jack crevelle could be a nice consolation prize at the Chesapeake Light Tower.
Deep dropping for blueline tilefish, golden tilefish, and blackbellied rosefish is still a good choice, but most anglers will be interested in the offshore action right now.
Billfish were back in business last week, with some boats releasing a dozen or more whites in a day. The “Backlash” out of The Virginia Beach Fishing Center flew 17 flags last week, boasting epic double grand slams, while the “Waterman” also scored with a grand slam. The best marlin action is stretched from the 200-line to the triple 0’s, in around 50 to 100-fathoms. Dolphin are scattered about, with some citation fish in the mix, along with wahoo. Yellowfin tuna are scarce, but some fish are weighing up to 40-pounds if you can find them. Overnight trips are producing some big sharks and a few juvenile swords for boats lately.
Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A. representative for Virginia Beach, VA. For information, go to www.drjball.com.