Article by Julie Ball
Anglers continue to experience fantastic fall saltwater fishing patterns on all fronts. The cooler water species will gain momentum as the temperatures drop, but for now, most of the commotion is the result of the departing summer species.
Inshore, cobia are still the biggest attraction, providing exceptional prospects for sightcasters lately. Huge schools of fish are cruising along the surface as they group up to exit the area. Live eels, croaker, spot or bunker make great live bait for cobia, but these fish can be quite finicky as anglers barrage these schools with offerings. Several fish are exceeding 50-pounds right now.
Big red drum continue to delight anglers as schools continue to swarm on lower Bay shoals and near the mouth of the Bay, where several reds were hooked near the 3rd and 4th Islands recently. Surfcasters are on alert, with the drum bite in the surf along Fisherman’s Island on the rise. Look for big bulls to also show in the surf off Sandbridge and near the Little Island Fishing Pier soon.
Nice Spanish mackerel are still chasing trolled spoons along Sandbridge and Cape Henry in about 20 feet of water. The predominantly easterly winds have ushered in clear water close to shore, jump-starting the king mackerel bite off the beach. Several kings up to around 30-pounds were hooked on the troll over the past week. Inshore trollers are also encountering red drum, cobia, some big sharks and even some jack crevelle and bailer mahi.
Sheepshead are still around for another month, along with lots of big hungry triggerfish, with the best action happening over the tubes of the CBBT. Tautog are also lurking in these same areas. Tog will be back in business starting on the 20th of the month.
Flounder are still rocking lower Bay waters as they continue to gather at the mouth of the Bay. Anglers working the 2nd and 3rd Islands of the CBBT and the Small Boat Channel are thrilled with catches of nice flatfish averaging to over 5-pounds lately. The Thimble Shoal and Baltimore Channels are also good places for drifters. Boats trying out the Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets are experiencing good luck, with scattered catches of 21 to 22-inchers. Offshore wreck action is also heating up. Captain Neal Taylor, skipper of the ‘Seaduction’ out of Lynnhaven, racked up a nice catch of wreck flatties up to 24-inches, along with some jumbo sea bass pushing to 4-pounds near the Triangle wrecks last week.
Escalating speckled trout catches are beginning to draw more interest. If you can sneak your offerings past hoards of hungry puppy drum, good numbers of specks are still biting in most of the usual haunts such as Hungar’s Creek, the Poquoson Flats and Mobjack Bay. Lynnhaven, Rudee and Little Creek Inlets, along with the Elizabeth River, are also giving up good numbers of fish, with some trout weighing in at over 5-pounds.
Spot are still making a good showing all over the southern and western sections of the lower Bay. Although the action slowed up a little last week, the upcoming coldfront could kick it up a notch over the weekend. Folks at The Fishing Center report that anglers are finding some yellowbellies in the Rudee and Lynnhaven Inlets, the lower Bay Rivers, near the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, Ocean View and along the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Medium and large croaker are lurking in deeper areas along channels, inlets, the Bay Bridge Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel and the Concrete Ships off Kiptopeke.
Amberjack are still active on local wrecks, the Chesapeake Light Tower and the Southern Towers through October, with jack crevelle also a possibility. Deep droppers are having good luck near the Canyon edges with limits of nice blueline tilefish and jumbo sea bass. Blackbellied rosefish, grouper and barrelfish are also adding to the deepwater variety.
In keeping with the excellent fall billfish trends we have experienced in recent years, white marlin are once again the main event offshore. The most recent upswing in billfish activity, with schools of white marlin swarming around bait balls, is drawing some of the best to the deep. Boats are flying dozens of white marlin flags. While a few boats are capitalizing on a method of releasing billfish via casting into bait balls, good numbers of billfish are also responding to traditional trolling methods. Scattered bigeye tuna are still blasting spreads in the Canyons, while yellowfin tuna are also still a possibility, along with some wahoo and mako sharks. Bailer-sized mahi are everywhere, with big gaffers more common last week.
Dr. Julie Ball is the I.G.F.A. representative for Virginia Beach, VA. For information, go to www.drjball.com.
