Jun 06 2008
Virginia Fishing Reports: Chesapeake Bay, Inshore and Offshore Reports Updated June 6, 2008
Virginia Fishing Report: Covering the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Inshore and Virginia Offshore Fishing by Tidal Fish Correspondent Julie Ball
The weather is warm and the fish are here, so it’s time to bait up and hit the water. Anglers mostly continue to chase very cooperative red and black drum while awaiting the spadefish bite. The spades are here and schooled around most usual locations, but have yet to launch into their typical early feeding explosion. These fish are still holding tight to structure, with most fish averaging below five pounds. A few incidental catches of big spades have angler’s hopes up, such as the impressive 9-pound, 13-ounce spade caught by Leo Olivarez of Virginia Beach while casting a swimming lure intended for bluefish at the 3rd island this week. (Pictured is Tidal Fisher “dkrash1″ with a nice spadefish caught at the tower fishing aboard Capt. Jim Brincefield’s Jil Carrie. Check the full report here .) The drum on the other hand, are still imparting great catches along the Eastern Shore shoals, with the area south of Fisherman’s Island, near buoy 10 still the most popular spot for both reds and blacks. Some boats are releasing more than a dozen fish in one outing lately.
Cobia catches are becoming more prevalent as these covert fish make their way to the spawning grounds. Linda Wright of Seaford had a good day when she hooked the first large fish of the season while fishing near York Spit Light. Her brute tipped the scales at 64-pounds. Many of the biggest fish will come from off the Grandview, Back River, and Buckroe areas early in the season. Live eels, croaker, and cut bait works well this time of year.
Flounder pounders are sifting through many shorts to get their bounties, but a few bigger fish are rounding out some catches. Folks are still working the inlets for the best chance of landing keepers.
Smaller gray trout are available around the Concrete Ships, the HRBT and Sewell’s Point, as well as a few decent flounder up to 21-inches. But the best news about the gray trout is the debut of larger fish at the CBBT. Chris at Chris’ Bait and Tackle reports that grays ranging to around eight pounds are hitting grubs presented around the northern span of the CBBT. Joseph E. Hudgins, Jr. of Chesapeake scored with the new state leading gray trout when he hooked a nice 9.5-pound specimen while working the 4th island area.
CAPT Steve Wray of Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle reports that striped bass up to 32-pounds are still hitting live bait over the tubes and along the pilings of the CBBT, especially at the curve approaching the 3rd island.
Pier anglers along the ocean front are picking through small flounder, small croaker, and Taylor bluefish. Larger croaker are still available within the tributary rivers. Kendall Osborne, outdoor writer, reports that he found some good hardhead pullage while fishing with his kids at the Lafayette River this week. They had three fish that went over 2-pounds using Bag-O-Worms Fishbites on the flood tide.
Anglers trolling off Cape Henry have hooked into a few Spanish mackerel, along with Taylor bluefish. Expect this trend to improve as the waters warm.
Deep dropping ventures are still rewarding most boats with coolers full of blueline tilefish and black seabass, although CAPT Jake Hiles, skipper of the Matador, observes most catches of bluelines are of the smaller variety right now. If you venture to the deep, you may also have a chance at a golden tile, grouper, or even a mako shark. Several makos were hooked and boated lately.
Offshore, the fishing continues to deliver. The good season introduction is fulminating positive prospects about the offshore trend for the year. Decent catches of nice yellowfin tuna and gaffer dolphin were accented by a whirlwind of billfish activity near the Triple Zeros this week, where several blue and white marlin were released. Michael Hall of Virginia Beach also landed a nice 38-pound dolphin while trolling at the Cigar this week.
Dr. Julie Ball
IGFA Representative,
Virginia’s Eastern Shore Fishing Report
Covering Inshore and Offshore Fishing out of Wachapreague, Chincoteague and Assateague
by Kevin of Lyn B Sportfishing - TidalFish.com Correspondent
No report his week, fishing must be very good or very windy
Kevin of Lyn B Sportfishing, a 34ft custom sport fisherman Captained by Bill Bowen. They offer inshore, wreck and offshore fishing adventures. Fishing from the Wachapreague, Wachapreague . Call 757-787-1074 to book a trip.
However we did get these reports from the Virginia Saltwater Review:
Chincoteague
The fishing has changed little over the past weeks at Captain Bob’s. Kingfish have turned on, and the best bait has been Fishbites synthetic bait (the bloodworm variety). Most kingfish have been found in the inlet near marker 15. A few nice drum are still coming in from the surf, as well as kingfish, skates, and a rare flounder. Shark can be found on the north side of the Queen’s Sound and the Assateague Channel. When the wind allows, some anglers have been catching flounder, but the throwback ratio is high. Nice bluefish were found near the mouth of the inlet and a few at Queen’s Sound, and snapper bluefish were hooked near the inlet—Donna reports that’s a good indication of good tuna fishing to come. No one was able to get out offshore all week because of high winds and seas.
Wachapreague
At the Wachapreague Marina, good fishing can be found in the inlet. Last week, a 7-pound flounder was weighed in, and staff has heard reports of several keeper flounder. A 23-inch grey trout was also landed. Offshore, the wind has kept most boats inshore; however, there are reports of nice catches of black sea bass on the wrecks when boats can go out.
Staff at Captain Zed’s report that anglers are still doing well with flounder. Last week, the reported throwback ratio was 10 undersized fish to 1 keeper (19 inches or greater). In the surf at Paramour Island, nice red drum are being hooked. A few offshore boats have done well with black sea bass at the wrecks this week.
Virginia Middle Bay
Staff at Jett’s Hardware reports that fishing is picking up. Anglers are catching bluefish, although the big ones haven’t shown up yet. Croaker catches are good sizes—croaker can be found from Fleets Bay to Maryland. Striped bass are looking good on the channel edges and reefs. In Virginia, there has been a lot of trolling for striped bass, while in Maryland, most anglers are chumming. There have been only a few reports of spot and trout in the area, staff reports that those fish are on their way soon!
Keeper flounder have been found near the jetties, according to staff at Smith Point Marina. Croaker and spot are active in the shallow water as well. To the north, striped bass are caught by those chumming, and some have been found at the Reedville reef.
There are plenty of fish, but few fishermen at Locklies Marina! Gas prices are keeping many boats from launching. Those that venture out are finding plenty of croaker, with a few keeper flounder at White Stone Bridge. A few small spot and keeper-sized grey trout have also been hooked.
At Garrett’s Marina, croaker are biting very well. Large ones are starting to show this week. Other than the croaker, the standard fish for the area—catfish—are biting as expected.
Captain Jim Thompson of Deltaville reports coolers filled with croaker up to 18 inches last Sunday. The range light on the Eastern Shore was the place to be as the Rappahannock and Piankatank Rivers are producing only small croaker and spot. The Cell is producing only a few flounder, but there are some snapper blues and a few sea mullet to be found. Very few boats are fishing as the fuel prices are keeping them at home.
by Jerry Thrash From Patriot Charters and Queens Creek Outfitters
Jerry writes, “Croaker are biting well in the open bay and in the creeks, but the flounder bite has been slow over the past week. Spadefish are rumored to have been caught at the Cell and at Wolftrap, but none have been weighed in at the store or at Gwynn Island Boatel yet. Speckled trout fishing continues to be hot! We registered six more citation specks this week, five from the North River and one from the Piankatank River.”
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