Way South and Virginia Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 8/31/2018 Update:
Editor’s Note: Mollie Rudow, our intrepid fishing report compiler, started at St. Mary’s College of Maryland last week. As a new student she has prioritized her studies and will no longer be working on our FishTalk fishing reports every week. Moving forward, Parker Martin, our former FishTalk intern who has filled in for Mollie in the past, will be gathering the intel and writing up the reports. Please join us in welcoming Parker to the reports!
On a different note, they also reported some king mackerel being caught near the sand bridge area, so be on the lookout for an opportunity to wrangle with the kings! Prepare accordingly, with wire leaders and plenty of cut bait to satisfy them. The flounder bite, on the other hand, has dropped off significantly and been less than satisfactory recently, with few keepers being brought in by local anglers this week.
Way South and Virginia Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 8/23/2018 Update:
The upper VA tributaries remain rather messy thanks to all the runoff we've had, with discolored waters in the Rap down to Belle Isle and in the James all the way to Newport News, though at least catfish are being reported in the vicinity of the Rt 360 bridge and other mid-river areas. Thanks to all the freshwater flowing into the Bay right now, the catfish's range has been greatly expanded. The mouths of the tributaries are still holding croaker and spot, with bloodworms being the best bait. Our Coastal Correspondent John Unkart paid a visit to Cherrystone one day last week, where grandson Hunter discovered excellent bottom fishing action and caught a mix of sea trout, kingfish, spot, and puffer fish, while casting bloodworms and Fishbites from the pier.
Farther south, the CBBT remains a good bet for flounder on bucktails dressed with Gulp!, though there are significantly more throwbacks than keepers around. Anglers targeting spadefish on clam bits around the islands have also been having some success, and a few fishing very close in to the rocks with sand fleas have also caught sheepshead. Capt. Stan on the Blind Date checked in to let us know that the lower Bay has also been consistently producing cobia, and also some blacktip sharks lately. Anglers pushing out into the ocean and trolling have been rewarded with catches of Spanish mackerel, and some mackerel and blues have also been caught recently by those casting spoons from the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier. Fishermen using bottom rigs and bloodworms, on the other hand, are picking up spot and kingfish there. Spot have also been the mainstay recently at Buckroe.
We also had several reader reports come in of cobia this week, mostly caught on live eels being cast to fish sighted on the surface in the Cape Charles area. In that area chummers are having to weed through a larger number of skates, rays, and sharks these days, while locations a bit farther up the Bay with fewer of those creatures around, like Windmill Point, seem to be a better option for chumming.
Way South and Virginia Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 8/16/2018 Update:
Virginia waters have been home to a stellar surf bite, with kingfish and croaker in great abundance. Bottom rigs armed with peeler crab, sand flea, or squid strips have been working best and are sure to draw the attention of small blues and flounder hanging out in the shallows as well. Oceans East reported flounder and blues have been scattered throughout the lower Bay and are present in great numbers in the inlet, and are steadily taking spoons and small jigs worked just off bottom. Drifting squid strips is also a popular method of getting flounder on board. The flatfish are around the CBBT, though many have been rather small and the bigger ones are mostly coming from the inshore wrecks and reefs. Sheepshead have been in Rudee inlet as well, and are mixed in with the flounder catch, primarily taking squid strips or white Gulp! lures. Trollers in the area have been encountering mostly small bluefish, along with a few Spanish mackerel. Small spoons and hoses are the best bet for trolling.
Fishing for stripers has been slow, as many are in waters further north. The lower Rappahannock remains a good bet for the rockfish, which have been found under some pods of working birds recently. A few Spanish mackerel have also been mixed into the schools, as well as (mostly small) bluefish.
As for cobia, the bite is best described as decent but not gangbusters. Chumming at Cape Charles and Windmill Point remains two of the steadiest options, with area anglers also reporting that cobia are now being spotted with some consistency around the channel markers.
Way South and Virginia Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 8/9/2018 Update:
With fishing in the southern waters of our bay relentlessly lively, the southern-most parts of the Chesapeake are the place to be. J&W reported that for striped bass, a good move is to run up to the mouth of the Potomac and try chumming. There are also stripers mixed in with bluefish being caught by chummers at the CBBT, but most of them have been small. Flounder fishing at the CBBT and also along the sharp drops inside the bay off areas including Pungoteague, stayed steady this past week with anglers bouncing jigs along the bottom and drifting squid strips. The squid strips are also attracting the attention of croaker, particularly on the Cape Henry side at the Bay's mouth. Bishop's noted that the stripers have been biting slow but steady for chummers at the mouth of the Bay and near the CBBT for anglers willing to wait. They also reported good flounder fishing in the Bay and around the CBBT, but noted that the flatfish being caught around the inshore wrecks have been far larger, making the run out of the inlet worth it. Cobia have remained elusive all throughout the bay area, and have not wandered in any great number north of Virginia.
Way South and Virginia Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 8/2/2018 Update:
While there is some garbage flowing down from the western shore rivers, and sections of the Rappahannock, York, and James are still somewhat swelled, thankfully Virginia's portion of the Bay has thus far been spared the brunt of the monsoons as compared to up north. For an update on how it's been in the upper portions of the Bay, check out Chesapeake Bay Boating Alert: Yes, it IS Bad Out There!
Meanwhile, despite the increase in freshwater flow the croaker continue to bite in the mouth of the Rap. Bloodworms on bottom rigs are the best bet. J & W also mentioned that for striped bass, a good move is to run up to the mouth of the Potomac and try chumming. There are also stripers mixed in with bluefish being caught by chummers at the CBBT, but most of them have been small. Flounder fishing at the CBBT and also along the sharp drops inside the bay off areas including Nassawadox and Pungoteague, meanwhile, took off this past week with anglers bouncing jigs along the bottom and drifting squid strips. The squid strips are also attracting the attention of croaker, particularly on the Cape Henry side at the Bay's mouth. Bishop's noted the same diversity in recent catches, and adds that the stripers have been biting slow but steady for chummers at the mouth of the Bay and near the CBBT; invest some time in chumming and you do have a good shot at catching them. They also reported good flounder fishing in the Bay and around the CBBT, but noted that the flatfish being caught around the inshore wrecks and reefs are on the whole much larger. If you want to hit the CBBT and aren't intimately familiar with it, this would be a good time to check out Summer Fishing at the CBBT, by local fishing sharpie and FishTalk contributor Chuck Harrison.
Oceans East adds that in addition to the flounder, stripers, blues, and croaker, there have been some sheepshead caught in the inlets. Sand fleas and peeler crabs are the best baits if you want to target this species; fish them close to the rocks and pilings. They also encouraged anglers to give the surf a shot, since there are kingfish, croaker, and blues hitting in the suds. Try bloodworms on small doodlebug rigs for the kingfish and spot, and cut spot or mullet on rigs with larger hooks for the bluefish. Sunrise and sunset have been the best bites.
Cobia are by all accounts around, but have remained rather difficult to catch. One reader we spoke with spent a day sight casting between Cape Charles and the CBBT, and although they spotted dozens and dozens of fish, could only get four to bite and only one of those was a keeper. Chummers seem to be doing slightly better but still nothing like last season at this time. We didn't hear any new reports from Windmill Point this week but that's remained one of the more reliable areas for chumming them up; naturally we'll pass along any additional intel as we can.