Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, April 29 Update:
The spring fishing frenzy has officially busted loose in these parts, currently headlined by awesome redfish action on both slot and over-slot fish. Starting with the inlets, by all accounts the bite has been red hot lately and Oceans East is reporting it's spectacular for the drum with speckled trout catches also ratcheting up in recent days. Bigger fish (both redfish and also black drum) are being caught on the shoals off Fisherman’s on clam and crab baits, as well as at the Cabbage Patch. And the reports of the reds including very-over-slot fish continue to come in with more caught at Poquoson this week. Added bonus: we’re hearing about lots of reds being intercepted along the Outer Banks as they move north, so plenty more are headed this way!
Hampton correspondent Chuck Harrison took his boat out for a spring shake-down cruise this week, and ran to the HRBT to see if he could locate any fish. Though reds and specks proved noncooperative, he says he picked up a 22-inch striper while jigging.
With water temps right around 60 degrees at the mouth of the Bay the CBBT tog bite on crab chunks is now much more reliable. However, remember that May 15 will end the season, so if you want to set your sights on this species you’d better act fast. Though no confirmed intel came in from the Cement Ships this week, that spot should be producing tog as well and since it's easier to access via kayak, we're betting that fish will be caught there in the coming days if they haven't already. Also along the CBBT, nearby channel edges and drops have been producing a few flounder. Certainly not in the numbers being picked up in the ESVA inlets and bays (more on that bite in the Coastal report) but this is another option that should get better and better in the very near future.
Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, April 22 Update:
Redfish are providing a growing and expanding bite, with the fish hitting plastics and MirOLures as well as bait in the inlets, and we’ve now begun to hear from anglers catching fish farther up inside the Bay. This week in addition to the inlets, anglers reported success on nice slot reds (plus a nice surprise striper for one reader) from the Elizabeth, Back River, and the Poquoson. Pink paddle-tails were mentioned as particularly effective, and some anglers have also been using a mix of bait and lures including shrimp, crabs, and mullet, as well as Bass Assassins and MirrOLures. Specks are around too, and biting in the inlets. They haven’t been as heavy in number, but are still targetable. Specks have been preferring sparkly paddle tails and other shiny soft plastics with some flash or glitter. We were also excited to hear this week that there’s a burgeoning flounder bite in the inlets, with more coming around as spring picks up.
Few anglers checked in from around the CBBT this week, but they did mention that they hooked into a couple of tautog on crab over the weekend. The water’s definitely warm enough now but the wind has been the recent limiting factor. Same goes on the shoals — on the days anglers can get out they’re finding both reds and some big blacks, but thanks to the breeze those days have been very limited. This week we heard from a couple of anglers (including one who had a charter with a relatively large boat scheduled) who said trips had to be cancelled due to the conditions.
Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, April 15 Update:
Anglers fishing the inlets are enjoying some wonderful spring fishing — puppy drum and specks continue to bite, along with a few bluefish and flounder. Ocean’s East reported that the puppy drum bite so far has been great, and speckled trout moving into the area are increasing in size. The lower Elizabeth is also producing reds and a few specks, and trout have begun appearing farther north in pound nets, so this bite should only get better and better in the coming days. Reports from anglers fishing for both species, puppy drum especially, have included some action-packed days while using a mix of bait and lures including shrimp, crabs, and mullet, as well as Bass Assassins and MirrOLures. The warm weather should only continue to up the ante on this action and considering how the weekend weather looks we're thinking there could be a lot of very happy anglers out there in the next few days. The same goes for the preliminary bluefish — this was the second week we had confirmed reports of them in the inlets, and hopefully we’ll start to see bigger numbers and serious catches in the surf soon.
Bigger drum can now be found with some level of reliability on the shoals. Both bull reds and blacks are around, with some big blacks already popping up inside the Bay as far up as the Cabbage Patch, eating clam baits. All reports on the reds still place them outside the Bay (off Fisherman’s Island) thus far, hitting crab baits, and this bite should peak in the near term.
Tautog fishing on the ocean reefs and wrecks has been solid, with a healthy catch reported when the winds allow anglers to get out, and action from this species should pick up at the CBBT and the Cement Ships literally any day now. Water temps are now in the mid- to upper-50s at the mouth of the Bay and that makes us think the fish are biting even though we didn’t have any readers check in to confirm it as of yet; fleas and crab baits should be the move.
Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, April 7 Update:
Puppy drum are biting in the inlets and are beginning to move further back, providing good action for anglers who sought them out during breaks in the tough conditions this week, according to reports from the folks at Oceans East. They were taking shrimp, crabs, and mullet, as well as hard baits a la MirrOLures. This the third week steady we’ve heard of them in the area, and as the weather warms up we should see move moving in and up the Bay. Larger bull reds have appeared at the shoals off Fisherman’s, though so far we’ve only heard of a couple and they were single-fish catches. Effort was likely depressed through the week thanks to the weather and we’d expect this bite to bust wide open at any time, just as soon as the sun comes out and the wind takes a (much needed!) break. More drum, all blacks that we’ve heard of, have also been hitting the beaches with several reported this week and catches of up to three in an outing. (If you haven’t tried it before this is a total blast and we filmed a how-to video on it last season: How to Catch Black Drum While Surf Fishing).
The first week of April also brought the first bluefish reports from Virginia’s — Ocean’s East had confirmed reports of bluefish caught in Rudee. The folks they heard from were catching on croaker and spot. We didn’t hear anything from the CBBT this week, possibly due to the conditions.
Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, April 1 Update:
Anglers hitting Virginia’s inlets have confirmed reports of both specks and puppy drum, but weather was a limiting factor for targeting them this week and anglers that did get out after them often had to battle tough conditions to get a bite or three.
The first report of the season of a black drum came in last week off one of the ESVA barrier islands. We have no other details on the catch but Sea Hawk Sports Center also verified a black drum being caught, this one in the surf. We had one other additional unconfirmed report of a black drum this week — any way you cut it, though, those fish have definitely been sighted in the area and should be coming our way in force very soon. Once we get a dose of nice weather expect reports to come in from bait anglers soaking clam and crab at the shoals off Fisherman's Island and the mouth of the Bay, at any time now.
We only had one person check in after fishing the CBBT this week, who reported landing one fish in conditions were “miserable.” However, water temps have finally made it over the 50-degree marks and stayed there all week despite the chill in the air, so it’s a solid bet that this week fish will be caught on fiddlers, fleas, and peeler crab baits, if the dang weather will give us a break.