Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 26 Update:
Weather remains an issue for anglers as the unusual stretch of east winds continues. However, there are plenty of fish to be caught and although the Spanish mackerel are on their way out other summer visitors like bluefish and bull reds are still around in solid numbers. VBSF reports that bull drum are providing lots of action as the schools begin their migration out of the Bay, and flounder fishing has been a peaking with live spot doing the best catching. The CBBT zone is the prime area.
Smaller reds plus specks are biting inside the inlets but it may be necessary to search around a bit to find clean water, which is particularly important for those targeting the speckled trout. Shrimp under popping corks and three- to four-inch soft plastics will do the trick and peeler crab was also noted as a good offering. Hampton Correspondent Chuck Harrison reported that there are a lot of the small drum around and on one outing near Little Creek he caught 25 in the 16” to 18” range. Good numbers of specks were around, too, including some up to 18”. He also noted that commercial fishermen arrived in the area and when they began working their net, the bite shut down.
We had a reader report of good bottom fishing on the west side this week, with spot and croaker (mostly small but also some keepers) making up the bulk of the catch, plus small weakfish and roundheads (kingfish). All of the fish were happy to snap on Fishbites bloodworms.
Editor’s Note: Our intrepid and awesome Reports Editor Dillon Waters is away on his honeymoon this week, and the reports were compiled by the staff in his absence. We send Dillon and his bride Layla our congratulations and best wishes for a wonderful future.
Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 19 Update:
The season is changing, but the fishing has remained hot in this region of the Bay. Virginia Beach Sport Fishing reported that speckled trout fishing is steadily on the upswing with shrimp and other baitfish flourishing in the tributaries. Fresh shrimp under a popping cork is nearly irresistible to a hungry speck. Z-Man EZ ShrimpZ are an excellent artificial bait to use to mimic a live shrimp. Other lures such as paddletails and MirrOlures are top choices for anglers targeting the specks. Now through the end of fall will be one of the best times of year to catch big speckled trout. Red drum fishing is still on fire in the many inlets and rivers in the lower Chesapeake. Slot drum have taken a liking for fresh shrimp and peeler crab lately. Those throwing artificial lures are doing well with three-to-five-inch paddletails. An angler fishing near the Lesner Bridge caught a dozen slot drum while night fishing using cut mullet earlier in the week. Any form of fresh cut bait should lure in any nearby drum that are hungry.
Cobia fishing is still excellent, though the season is now closed. Fish that moved up the Bay during the summer are pushing south and staging around the CBBT. Tower boats are spotting dozens of fish on days where conditions are calm, but unfortunately these dang east winds have offered very few fishable windows lately. Boats that have been able to get out are finding schools of cobia and an increasing number of red drum. Twitchbaits, bucktails, and large soft plastics are all enticing bites. Cobia fishing for the remainder of their time here will be catch and release only.
Bluefish, Spanish mackerel, and cutlassfish have been abundant along the beaches for trollers. Number one planers with small spoons are catching a mix of all three species. They well soon push south for the fall, so if you are looking to get on them, don’t wait too long. Sheepshead are still plentiful around the bridges and larger docks in the Virginia Beach area. Kayaks and boats with trolling motors are usually the most effective as they can keep their baits in the strike zone while boats with just outboards must constantly fight wind and tide conditions. Fiddler crabs are the number one bait for these fish, but they can also be caught using sand fleas, green crab, and chunks of blue crab. The CBBT, Lesner Bridge, and HRBT are some of the more well-known hotspots.
Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 12 Update:
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and Virgina Beach zones have been the epicenter for cobia fishing throughout the second half of summer. Now that a few cold fronts have pushed through, cobia that migrated well up the Bay are starting to turn back south. The CBBT is a major staging area for these fish before they make their annual migration well south of our waters. The action has been red hot this week on calm days and many fishing guides are still reporting days of double-digit fish landed and even more spotted from towers. Now is when the biggest fish of the year are caught and there have been a few over the 60-inch mark caught over the past few weeks. An angler fishing on their Seadoo Explorer Pro at the mouth of the Bay caught five cobia while live lining with eels this week all before eight in the morning. Fishing on weekdays has been best as there has been a lot less boat pressure. The wind is forecasted to kick up this weekend which won’t make things easy for sight fishing, but they can be caught trolling large surgical tubes or by anchoring up and bait fishing. Just be prepared for sharks and rays to take your bait if you choose to drop down any form of cut bait. There are only a few days left until cobia season closes after September 15th but there will still be plenty of fish around and catch and release will be permitted.
Virginia Beach Sport Fishing says that bottom fishing is excellent throughout the lower portion of the Bay and the highlight has been jumbo spot and some nice keeper croaker. Ft. Monroe was highlighted as a hot zone with multiple anglers filling coolers with eating-size spot. There have also been plenty of kingfish willing to bite along with other common species such as reds, specks, and stripers. Bottom rigs baited with soft crab, sand fleas, and Fishbites are catching just about everything right now.
The inshore waters of the tributaries and inlets have also offered good action this week. One angler fishing Lynnhaven Inlet said they found lots of undersize flounder, a few big bluefish, some small specks, and some slot puppy drum that were well up into the inlet. Another boat trying for Spanish mackerel by the CBBT only had a few 12-inch fish but saved the day when they returned to the Lesner Bridge where they caught their limit of slot redfish. September is also known for its excellent flounder fishing in the Lower Bay especially near structure such as the CBBT and concrete ships at Kiptopeke. The inlets will have plenty of flounder, too, but most of the big ones will be found at structure in deeper water. The doormats are out there now, people.
Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 5 Update:
Inshore action is heating up as temperatures are cooling off. Red drum fishing has been great over the past month, and we are seeing the speckled trout bite steadily get better as it usually does in the fall. An angler fishing from shore near Norfolk reported caching two keeper specs on a MirrOlure and one on a white curly tail Gulp!. Fishing the edges of grass lines produced the bites. Virginia Beach Inshore Fishing emphasizes that September is a prime month for flounder fishing. The big ones are biting and can be found around structure like bridges, along ledges, and in areas with oyster bottom. Deeper channels in creeks are very productive right now as flounder look to ambush the abundance of bait in the shallows. Outgoing tides are known to be best, but if your fishing window is limited, try to fish when there is some form of moving tide. Live spot, minnows, squid strips, shrimp, and Gulp! baits will all work for the flatties. Bottom fishing is also excellent right now with kingfish, spot, and croaker being the main catches. More keeper croaker are being reported, too. They aren’t jumbos, but 12-to-14-inch croakers have been absent for quite some time, so it is nice to see a few around.
More reader reports of seeing tarpon came in from the oceanic area of the east side this week, although there were no confirmed hook-ups. These fish migrate to our waters every year but are very elusive and hard to target. Not to mention that the few anglers who know when and where to catch them are very tight-lipped about it. The best advice we can offer is to put in many hours of research and time on the water if it is your goal to catch one. They can be found on the oceanic side and in the Bay. Anglers searching for them can sometimes locate them, but it is a whole other challenge to get them to eat.
Cobia fishing around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel has been downright epic over the past few weeks and there is no sign of it slowing down. Finao Sportfishing reported that they boated over 70 cobia during a three day span last week and continue to see/catch plenty on trips this week. Now is the time to catch big cobia and there have been multiple reports of fish over 50 inches and even some surpassing the 60-inch mark. A hot zone seems to be just north of the third and fourth islands along the main shipping channel. Live eels are the best bait to throw and are preferred by the man in the big brown suit. Large bucktails dressed with soft plastics or big twitchbaits is also working to get bites. There are less than two weeks left of cobia season which goes out after September 15th, but anglers will still be able to catch and release fish. The cobia are just starting to make their seasonal migration south and the CBBT is a major staging ground for them before heading down the oceanfront. Look for the fishing to be good throughout this month and into October.