Way South Fishing Reports

Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 11 Update:

Just as the local flora is blooming with Spring’s arrival, we are seeing the amazing fishery of the Way South region bloom as well. Several bites are going strong and there are now fishing opportunities for just about any style of fishing you enjoy. Tautog continue to move inshore and there have been good reports from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and the concrete ships at Kiptopeke. Tog are structure-oriented fish, so you will want to focus your fishing along rocky bottom and in areas with hard bottom structure. Pier anglers should be happy to know that croaker and spot are beginning to return to our waters. Netters in this region are reporting that these fish are turning up in their nets, and we also had reports from the Ocean View pier that small croaker were biting this week.

FishTalk contributor David Rudow reports that bull red drum are making their way into the mouth of the Bay. He was fishing in an undisclosed location and reported finding scattered schools of big fish in water less than 10’ deep. There have also been reports around the mouth of the York River showing that some big drum have finally arrived to the Bay. This is the initial push of fish, and more schools should show up between now and June. There are a lot of big drum being caught in the surf along the North Carolina coast, so these fish are definitely making their way north. While the big fish are just starting to show up, the inshore fishing for puppy drum is still going strong. Anglers fishing in Lynnhaven Inlet, Rudee Inlet, and the Elizabeth River are finding fish throughout these tributaries as they are becoming more widespread with warming water temperatures. One angler fishing in the Elizabeth River reported catching a handful of drum up to 28” on a recent trip. Another angler caught a 33” drum and a 26” speckled trout, although they didn’t say where they were fishing. One of the better reports we saw came from a kayak angler fishing Rudee Inlet who caught close to a dozen trout and nearly two dozen red drum with a mix of under and over slot fish. The inshore fishing is really heating up folks.

Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 4 Update:

The springtime fishing action is heating up with bites for several species steadily improving. Virginia Beach Sport Fishing reports that the redfish action in the shallows has been notably good lately. All the tributaries appear to be producing fish with the Elizabeth River, Rudee Inlet, and Lynnhaven Inlet yielding solid catches. Knot Wish’n Charters has been enjoying great action in Rudee Inlet with slot fish being caught just about every trip and increasing numbers of speckled trout showing up now that the weather is turning. Water temperatures in the tributaries have reached 60 degrees in some areas which will start to spread out the drum and specks. This shouldn’t hurt the bite, it just means they will be found in more areas. Shallow mud flats and grass flats should start to produce more fish this month as fish start to feed on emerging crabs and other baitfish moving into the shallows. 

Water temperatures at the mouth of the Bay are now in the mid 50’s and are approaching 60 degrees. This has many of our migratory fish on the move with a lot of fish starting to return to our waters. Tautog numbers are increasing as these fish move inshore and there have been some keepers caught at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. We had a report from an angler who caught four keepers and a few throwbacks earlier in the week at the CBBT. Another angler fishing the Kiptopeke concrete ships also pulled a keeper tog from the structure. Black drum have made a big push north and are running along the coastal beaches. There have been a lot of catches centered around Chincoteague, but the drum should be available in the surf along Virginia Beach as well. The shoals and other structures in the Bay are also known to hold big black drum and the traditional areas like the CBBT, Cape Charles, and the Kiptopeke ships should see their arrival soon. To our south, anglers fishing at the beaches in North Carolina are catching big red drum and bluefish which means they will be arriving to our waters very soon. There have been some rumors of bull red drum already showing up in the southern Bay, but we don’t have any reliable reports to confirm as of yet.