Way South Fishing Reports

Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 12 Update:

There are several bites that are going strong in the Way South zone as we head into an exciting summer fishery in the Bay. As we get close to cobia season, reports are very encouraging. One reader noted catching multiple pre-season fish along with several bull redfish; black two-ounce bucktails and Getting Jiggy cobia jigs were the hot lures. Boats with towers have been locating cobia cruising the surface on both the oceanfront and along the shoals just inside the mouth of the Bay. The bull reds are schooling up around the rocky islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and will remain in this area throughout the summer. The best way to locate them is to use sidescan or livescope while boating around the islands. A good fish finder with either of these features can greatly increase the amount of water you can productively survey while on the search for bulls. This is a marine electronics upgrade worth investing in if you spend a lot of time on the water. Speckled trout and puppy drum have been popular targets in rivers, inlets, and other tidal tributaries. Trout have been found over grass beds and puppy drum seem to be cruising around docks looking to ambush baitfish. Three-to-five-inch paddletails and artificial shrimp baits are top lures to throw when targeting these fish.

Anglers heading out for spadefish have been enjoying success at the Chesapeake Light Tower. It has been crowded at times, but the bite has been very good. Some boats are catching limits with some double-digit fish in the mix. A typical spadefish rig involves a strong, long leader, a swivel, a sinker (like an egg sinker), and a hook. Clam and squid are top baits for spadefish, and when they are biting, it can be steady action with one hookup after another. Sheepshead fishing has now moved into prime form at the CBBT and the various other bridges in the Virginia Beach area. Kayakers, jet skis, and boats have been enjoying good action plucking these hard fighters from bridge pilings. Fiddler crabs are the number one bait as they stay on the hook much better than sand fleas or green crab. Some kayakers fishing the West side of the CBBT and the Lesner Bridge reported catching plenty of keeper fish on recent outings. Tautog are another structure-oriented fish that are being caught at the CBBT and the various wreck structures in the Bay. The concrete ships at Kiptopeke have been holding plenty of undersize tog that are fun to catch. Flounder and weakfish are other popular fish that are being caught by anglers around the sunken ships. The great thing about fishing in this region is that you always have a chance to catch a variety of species.

Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 5 Update:

Sheepshead fishing is moving into prime form and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel is a hotspot in the southern Bay. Several boats, jet skis, and kayak anglers have been pulling fish from the pilings. One jet ski angler reported that he had a slower, but steady day targeting sheepshead in between the second and third islands. They caught seven sheepshead and some nice sized tautog using frozen fiddler crabs for bait. Another kayak angler found a limit of sheepshead plus a few extras, fishing the CBBT pilings closer to the Virginia side using live fiddlers on bottom sweeper jigs. The other Virginia Beach bridges also hold sheepshead along with tautog, black drum, and red drum. Spadefish are also moving to inshore structures, and some have been found around the CBBT. The Chesapeake Light Tower is another popular offshore destination to find spadefish during the warmer months.

Bull red drum can still be found on shallow flats, but some schools are starting to transition to deeper structure. Boats are catching them around the islands of the CBBT. Sidescan is usually required to locate them and a good tactic is to search around the rocky islands until you see a school on the fish finder. Once located, dropping down large paddletails or straight tails on two-ounce jigheads is a great presentation to get them to bite. Cobia are now showing up in better numbers at the mouth of the bay and their numbers should continue to increase throughout the month of June. Boats with towers have been searching the oceanfront and the shoals just inside the mouth of the Bay. The bite has not been red hot, but boats covering a lot of water are finding fish on the surface that are usually willing to eat. The season will open for cobia on June 15th. Once it does, live eels will be an excellent choice to get fish to eat. Artificial lures such as bucktails, topwater lures, and shallow diving twitchbaits are also popular options.