Way South Fishing Reports

Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 26 Update:

Cobia are the big talk around the Way South region as we are moving into prime season for them. Boats with towers have been hitting the oceanfront and shoals just inside the Bay searching for fish cruising on the surface. Some reports have been excellent with multiple hookups, while others have been slower with only a few fish spotted. The weather has been a big factor, and on calm sunny days, the fish have been much easier to find. FishTalk contributor Adam Greenberg made a trip down to the mouth of the Bay this week and reported a solid outing for cobia. He and another angler went down to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and caught two mid-40” fish while chunking. They also sight-cast one undersized cobia. Adam says the cownose rays are thick in the area and they hooked three of them. Frozen alewife on the bottom outperformed live spot and fresh cut spot. The fish that was sight cast ate a live eel. Way South Correspondent Charles Harrison wrote in after a recent trip and says that fishing has been tough for him recently. His most recent outing proved the adage about doing the same thing and expecting different results. Last weekend he fished around the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel looking for flounder, bluefish, and anything else that would bite. He went home empty handed after catching only one small bluefish.

Sheepshead are still offering great opportunities at the CBBT, and the rocky islands and bridge pilings have been holding a good number of big fish. One recent report came from an angler fishing the third and fourth islands who caught several sheepshead up to 20” while dropping fiddler crabs on bottom sweeper jigs. The convicts can be found at wrecks and reefs throughout the southern Bay and there are several other bridges in the Virginia Beach area that will hold them as well. The inshore inlets and rivers are holding good numbers of speckled trout and puppy drum right now. Daytime temperatures have been very warm, which has caused water temperatures to shoot up as well, so fish will be seeking out cooler water and shade during the better part of the day. Docks with deep water, bridge pilings, and secondary ledges will be good places to search for this fish. Many anglers are finding success for reds by throwing out chunks of mullet on fish finder rigs. Speckled trout have been present on grass flats willing to hit topwater lures, lures under popping corks, and paddletails. The bite has been best during the early morning and usually tapers off as the sun gets up.

Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 19 Update:

The Way South fishing is moving into prime summer form with several bites going strong throughout the region. Big schools of red drum have been seen on the oceanfront and just inside the mouth of the Bay. Those with towers out cobia fishing should keep an eye out for a large area of bronze on the surface indicating a school of drum. These fish are also being consistently caught around the islands of the CBBT. Boats with sidescan or livescope have the best chance at finding them while searching around the rocks. Virginia Beach Sport Fishing reports that the sheepshead bite is red hot right now at the Virginia Beach bridges on the bayfront and at the various reef sites in the southern Bay. They also say that the Spanish mackerel bite has been inconsistent, though some anglers have been making out with decent catches after covering a lot of water. Hot weather moving in should increase water temperatures and bring more mackerel from the ocean into the Bay. Way South correspondent Chuck Harrison wrote in to report that he got out last week looking for flounder around the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and Little Creek jetties. He struck out on the flatties, then tried trolling for bluefish and didn’t find them either. He finished the day with just one three-pound bluefish.

Cobia season is now open, and all we need is the weather to cooperate. Anglers fishing near the CBBT have had few weather windows to get out recently, with windy conditions and thunderstorms limiting opportunities. When boats have been able to make it out, there has been good action for sight fishing both in the bay and on the oceanside. The shoals on the north side of the CBBT are usually a good area to search. Finao Sportfishing has been staying on the fish and a trip early in the week offered up some great action. The weather was poor to start the day with overcast, rain, and wind. Instead of cobia fishing right away, they went looking for drum and found close to two dozen reds with a few black drum in the mix too. The sun came out around mid-day and within a few minutes they were doubled up with two big cobia. The rest of the afternoon continued with plenty of sight fishing opportunities and bent rods. A pair of readers fishing the CBBT last week reported finding several cooperative bull redfish and two cobia, with one measuring 56.5”. The cobia action should stay hot throughout the rest of summer, so get out there if you can.

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.