Virginia Fishing Report: Covering the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Inshore and Virginia Offshore Fishing by Tidal Fish Correspondent Julie Ball
 Summer officially starts this week, and the summer fishing trend should continue as soon as the wind subsides this weekend. Most anglers will resume their chase for the latest big attraction, cobia. Although the bite off Hampton has slowed up, fish are still coming from the Eastern Shore side of the bay, where chummers sitting on Latimer Shoal and the Inner Middle Grounds are having luck. Sight casters continue to pick fish off the CBBT proper on calmer days.
Flounder action is off and on, depending on who you ask. Although anglers are still working hard for their limits, plenty of “barely shorts” are keeping them interested. According to Connie at Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle, a few doormats are coming from the CBBT area, where anglers are having good luck with live bait and jigging. Robert Hodge of Richmond landed a nice flatfish weighing in at 10-pounds, 4-ounces on a live spot while fishing with Captain Craig Paige aboard the “Paige 2” recently. Fish are also coming from the Cell, Buoy 42, Back River Reef, Oyster, as well as Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets. One angler fishing from the jetties scored with a 7-pound, 11-ounce doormat inside Rudee this week.
Spadefish are still commanding considerable attention from anglers, with the CLT still the favorite location. Reports indicate there were over 60 boats anchored at the Tower last weekend. Larger fish have moved in, with the biggest coming from the upper bay hot spots, such as the Cell and Wolf Trap Light. Roland E. Murphy of Richmond was fishing at the Cell aboard the “Kingfish,” when a massive 14-pound, 14-ounce spadefish took him for several laps around the boat. At weigh-in, it was determined that this amazing catch may secure the new IGFA All tackle World Record, as well as the new Virginia State record for this species.
Black drum all but deserted the shoals, and are now starting to show around the islands of the CBBT, with scattered hook-ups reported. These fish require extra time while reviving them in order to increase their survival rate. Big red drum are still taking baits along the Eastern Shore shoals and near buoy 10, especially at night on an incoming tide.
The Spanish mackerel bite along the Virginia Beach ocean front is heating up, although according to Captain Jake Hiles, skipper of the “Matador” out of Rudee Inlet, most fish are on the smallish size. Small spoons trolled at 5 to 6 knots are enticing the best response. It’s only a matter of time until reports of the first catches of king mackerel start rolling in from near the Little Island Fishing Pier.
Although tricky, some anglers are finding some luck with sheepshead. Many anglers are reporting sightings of pods of large sheepshead cruising the surface behind cobia. Triggerfish are making another good showing this year, with plenty of fish already entertaining anglers near the four islands of the CBBT.
Larger croaker pushing 2 to 2.5-pounds are lurking around the James River Bridge, the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel, and off Ocean View. Surf anglers are finding a mixed bag along the ocean front, with loads of sea mullet pushing to nearly a pound, and scattered puppy drum providing most of the commotion.
When deep droppers can get out, they are still going strong with good limits of tilefish, grouper, and rosefish. The Rudee Inlet Head Boats running out of the Fishing Center are finding decent seabass action at the Triangle Wrecks lately.
The offshore scene is boiling with yellowfin tuna. Boats are hooking dozens of tuna, with many too small to keep. Several fish are falling into the 20 to 40-pound class, with some nice dolphin also in the mix. The best action is coming from north of the Triple 0’s in 100 to 500 fathoms of water. A bigeye tuna caught aboard the "Blue Eyed Suns" skippered by Capt. David Smith, stole the limelight this past week when it tipped the scales at 180-pounds at Fisherman’s Wharf Marina.
Until next week, good luck fishing!
Julie
Dr. Julie Ball
IGFA Representative, Virginia Beach
Virginia's Eastern Shore Fishing Report
Covering Inshore and Offshore Fishing out of Wachapreague, Chincoteague and Assateague
by Kevin of Lyn B Sportfishing - TidalFish.com Correspondent
Kevin must be into some good fishing right now. Kevin of Lyn B Sportfishing, a 34ft custom sport fisherman Captained by Bill Bowen. They offer inshore, wreck and offshore fishing adventures. Fishing from the Wachapreague, Wachapreague . Call 757-787-1074 to book a trip.
Luckily we have some reports from the Virginia Saltwater Review covering this region.
Chincoteague - According to staff at Captain Bob’s, large flounder are being caught around Chincoteague. Numerous big catches in the 21- to 23-inch range were caught last week from the Queen’s Sound and Assateague Channel. Gulp bait and minnows seem to be catching them the best. Offshore, the Lumpy Bottom and the Parking Lot were producing with two 100-pound mako sharks reported from the Parking Lot and a 150- pound bluefin tuna brought in from the Lumpy Bottom.
Wachapreague -Hot offshore action was reported from Wachapreague Marina this week. The Norfolk Canyon has been producing small yellowfin tuna, and east of the Lumpy Bottom, anglers are finding mako and tiger sharks. Inshore, there are large numbers of flounder in the Wachapreague Inlet, but only a few have been keepersized. At Captain Zed’s, the catch of the week was a 22-inch, 5.5 -pound flounder, which was the winner in a recent flounder tournament. Croakers are biting in the Wachapreague Inlet and at Green and Drawing Channels. Bay markers 6 and 7 have also been productive. Trout were caught in Newstone Creek and south of the Coast Guard Station, and a few catch-and-release striped bass were reported at Dawson Shoals. Virginia's Middle Bay Fishing Report
by Jerry Thrash From Patriot Charters and Queens Creek Outfitters
Waters continue to warm as bay surface temps near the Cell had reached 73 degrees on Monday. Good numbers of Spadefish were caught at the The Cell this weekend. Included in these were a reported new state record fish. We were closed when the fish was caught so the boat Captain, Al King of Fredericksburg, took the fish to J&W Seafood for weighing. Details on the fish should be available from J&W. The bite has just begun! Fresh clams fished in a slick of clam chum are producing the fish. The spadefish charter I ran Monday broke off several large fish and boated a 7 pounder and two smaller fish.
Creeks and rivers are full of spot and croaker. Both species can also be caught from the beaches.
It has been a slow week for Speckled trout.
Bigger flounder are arriving but it is still tough fishing. A bite developed Monday afternoon at the turn of the tide but only lasted about an hour. A long strip of squid (6-10") or long cut croaker strips with a minnow on the same hook are fish getters. July is always our top floundr month so lets hope the fish keep showing up.
CITATION
Spadefish 11 lbs, 4 oz, caught 6/9 at an undisclosed location by Chris Pritchard of Gloucester on clam.
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Dr. Julie Ball Extreme Sportfishing
Dr. Julie Ball writes TidalFish.com's weekly Virginia fishing reports and is known as one of the best woman anglers on the east coast. --------------------------------------- Virginia Fishing Charters and Fishing Guides Cory Ruthless Routh Kayak Charter Fishing- Tidal Fish Sponsor
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Useful Related Links Past Virginia Fishing Reports
Check out past Virginia Fishing Reports covering the Virginia Chesapeake Bay, Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Inshore Atlantic Ocean, and Offshore Atlantic Ocean. Virginia Tidal Fish Message Board
Daily reports, fishing talk on how to, rigging, techniques etc.. covering the CBBT, Virginia Beach and Virginia Ocean Coastal Fishing areas
Virginia's Northern Neck Message Board
Daily reports, fishing talk on how to, rigging, techniques etc.. covering the Northern Neck of Virginia Virginia Tide Information
NOAA Tide Information for Virginia Tidal Waters Virginia Fishing Regulations
Make sure to check these before you head out Buy your Virginia Fishing License Online
Click above to get your Virginia Fishing License Online Virginia Public Boat Ramps Locations and Map
Please read the information about each ramp to understand if you need a permit.
Virginia Fishing Fish Citations Page
Check out Virginia Fish Citations and if you catch one find information here on how to register it NOAA Real Time Marine Forecasts and Buoy Reports
Real time Buoy data and Marine Forecasts for different locations in the Chesapeake Bay Rutgers University's Sea Surface Temperature of Chesapeake Bay Region and Offshore Waters
Great site to check out sea surface temperatures which are vital to know for fishing
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