Bring Boat or Not To Chincoteague In July ?

[Mako Mike]

I'm renting a house on a canal in Oyster Bay July 20-27. Seeking input as to whether the fishing/crabbing would be good enough to consider bringing my 21' center console down that I normally keep on the Chesapeake. A couple of questions/concerns I have:

Is VA flounder closed 7/23-28?

Is it easy to navigate around Oyster Bay or am I going to be running aground all over the place?

What species/sizes can I expect to catch in the Bays or inlet at that time of year?

The wife is suggesting that we take a break from the boat and leave it on the Chesapeake (where we do quite well fishing and crabbing).

Just seeking some feedback to help with my decision. Thanks.

[JimVa]

The last week of July is Pony Penning week and the Island is packed with tourists but still a great week to be in Chincoteague.

Oyster Bay is a beautiful place but the waters are very shallow. I'm guessing it would take about 15-20 minutes to get to Chincoteague Inlet. You might be better to rent a slip at Captain Bob's Marina which is on the Chincoteague Channel. I think it's about $90 a week for a slip but check the web site for exact numbers. Because it will be crowded that week it would be good to call Capt. Bob's and reserve a slip.

Flounder fishing is closed for the week you will be there.

A lot of people take their boats to Assateague Channel to watch the running of the ponies. It gets very, very crowded on the water that day and you could be there for 5 or 6 hours until the ponies start the swim. On Friday of that week the ponies do the swim back to Assateague and it's a good time to anchor up and watch them.

If you need more information let me know. :fishing2:

[stevej00]

Mike....You may want to check the wrecks out ?? Up off of OC they usually have lots of activity on them. I'm not familiar with Chinco

[tripletec]

We were down Chincoteague last year during July and could'nt keep the croaker off the lines. We were drifting the inlet with t/b rigs using minnows and squid. They were in there so thick we couldnt get our lines down to the flounder. We made the best of it, even caught a sea bass...... I say, Ide rather have our boat then sit on the pier watching people on their boat. We go down once a month, let me know,we might be down.

[Finfever21]

We go down to Chincoteague every year around july for the carnival and pony penning.. it sucks that flounder fishing is closed that week but there are also some nice species to catch.... We put in at Capt. Bobs and fish the black narrow bridge, queens sound and assateague island is a popular spot for nice trout, flounder, and croaker... Blues are very abundant aswell.. also if you go out on the ocean side and fish the bouys w/ peeler crabs u might pick up a nice cobia.. good luck and let us know what you do...

Finfever

[usmcfireman]

I say take the boat anywhere that there is water. Just make sure that if you do that you go to the chamber of commerce and get a sticker for the trailer, i think its 5 bucks for a week and like 32 for a year, you have to have a permit to use any ramp on the island. Just dont want ya to get a ticket.


And the croaker fishing can be a blast as a previous post said. Not always huge fish but when you catch 100 in an hour between 3 people it cant help but to be fun.

[pm3013]

U can also get the permits for the ramps, at the police station, located right in front, as soon as u get off the bridge.