Way South and VA Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 28, 2019 Update:
Fishing in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake has remained spotty as in recent weeks, with the Tautog fishery at the CBBT again becoming an option, though an unreliable one. Water temps at the mouth of the Bay still haven’t crept up out of the 40s, though it should happen soon. Ocean’s East mentioned that some anglers have reported catching on green crab, and as the weather begins to warm up in coming weeks and the water does the same there should be an uptick in the number of tog being caught. There’s also a shot at puppy drum and/or speckled trout inside the inlets, on warm, sunny afternoons… we’ve heard rumors, but nothing verified on that front this week.
Many local anglers are heading to the James River, where catfish are still abundant throughout its muddy waters. As usual, cut menhaden and chicken breast or gizzard shad have been productive baits. Although the recent rains (how many times have we said THAT lately?!) had many areas muddied up last weekend, conditions have been improving and in the upper Rappahannock the presence of shad has been confirmed in Fredericksburg. As expected, small darts and tubes are proving effective. Catfish have been thick in the Rap, too, with the best reports we heard coming from the Port Royal area.
What about perch? We didn’t get any confirmed reports of them this week but that’s likely an after-effect of the turbulent conditions. Bringing some grass shrimp or bloodworms along and casting them out on a bottom rig or a dart would be a good move, as there are almost certainly some whites around in the up-river areas and with the week of mud now behind us, we’d expect to hear about some getting caught this weekend. Most of the yellows seem to have moved on already, but there are sure to be a few of them lingering around, too.
Way South and VA Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 22, 2019 Update:
With little action in the open waters of the Bay (virtually nothing beyond a few school-sized stripers caught and released), most anglers have found themselves heading to the tributaries where yellow and white perch are packed in tight and in spawning mode. Many of the yellows have already dropped their eggs and started heading back out of upper river areas. Minnow and grass shrimp remain the top baits. The warm weather this weekend really set off the bite in the Potomac and its creeks, and this zone has proven itself absolutely stellar. In addition to an abundance of fish, many reports included that the yellows have been especially large this year, with fish consistently in the 10- to 12-inch range. Some other anglers, however, have been plagued by large numbers of small white perch; sticking with with bull minnow has been the way to pre-cull your catch. Other perch-jerking hotspots we heard from the past week include the Rap above the 301 bridge, the Paumonkey, and the North Landing complex. HOWEVER, all of that said, the recent rainfall will likely have a significant impact on the norther areas of this range. Just how bad it is we can't say yet, but many areas draining into the Potomac and Rappahannock in particular topped two inches of rainfall and some went over three. Ouch.
Nothing yet on flounder, though it's not entirely to early to start dreaming because the first reports last year came in right about now. We didn’t have any confirmed reports of anything coming out of the surf this week, either. That will hopefully change very, very soon.
Way South and VA Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 15, 2019 Update:
SPRING RUNS HAVE BEGUN! Whew – after a weather delay, it looks like things are getting back to normal for this time of year in the Western Shore tribs. Perch have begun popping up and the first of the shad reports trickled in this week (both Americans and hickory). The Rap below just Port Royal and the Mattaponi both get a mention, with water temperatures in the mid-40s and some clarity finally returning to the water. There were no mentions of shad from the upper Potomac this week, but that should change soon. We also didn’t hear a peep from the James in recent days but it had also been high and muddy, which may have discouraged the effort level there; like the other rivers it should be clearing up at this point and we’d expect the perch to be on the move there as well. There have also been yellow perch in the creeks off the Potomac, mostly holding in slightly deeper water just down-stream from their spawning areas. Minnow on the bottom have been the way to get ‘em biting. Unless there’s another wash-out, we’d expect all these bites to go crazy in the next few days as sunshine and warmer temperatures kick those fish into high gear.
Catfishing has also been great in the tributaries, with most of the reports pointing to the Potomac (especially around the 301 Bridge and up from there), as the grand champion of all the bites. Cut fish set on bottom on a 10/0 circle hook is the top offering. That said, anglers probing all the different tribs have been catching plenty of catfish even in the muddied areas.
Meanwhile on the Bay… well, there’s just not much to talk about yet. Water temps were in the mid-40s at the CBBT, so it’s safe to assume that tog dwelling there are still in a slumber. Even for those heading to wrecks and reefs the tog bite has been tough much of the time and the real action taking place right now is off the Carolina coast (see the Coastal Reports for more info).
Way South and VA Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 8, 2019 Update:
As with the rest of the region, the perch run has been delayed a bit due to the chill in the air. They’re available in holes and channels down-river from traditional spawning locations (live bull minnow remain the best bait), and everyone’s also awaiting the start of a shad run, but for now heading to the tributaries where catfish have been packed into brackish waters has been the most reliable option for southern Bay anglers. Catfishing in the Potomac has remained utterly world-class from the 301 bridge up, with some blue cats in the 40-plus-pound range reported this week. Channel cats are also biting strong. Catfish anglers hitting the Rappahannock in the Tappahannock area, and in the James in the vicinity of Hopewell, also report success. Cut bunker and chicken breast have been productive baits for catfish throughout the region, according to Oceans East Tackle Shop. Muddied waters had made it difficult to target other species in many parts of the tribs, but the worst of it has subsided at this point and conditions can be expected to improve until it rains again… which judging by the past year’s weather trends probably means you have about 15 minutes to get out there and fish…
Meanwhile, many anglers who are waiting for the fish in the mouth of the Chesapeake and out in the deep to wake up have been daydreaming about heading south – they’re still enjoying solid fishing offshore out of North Carolina. See the Coastal reports for the details.
Way South and VA Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 1, 2019 Update:
Fishing in northern Virginia’s section of the Bay continued previous weeks trend of being particularly lackluster, even in comparison to the rest of the Bay, which hasn’t been seeing much action either. Fishing for catfish in the tribs remains the most reliable move; the Potomac is headlining that action at the moment, with a good bite in deep spots and near bridges from the 301 bridge up for both channel cats and blues. Bunker has been most effective lately, but some people are doing just fine using chicken breast. The saltwater fisheries, meanwhile, have been near barren – this week we called Bishop’s and Ocean’s East Tackle Shop, and both stores reported that the best bet for catching fish in the area is heading inland to ponds. Ocean’s East Tackle Shop suggested heading to Smith pond, where crappie and bass have been abundant. Anglers targeting bass have been using Beetle Spins and shiners in the shallows. Conversely, those fishing for crappie are heading to deeper holes in the pond, where dropping a minnow on a bottom rig or shad dart has been a hot option.
Although southern waters of the Chesapeake and those of the Atlantic off the coast haven’t been productive, saltwater further south has and the bluefin bite off North Carolina has continued. If you’re eager to get offshore and willing to make the drive head down to the Outer Banks, they’re experiencing a far more active fishery recently.
In the tributaries perch are getting ready for their run by staging in deeper holes and channels. The traditional spring haunts should light up with action just as soon as we get a few warm days in a row, but for the moment, the run seems to be on pause. Unfortunately, many of the usual areas like the Mattaponi, Pamunkey, and Chickahominy, have been running high and in many places muddy thanks to the never-ending precipitation, which certainly hasn’t helped. Hopefully we will get a break from all this precip at some point - STOP RAIN PLEASE STOP!!!