Way South and VA Fishing Report, 11/30/2018 Update:
As the turkey season comes to an end, Christmas is surely on the minds of everyone on and off the water – but there are still a few more windows to get out and fish while the stripers are snapping. With the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake feeling the impact of all too much freshwater flow, very low salinity, and cloudy waters in many areas, Virginia’s portion of the Bay can now claim the best striper bites around. The mouth of the Potomac down through to the mouth of the York is flush with reports of birds that are working, so keep binoculars handy to located the moving bait balls if you haven’t already found them on the fishfinder. There are plenty of fish in the20-something range, and 30-plus inch fish are showing up with regularity. Smith Point comes up again and again as a hotspot, and there are also plenty of schoolies in the mouth of the Rappahannock and up around the Route 3 bridge. On the Eastern side, the Ledge Rock area has been producing some bites, too.
Both jiggers and trollers are enjoying this action, with umbrella rigs with chartreuse, white, and natural color shads, and inline weights on single Sassy Shads and/or tandem rigs, absolutely killing it out there when it comes to big fish. Many of those chucking jigs have moved to larger plastics of eight or nine inches, on one to two ounce heads, in the same color patterns. Light-tackle trolling with plugs including red/white MirrOlures has also reportedly been effective.
The reports of the Bay rockfish bite jibe with what Captain Stan on the Blind Date has been seeing, with a pick-up in striper action between Wolf Trap and the Rappahannock. He also mentioned that the recent cold weather has slowed the speckled trout bite a bit, in the lower reaches of the Bay. That said, there’s still decent action to be found in the inlets and some bigger fish have moved into Lynnhaven (though the bulk of the catch is still made up of small fish). Soft plastics and especially Gulp!s have been the ticket. The lower Elizabeth is also providing a bit of speck action, but more from schoolie stripers in the 20-something range with an occasional 30-inch fish.
The big winter stripers haven’t yet really showed up at the CBBT, but reports of them hitting Delaware waters means the main body of fish, which still seems to be off Jersey, is working its way south – it shouldn’t be long now. Meanwhile, there are some (mostly small) tog to be plucked from around the CBBT with sand fleas and crab baits, if you can get them right up against the structure. Overall the bite might be described as underwhelming, but some anglers working hard are taking home their fish for the day. Undersized sea bass are also being reported, but it seems the other species like flounder, sheepshead, and drum are pretty much done for the year.
Way South and VA Fishing Report, 11/22/2018 Update:
Waking up each morning to see the thermometer creep lower and lower to freezing temperatures isn’t the best way to start a day of fishing, but it’s an ugly truth that more and more anglers are facing - with a smile! Schoolie sized stripers are present in strong numbers, especially around Smith Point, the channel ledges along the mouth of the Rappahannock, the lower York, and also the Pocomoke Sound near the Robin Hood bar. Bird action has been particularly strong from Smith down to the mouth of the Rap, with huge flocks of working birds reported. There have been endless throwbacks under the birds but also good numbers of stripers mostly in the low to mid 20s and up to 30 inches, with the occasional larger fish showing up. Jiggers and trollers are both enjoying the action, with chartreuse and pink reported as top color picks and shad bodies doing wonders. Light tackle anglers are also reporting some success on stripers fishing around the Rt 3 bridge in the Rap. Farther up the Rappahannock, some BIG blue cats are being caught from Leedstown up. Cut fish on bottom in the holes and channels, as usual, will do the trick.
Down towards the mouth of the Bay speckled trout are headlining the action, but they have to share the limelight with those stripers, too. Specks have been thickest in the inlets, hitting soft plastic jigs in white, pink, and chartreuse. Lynnhaven seems to be the stand-out. The size of the specks has been improving, too, with several fish over five pounds reported recently (though the bulk of the fish are still in the 12 to 15 inch range). We didn’t hear any reports from the HRBT this week but they’ve been there as well and we’d expect that to be a good spot to hit, too. Unfortunately, the redfish action hasn’t followed suit and this species has been tougher to come by with just a few showing up for anglers hitting the inlets.
The CBBT has some tog that are willing to bite and the last of the occasional sheepshead to make the trip worthwhile, but the vast majority of the tog have been small. Sand fleas and crab chunks are the top baits, if you decide to target them. Anglers running out into the ocean and wreck fishing have been doing better on the larger tog though the sea bass bite has been good enough that it’s attracting the most attention from anglers heading out into the ocean (see the Coastal Report, for more detail). A few Lower Bay trollers have been targeting stripers with some success, but large numbers of big fish haven’t showed up yet. By all reports big schools are still off Jersey, so we’ll have to see what the coming weeks bring as those water temps continue to fall.
Way South and VA Fishing Report, 11/16/2018 Update:
The fishing around the southern sections of the bay has been cooperating with anglers, weather permitting. But, it looks as if the weather doesn’t wanna budge at this point. Trolling for stripers has been incredibly popular at this time of year, and for good reason. Umbrella rigs with six-inch shads in white, chartreuse, and silver have proven to be incredibly effective on the schools of fish that are primarily hovering in suspended open water. The rule of thumb that’s been the constant variable this month has been to seek out clear, deep water. We’re talking upwards of 60 feet in the open Bay, if need be. Seeking out those channel edges and riding them while your umbrella rigs do the hard work will pay dividends. Light tackle options have been slightly more difficult to come by when the birds haven’t been cooperating to give some idea of where the schools are heading, Finding suspended schools on your depth finder will surely help your chances. Spots like the areas above Robin Hood Bar and near Ledge Rock have been good eastern destinations; the mouth of the Potomac and the Rappahannock from the Corrotoman down has produced for those jigging BKDs, Bass Assassins, and similar plastics. If vertical jigging is more your thing, try opting for the hard-to-come-by BlueBlue jigging spoons, which the rockfish have just been crushing recently when holding near the bottom in deep water.
Farther down the Bay we're not hearning much on the striper front, but specks are still in play and are producing the most interest among anglers - though the recent weather could shuffle the deck yet again. Reports have come in from Mobjack south with top hotspots including the HRBT area, the Elizabeth River (which is also producing some nice large-school stripers) and especially Little Creek, Lynnhaven, and Rudee. Four to six inch plastics in white and chartreuse are producing most of the fish but anglers who can get their hands on Salmon Red Gulp have been singing its praises. Trout numbers are strong, but average sizes are still mostly in the 14 inch range, with a rare larger fish popping up here and there. Puppy drum have also been present to some degree, but numbers have been on the disappointing side and most of the anglers who are getting into drum have been fishing bait.
We didn't hear much from anglers hitting the CBBT this week which we're blaming on the weather, but there were still a few sheepshead around (don't expect that to last much longer!) and many anglers are shifting their focus to tog. Sand fleas fished in close to the structure are the ticket, however, the throwback-to-keeper ratio has been something like 10 to one for most anglers. Reports of flounder and bottom fish in the area have also thinned out.
Way South and VA Fishing Report, 11/9/2018 Update:
The folks down south are getting some relief and diversity, as compared to the woes of the northern anglers. For the time being, fishermen down south are feeling the better temperatures, clearer water, and flocks of birds that we surely are missing around the Maryland sections of the Bay. Keep those binoculars handy, since the flocks can come out of nowhere and will surely point you to the nearest school. Jigs thrown to the feeding fish then allowed to sink towards the bottom sections of the water column should pick through the schoolie stripers to locate those larger keepers. The mouth of the Potomac and the Rap remain the more consistent areas for stripers.
Trolling has picked up this week, with many spreads nabbing lots of unders with the occasional 22 to 24 inch fish. Umbrella rigs with chartreuse, pink, and white shads have all been popular, as well as the hybrid color Limetreuse. Trolling deep with bucktails has also been a great plan. Down towards Ledge Rock many anglers reported that there have been quite a few keepers hunkering down on the deeper south side of the area; definitely a spot to keep in mind.
From Mobjack down specks dominate over the stripers, and while most have been on the small side, some larger fish have been showing up. Hampton correspondent Chuck Harrison mentioned that on a recent trip in the vicinity of the HRBT a couple hours of fishing produced over two dozen speckled trout, in the 14 to 16 inch size range. White and yellow GULP tails were the best bait. The larger specks we’ve heard tell of have been coming from the inlets, particularly Rudee, with Lynnhaven producing bigger numbers of smaller specimens. One trout-versus-striper exception: the Elizabeth does seem to be holding good numbers of schoolie rockfish around structure.
Wind and weather have kept many anglers from getting out to work the CBBT the past week, and we didn’t get any solid reporting from that zone. That said, it should provide a good shot at tog and maybe a last lick for sheepshead and flounder, when the seas allow for it.
Reports of puppy drum have slowed, overall, but the Virginia Beach pier has been a place to land some whoppers in the drum department recently. Tossing a line with fresh bunker chunks will be your best bet at finding a big black and/or red drum. The further south you move (closer to the Outer Banks the better) the more likely you’ll end up with a red on your hook. Get ‘em before they escape the cold!
The bluefish and mackerel bite is slowing down in southern areas and is a done deal in northern areas and on top of that, the stripers that have begun their exodus for the winter are reportedly still mostly in Jersey waters. As such, the best shot at stripers in Virginian waters continues to be for school-sized fish in northern areas in and particularly around the mouth of the Potomac and Rappahannock. Trolling near deep channel edges near the mouths of these tributaries has the best bet with jiggers chasing birds also finding some breaking fish. Many have been sub-legal, but throwing topwater plugs and jigs on the outskirts of the schools has been a good way to pick out the bigger fish, so use a slow approach and ensure that you don’t put the fish down before you’re within casting distance.
In areas farther south anglers have been much more focused on the speck bite. It’s picked up over the past week from Mobjack down to the mouth of the Bay, with some larger fish being reported from Rudee and Lynnhaven. Our Hampton correspondent Chuck Harrison got out on the water last week and found good numbers if not size, reporting 37 specks between 14 and 16 inches from the HRBT zone and hearing word of a similar bite at Buckroe. Word is that white, chartreuse, pink, and red soft plastics are getting the job done with many anglers preferring to use Gulp. A few redfish are in the mix, but many anglers are catching specks all day without encountering them. Stripers have also been reported by anglers fishing structure or trolling light tackle up inside the rivers, but mostly small fish – and we didn’t hear a peep of big ocean-run fish showing up this week.
We also didn’t hear much from the CBBT this week, though tog fishing and hopefully striper fishing should both pick up as the water cools. This is about when the sheepshead and flounder more or less left town last year, so those bites can be expected to be waning from here on out.