Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, January 26 Update:
While fishing has been limited, there has been a lot of big news from governing agencies this week. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has voted and set the coastal striped bass regulations for this year. The regulations will maintain the current slot of 28 to 31 inches and the seasons will remain the same. Both recreational and charter boat anglers are limited to one fish per person per day. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission also recently voted to open a special recreational black sea bass season for February 2024. If you are interested in participating, vessel captains can visit the VMRC website to obtain their free permit. Also make sure to read the recreational reporting facts sheet to read more about reporting requirements. Meanwhile, the general category fishery for large/medium and giant bluefin tuna will close effective 11:30 p.m. Friday, January 26, 2024 as the quota has been reached. The fishery will reopen June 1, 2024. This action applies to Atlantic Tunas General category (commercial) permitted vessels and highly migratory species Charter/Headboat permitted vessels with a commercial sale endorsement when fishing commercially for bluefin tuna. Fishermen aboard General category permitted vessels and highly migratory species Charter/Headboat permitted vessels may tag and release bluefin tuna of all sizes, subject to the requirements of the catch-and-release and tag-and-release programs. Visit the NOAA Fisheries website to learn more.
Big news was also announced this week for Chesapeake Bay striped bass regulations. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has voted for option B2, setting Chesapeake Bay 2024 striped bass regulations across all jurisdictions in Maryland, Virginia, and the Potomac River. The limit will be one fish per person per day with a slot from 19 to 24 inches. Seasons will remain the same as 2022 through this action.
As for the actual fishing: after a very cold week last week, we are seeing the opposite with a big warm up over the past few days. The warm weather will likely spark some increased activity and spur better conditions for getting a bite. Speckled trout, red drum, and striped bass are all on the table right now in the southern Bay tidal rivers. Recent reports from anglers showed that fish were holding deep but will push to shallow water to feed so covering water will be the name of the game to locate them. The Elizabeth River is one of the more productive locations, especially for big winter speckled trout. Z-Man paddletails are still a hot bait when fishing with light tackle.
Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, January 19 Update:
Winter finally arrived with some seriously cold weather this week. It kept many anglers off the water and left our reports from readers very slim. Even when the weather isn’t ideal, there are still fish that can be caught in Chesapeake country. Speckled trout are still an option for anglers looking to target them. The bite is quite a bit slower this time of year, but persistence will pay off. We did see a report from an angler who caught two citation sized trout in the area where the “hot ditch” used to be. He caught them while using live mullet floated under a bobber.
Striper fishing has also been decent when the weather allows boats to get out. The highest concentrations of fish along the coast have been in the Virginia Beach area with many fish wintering just inside the Bay. Eeling is a popular technique this time of year where boats will set out multiple lines with planar boards and drift live eels in the current. Hungry stripers usually can’t resist a live eel, so this technique is very effective. Charter boat SHO-NUF Sportfishing has had some stellar days this winter and is still catching the big ones this week. One trip produced six trophy sized fish with the biggest measuring 46 inches. The stripers will likely remain in the area until spring, so if you want to catch a personal best, now is the time to do it.
Way South Chesapeake Fishing Report, January 11 Update:
this week as strong winds and heavy rains have been battering our region. Most anglers were confined to protected waters in the tidal tributaries where they are still catching fish. Popular inshore gamefish like striped bass, speckled trout, and red drum are still available to catch this time of year. Anglers will want to shift their efforts to deeper water as rockfish have pushed out to the 30–50-foot range. Areas with large shallow flats and deep water close by will hold concentrations of fish as the flats attract fish looking to feed on bait during warmer days. An angler fishing before the mid-week storm rolled in caught a bunch of striped bass and red drum in the Elizabeth River. The largest striper was 28 inches and most of the drum were in the slot range.
The Virginia Beach striped bass fleet had been experiencing some epic days on the water chasing the trophy fish that are wintering in the area. SHO-NUF Sportfishing had a stellar day before the rough weather moved in last weekend. They landed 25 fish with seven weighing over 50 pounds. The cool thing is they were working with Gray FishTag Research to tag the stripers for future research. There are also some bluefin tuna hanging around the Virginia Beach area that offshore boats were chasing in between blows. Now that the giant bluefin tuna season is open, fish over 73 inches can be kept until the quota is met. Playin Hookey Charters caught a big one last weekend measuring 87 inches and weighing 375 pounds. The fish was caught less than 30 miles outside of Virginia Beach. Big fish are out there folks, we just need the weather to cooperate so anglers can find them.
Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, January 5 Update:
Happy New Year folks! Hopefully many of you have already caught your first fish of 2024. Now that we are in the new year, striped bass season has closed for inside the Bay. Catch and release fishing is still permitted, and big migratory striped bass are still being caught. There are also some big striped bass out along the coast, but many are just out of range in the Exclusive Economic Zone. When the tuna bite was hot, boats were picking up stripers inside that zone, so there is a chance they are close enough to target. It will take covering ground to find them though, so keep that in mind. Maryland and Virginias coastal striped bass season is open from now until March 31st with a slot of 28- to 31-inches. You can visit the Maryland DNR website and the VMRC website to view a map of the coastal boundary.
Virginia Beach Sport Fishing let us know that the 2023 fishing season closed out with a bang with the appearance of schools of giant bluefin tuna. They were between the Chesapeake Bay Buoy and the Chesapeake Light Tower which offered a challenge and a thrill for anglers. The giant bluefin tuna season reopened on January 1st but look for it to be closed quickly as the seasonal limit is met. Inside the Bay, tributaries and rivers are still offering good fishing for the popular gamefish species like striped bass, speckled trout, and red drum. The Elizabeth River is historically one of the best winter fishing locations for speckled trout in the Chesapeake Bay region. There was a report from an angler who fished last weekend in the Elizabeth and found the trout fired up and willing to bite during low tide. Another angler fished for six hours on the river without a bite, but said it turned on late in the evening and they caught seven quality specks in the final hour of daylight. It may be cold, but there will always be a fish to catch in Chesapeake country, so get out there and find them!