Fishing on the Rudee Inlet head boat fleet has been excellent this week. The sea bass bite remains good. Limit catches are not uncommon. Deep droppers are catching tilefish at the canyon. Rudee Tours has 17 hour offshore trips scheduled for Aug 13, 20, 27, and Sep 3. They also run daily inshore ½ day, ¾ day, full day and night trips. Give them a call, 757-425-3400.
The offshore action has been hot with many citation bluelines along with some nice black sea bass and 15 golden tiles. Inshore, we’ve seen some great croakers with a lot of spot mixed in.
This is prime billfish season along the mid-Atlantic coast. White and blue marlin, sailfish, spearfish and swordfish are available now. Captain David Wright on the High Hopes says dolphin numbers are on the rise as well, with some nice gaffers available. Tuna fishing is fair, last year this is when some really big yellowfin tuna were landed to our south, in Carolina waters.
Inshore, Spanish mackerel, blues and sharks are keeping charters busy. A gold Clark or Drone spoon seems to be working best for the mackerel. Mixed in with the Spanish and blues is a large number of ribbonfish. And don’t be surprised to pick up a nice king. Several nice ones were landed close in this week. It’s always nice when the captain can get away from the helm and grab a rod, Dr Ken Neill did just that and checked in with his first ever Spanish mackerel citation.
Captain Steve Wray and crew on the Ocean Pearl have been enjoying limits of blues and mackerel. Our flounder season is officially on now. Limits of quality fish are being weighed. Jigging bucktails dressed with strip bait or a scented Gulp works well. But remember big fish like big bait. A live spot should do the trick.
Cobia catches are being reported throughout the lower bay. Live eels, live spot or croaker are your best bait but they will hit artificial baits when spotted on the surface. Red Drum are still available and should continue to be the rest of the summer. Speckled Trout catches have been good recently.
There are good-sized spot being caught in Chesapeake Bay tributaries now. Spot fishing peaks in August and September. The Virginia Beach Pier reports nice roundheads and spots. Spanish, blues and small sharks are always a possibility.
OBX
Some pompano and sea mullet along the beaches. The flounder season will began Saturday and it is a short season. It lasts only last until Sept. 30.
The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway reported catching a mix of stripers, flounder , black drum, trout and red drum. The piers reported spot, sea mullet, sheepshead and a 42-inch cobia
Nearshore anglers reported amberjacks, albacore and ribbonfish. Trout fishing in the sound is outstanding and some inshore anglers have come up on some schools of really huge drum recently.
Offshore, there has been a significant amount of sailfish, blue marlin and white marlin caught and released.
Freshwater
Stan Cobb of Greentop had this report:
Seventeen pounds won the BFL event out of Osbourne Landing last weekend. Many of the top catches came from the Chickahominy River as well as the James. Grass patterns on the lower creeks of the James have been good, along with the vegetation inside the Chick. Senkos, creature baits, crankbaits, and grass frogs all have their strengths in certain places along the rivers. Chick Lake is fishing well, despite high water levels from the recent heavy rains. This is where many of the local trophy hunters will concentrate their efforts. The upper James is in good shape right now with minor changes in river levels expected. Topwater baits, flukes, and Ned rigs are working well.
Buzzbaits will sometimes take the better fish during August and September. Kerr Lake elevation is currently 300.93 feet. Most anglers are reporting 2 to 2-1/2 lb. averages with an occasional 4 pounder mixed in. Many are using shaky head rigs, Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, and topwaters.
It seems that during the day, the bass are not in the chasing mood so, pinpointing their location is critical. Lake Anna bass tournaments are averaging 14 lbs. as the winning weights. Some of the local guides are still doing quite well with stripers by using live bait early in the morning. Many times, limits are being caught by 9 am.
Look for crappie in the deeper brush piles at Kerr. Using lights at night near channel drops will attract the bait and, in turn, bring in the crappie. Just learn and know the waterways before venturing out. Also, never fish alone at night.