Last Saturday and Sunday, the Rudee Angler out of Virginia Beach took advantage of favorable weather and Virginia’s special February black sea bass season. Anglers aboard the head boat caught black sea bass, bluefish and even released a few blueline tilefish.
The Rudee Angler runs offshore trips virtually year around. Phone them at 757-425-3400 for information on a future trip.
Also last week, Dr. Ken Neill and crew on the Healthy Grin enjoyed the nice weather on ocean waters. They kept 56 nice sea bass and released lots of bluefish. They also kept a tautog and a hake and released some impressive sized conger eels.
On the Outer Banks, the Oregon Inlet Marina commercial boats took advantage of good conditions and reported a 500 lb. bluefin tuna along with some plus blackfins, yellowfins, bigeye, Wahoo and sea bass. Perhaps the charter boat fleet will also soon get in on the action.
Not much happening now for surf fishermen. The water temp is around 48 degrees.
Freshwater fishing has been good in recent days reports Stan Cobb at Greentop. Yellow perch are making a good showing on the Rappahannock. The bigger creeks are the places to target them. A lot of big blue cats are being caught from the Rappahannock River. The upper portions of the Rapp have been good for both smallmouth and largemouth. The lower James and Chickahominy have also been excellent for bass. The Chick Lake has also been good. The upper James has been excellent for smallmouth bass catches in the last few days. The level at the Wesham gauge is 5.61′ as of 2/25/20. This may change soon, as we’ve had some rain. Hopefully, the river levels won’t rise significantly. Be aware of ramp conditions though, many along the upper James are covered in deep mud.
Lake Anna Bass continue to bite well. Guide Jim Hemby caught two giants – a 9-pounder and a 10-pounder. Stripers are being caught from mid lake to the upper portions. Look for the upper lake to really turn on any day now. Good sized spotted bass are being caught from the lower sections of Lake Gaston.