It’s mid-September. In saltwater, that means one thing. Spot. Big yellow-bellied spot. The tasty panfish are spread from well up into the Rappahannock River to the shorelines of Virginia Beach, and there are some dandy fish being caught – up to 14-inches! Spot are in the inlets at Rudee and Lynnhaven and they are tugging at lines dropped from the piers. Spot generally prefer hard-bottom areas, in the 14’ to 20′ depths. They’re biting. Time to fill a cooler.
Puppy drum, speckled trout, and rockfish are also in the local inlets. Anglers are encountering large red drum in the Bay as they school on the surface. Bay cobia are starting to move toward the mouth of the Bay as they prepare to exit. Look for them near the surface, often time swimming under a school of rays.
The CBBT is still holding nice sheepshead. Josh Ledoux caught a 11-12 sheepshead, Mike Harrison had one at 11-1 and Robert Critcher had a 10-15 fish. Wow!
Nice keeper flounders have been caught recently and the Spanish mackerel are still busting Clarke Spoons from Virginia Beach to Windmill Point. The Cell has been a hotspot for bottom fish.
The marlin bite has been outstanding. Offshore charters have been catching yellow fin tuna, mahi and lots of billfish.
OBX
It was cloudy on Thursday morning with rain in the forecast, but the wind switched to NE, which means fishing will pick up off the piers and beaches.
The piers had a good day on Wednesday with catches of albacore, pompano, blues, Spanish, sea mullet, puppy drum, spot and croakers. There were also some Spanish and albacore caught from the beaches on Sting Silvers. Anglers using fresh bait, beached drum, sea mullet, pompanos, croakers, spot, blues and blow toads.
Fishing in the sound continues to be excellent with pups, specks, stripers and flounder. Boats trolling nearshore had good catch es of albacore, blues, Spanish, puppy drum and ribbonfish. The offshore guys did well with Tuna, wahoo, blue marlin and sailfish.
Out of Hatteras Harbor, offshore fishing produced Blackfin Tuna, Wahoo and Dolphin. Sea Bass, Triggerfish and B-liners were also reported.
Inshore boats had catches of keeper drum, Speckled Trout, Bluefish and Spanish Mackerel.
Freshwater
Temps are beginning to drop in freshwater, triggering lots of bites. At Lake Orange, the water temperature is now in the mid to upper 70s. The lake is clear with fish on the move to the shallows. Bass fishing with moving baits is good. Crappie are feeding on small minnows in 6 to 10 ft of water. Catfishing has remained strong with baits of chicken livers and the walleye bite is still good.
The Rappahannock River has been a hotspot for bass and blue catfish. Top water baits in the upper James are producing lots of smallmouth. Lake Anna continues to giver up some nice stripers in the early hours. Crappie are moving to deep docks and bridge pilings.