Eastern Shore
Chris Bait & Tackle reports:
Sea Mullet/Roundhead: Good catches are being reported off Kiptopeke, the Cabbage Patch/Bouy 18 area, Latimer Shoals and outside the Concrete Ships.
Sea Trout: Pan trout to 14-inches have been caught outside the Kiptopeke Concrete Ships and out of Oyster in the Sand Shoal Inlet.
Croakers: Medium size croakers have been showing in the bay outside Kiptopeke, still not great numbers yet.
Cobia: Great reports have been coming from Bouy 13 near the CBBT, Bouy 16 area out of Kiptopeke (Latimer Shoals), and off Cape Charles by Bouy 36A. Sight casting and bait fishing have both been effective with eels and Bucktails best for sight casting, and Menhaden/Bunker for bait fishing
Spadefish: Making a showing around the 3rd and 4th island of the CBBT, Plantation Light and Cabbage Patch reef
Red Drum: Still available in the surf out of Fisherman’s Island and Nautilus Shoals
Flounder: Oyster and Wise Point boat ramp area have good amounts of fish. The CBBT has also been holding decent number of fish.
Virginia Piers
Lynnhaven: Spot and croaker are the main catch, along with a few Spanish mackerel, taylor blues and sea mullet.
Virginia Beach Pier: Consistent action casting for Spanish mackerel and taylor bluefish. Bottom fishermen are taking spot, mullet and croaker. Some trout are being caught under the lights.
Sandbridge: Bottom fishermen report steady catches of croaker, spot, sea mullet, small shark, pan trout and flounder, while casters are taking Spanish mackerel and taylor blues at dusk.
Chincotague
Flounder action is good, with limit catches being made in the main channel between Capt. Bob’s and Tommy’s Place and in the deeper holes. Croaker and sea bass are showing in the catches. Surf anglers are catching sea mullet and pan trout. Offshore, bluefin tuna to 95 pounds are available outside the inlet, at the Parking Lot and 30 Fathom Lumps. Chopper bluefish are being caught at the Parking Lot, along with the bluefin tuna and dolphin. Inshore wrecks are producing tautog, blowfish, spadefish and triggerfish.
Virginia Offshore
Dr. Ken Neill, III
Offshore fishing is good for a variety of fish. There have been some good yellowfin tuna catches on the Fingers. Some bigeye tuna have been caught at the Norfolk and Washington Canyons – not many but the ones being caught are nice fish. Billfish are being encountered in good numbers for this early in the season. The live-baiting thing is going on. Dolphin are around in good numbers and some wahoo are being caught. Bottom fishing is good if the tuna are not cooperating.
Amberjack are at the southern towers if you want to make a run for a lot of “pullage”. Spadefish are at the Chesapeake Light Tower and over many of the coastal wrecks as well as on structures in the bay. The coastal wrecks are holding sea bass, flounder, triggerfish, and some big sand tiger sharks.
Spanish mackerel action is good along the oceanfront and throughout the lower bay. There are a lot of small bluefish around as well. While trolling for Spanish, you are likely to encounter schools of big red drum and good numbers of cobia swimming near the surface, so have something ready to cast. Sight-casters are doing well on cobia and red drum when conditions allow. When the conditions are not good for sight fishing, chumming is still producing some good cobia catches.
Big sheepshead are being caught at the CBBT. Spadefish are here also and the flounder bite has picked up a lot since the Flounder Bowl. Some flounder are being caught at all of the normal flounder spots but the CBBT has been the best spot recently.
Outer Banks
TWs reports:
Surf Fishing: Of significant interest was Austin Bell’s recent catch of a 7-foot Hammerhead Shark – in the surf at Nags Head. Swimming anyone? Other than that, it’s really slow fishing on the surf with just a few small blues reported.
Sound Fishing: The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway has reported a few keeper Trout in the mornings and small Black Drum throughout the day.
Pier Fishing:
Avalon: 4 Cobia weighing in from 35 to 54-lbs, plus small King Macks and all the Blues you want.
Nags Head: Blues and Spanish and a bunch of 12-14-inch Amberjacks.
Jennette’s: Spadefish and Amberjack.
Outer Banks: Few Blues, Spadefish, Sea Mullet. A great run of Bluefish last night. Lot of Skates and Ray in the water and tons of bait in the water.
Inshore Boats/nearshore Report:
Nearshore boats caught plenty of Spanish and Bluefish and also had good Red Drum bite. Inshore reported a 75lb Cobia. The Oregon Inlet Headboat decked Sea Mullet, Bluefish, and Spanish. Flounder and Sea Bass.
Pirate’s Cove
The Yellowfin Tuna are back after a day of slow fishing and a day of wind. Boats came in with an average of 350 pounds each, boating Yellowfin Tuna, Mahi Mahi, and Wahoo. Everyone came in just in time to beat the afternoon thunderstorm.
The Nearshore fleet had a pretty good day with some Spanish mackerel, bluefish and amberjack. Nearshore boats also had a great catch of Speckled Trout!
Hatteras Surf
On Tuesday, it was a windy day out of the southwest, reports Red Drum. Alex Foster had a good day behind the Lighthouse View Motel with a 1-1 citation Sea Mullet and plenty of smaller ones.
Ramp 43 produced some nice Puppy Drum on Wednesday. Finn Hawkins, 14-years old from Charlotte, caught his first Puppy Drum weighing 6-3. The 26-inch keeper hit a sand flea. Alex Foster again caught nice Sea Mullets and a decent Pompano. Ramp 43 also had some Sea Mullet and a few Flounders.
Hatteras Offshore
Hatteras Harbor notes that the Red Drum fishing continues to be good in the Pamlico Sound. Limits of keeper Drum were caught and even more larger Drum were released. Speckled Trout and Bluefish action was good on Wednesday. Near shore anglers boated Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish.
Despite choppy conditions, several offshore boats went out. Four Sailfish were released. Dolphin and blackfin tuna were scattered.