Virginia anglers need four or five warm days in a row to kick off the speckled trout and puppy drum seasons inside Lynnhaven and Rudee inlets. A few warm days will lure bait into the shallows and the predators will follow.
Cold, inshore water is holding up the big red drum bite. But a few warm days will take care of that as well. Then look for reports to start coming in from the Outer Banks of NC and along Virginia’s Sandbridge. The bite will quickly turn on in the shallows of Virginia’s Eastern Shore and in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Bay anglers will also be targeting large black drum with fresh clams.
Tautog fishing is good on the ocean wrecks when you can find a weather window. Dr. Ken Neil fished a half-day recently and caught 8 tautog.
Rockfish are available inside the rivers, but must be released.
Outer Banks
Anglers fishing Jennette’s Pier are catching a few dogfish on frozen cut bait. Offshore boats running out of Oregon Inlet are finding plenty of big bluefin tuna, plus some yellowfin tuna and wahoo. Blackfin tuna are available off Hatteras.
There were some 30-inch bluefish caught in Salvo last week. Some large drum showed at The Point and blow toads were biting near ramps 48 and 49.
A few Hatteras Harbor anglers took advantage of a calm but cold day last Saturday to head offshore. Bottom fishing was good with Triggerfish and Black Sea Bass keeping anglers busy cranking their reels. One charter headed north and released a 93″ Bluefin Tuna and saw evidence of more that failed to bite the hook.