Dr. Ken Neill III says while it may not be like the glory years, now is a great time to catch a mess of nice spot in the bay and tidal rivers. Dr. Julie Ball also notes that spot are gaining more attention, with good hauls of decent fish coming from local inlets, Willoughby Bay and the lower Bay rivers. Croakers, Julie says, are also providing action inside Rudee Inlet.
The best bait for spot is always a small piece of bloodworm, but they will also hit a small piece of squid if push comes to shove. Make sure the hooks are razor sharp and not rusted. Ideal depths for these tasty bottom fish are from 18 to 24 feet.
Virginia Saltwater
By Dr. Julie Ball
As we cruise towards the end of summer, the heat is starting to give way to some cooler winds from the north. This gusty weather can make getting out on the water a challenge. Calmer conditions over the next few days could provide some productive fishing as many species begin to display more late summer patterns.
With cloudy days and breezy conditions prevailing over the past several days, cobia action for sight casters has been less than optimal. Some nice fish are still hitting the docks when boats can get out, but the cloud cover is still obscuring any visual advantage for casters. A few chummers are experiencing similar results. This fishery will begin winding down soon for the season.
Blustery winds don’t bother red drum, though, and these fish are not taking any breaks as they fatten up for their journey south in the fall. Schools of bull reds are roaming lower Bay waters, providing good casting opportunities. Big red drum are also taking bait for anglers bottom fishing on the bayside of the Eastern Shore, as well as for surf anglers along Smith Island over the past several days. Puppy drum are also active in the shallows, hitting Gulp lures and cut bait.
Flounder anglers are also dealing with difficult weather conditions, making decent catches a challenge. Protected areas are providing easier fishing conditions, with Rudee and Lynnhaven inlets giving up some keeper flatfish lately. Anglers working the Eastern Shore inlets, off the concrete ships, and along the High Rise area of the CBBT are also finding some luck. The better catches are coming from the offshore wrecks when boats can reach them, where anglers can also find sea bass and triggerfish.
Sheepshead are still going strong as anglers using fiddler crabs and clam entice big fish from the pilings and all four tubes of the CBBT. Big triggerfish pushing over 3-pounds are also providing action in the same locations. Spadefish are still biting around the islands of the CBBT, with anglers finding scattered 4- and 5-pounders near the 3rd island.
Some puppy drum are around in most backwater locations, but speckled trout are slow to evolve as we watch carefully for a rebound.
Spanish mackerel are still providing good action along the Virginia Beach oceanfront for trollers using small gold and chrome spoons. Some king mackerel are also responding to trolled baits. Anglers continue to find Mahi along the CB buoy line and near the Tower Reef areas. Plenty of smallish sharks continue to entertain anglers in the same areas.
Amberjack are still available at the South Tower, and jack crevalle are circling the Chesapeake Light Tower. Deep dropping for blueline tilefish, barrelfish and black-bellied rosefish is still productive, with by-catches of jumbo sea bass.
The offshore billfish bite is fair according to blue water captains, with scattered catches of white marlin, occasional blue marlin and sailfish as possibilities. The dolphin bite is still good, while wahoo action is on the rise this week. A few nice yellowfin tuna were boated this week, along with some decent bigeye tuna.
Nags Head
TW’s Daily Fishing Report on 9-3.
Surf Fishing: Surf Fishing improved on the north beaches. I heard of more Drum caught in the Oregon Inlet area. Some scattered Bluefish and Sea Mullet have also been caught. We have a NW wind at 6 and the water is 79 degrees. We have light winds, a calm ocean and clear water.
Sound Fishing: The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway reported assorted bottom fish.
Pier Fishing:
Avalon: A few Spanish early.
Nags Head: Slow.
Jennette’s: Bluefish, Spanish and Pompano
Outer Banks: Junk fish are taking all the bait. One of the locals, however, caught a 3.4-pound Flounder in the early morning.
Inshore Boats/Nearshore Report: Nearshore anglers had good catches of Spanish, Blues, Ribbonfish and Albacore. Inshore boats caught a good number of Bluefish, Spanish and some Cobia. Flounder, Gray Trout, Sea Mullet and Croaker were caught in the channels.
Oregon Inlet Fishing Center.
On 9-1, the Fishing Center reported a beautiful day of fishing for all the charters. The off -shore boats are catching massive amounts of dolphin, with most of boats catching limits. About 16 jacks were also caught today. The off shore boats also caught and released several white marlin and a sailfish.
The near-shore charters had a good day and caught plenty of Spanish mackerel, lots of bluefish and some albacore. The inshore boats caught black sea bass, tripletail, and cobia. An angler on the Rock Solid caught a 35 lb. citation cobia. The Miss Oregon Inlet is catching a variety of fish. Today the catch included flounder, sea mullet, spot, blue fish, sea bass, gray trout, pin and pig fish and some puffer fish.
On 9-2, the blue water fleet brought in limits of dolphin and collected citations for more than 20 white marlin releases. There was also 1 sailfish release and 1 spearfish release. There were scattered yellowfin tuna brought in. A private boat landed a 55 lb. wahoo.
Hatteras Surf
On Wednesday, Red Drum & Tackle reported that the late morning bite included Spanish and Blue Fish at the Point for anglers using Glass Minnows in colors such as Green, Red and White, Natural, and Pink. Ramp 43 had some Puppy Drum caught on fresh cut bait. Avon had Sea Mullet and Croakers. Avon Pier had Spanish and Bluefish. The sound has a lot of Puppy Drum and some nice Flounder using Gold Weedless Spoons, Jig heads with Gulp, and Buck tails.
On Tuesday, The Point had a few Bluefish and Spanish in the morning. Afternoon anglers at the Point had a 3 Puppy Drum and a few Bluefish. Avon had Sea Mullet, Croakers and Bluefish.
Hatteras Offshore
Reports Capt. Dave Wilson on the Godspeed Charters. On September 1, we ushered in September with a great day of wahoo fishing! There weren’t many dolphin found today, a few “flip flops” late, but the wahoo stole the show. We caught about half our bites and landed nine, plus a small gaffer. Another satisfied make-up charter from Hatteras Harbor!
On Aug. 31, in spite of the numerous showers and occasional rumbles of thunder, the weather was pretty nice and fishing was great! We bailed our limit of dolphin in two stops in the morning and went wahoo searching. The bite was on, but our average stunk. We went 3 for 13, pulling one off on the leader and sacrificing another one to the sharks. One of our anglers, Melvin, reminded me that the year before last we went 8 for 8, so I guess it all works out.