The saltwater is still cold, around 50 and under in the Bay, at Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks, but it is beginning to warm with longer days, and the briny action will soon heat up.
Speckled trout anglers are doing well in the shallows that feed into the Elizabeth and York Rivers. Soft plastic swim baits and Mir-o-lures are working.
The tautog bite continues to be good. Larger fish, up to 20 pounds have been found on the nearshore wrecks and reefs and smaller ones should be biting at the CBBT and on artificial Bay reefs. Fresh crab baits always work best but Fishbite E-Z Crab strips are popular as well.
Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle says that puppy drum are being caught inside Lynnhaven Inlet and Captain Todd Beck, Knot Wish’n charters has landed a few inside Rudee Inlet.
Black drum usually start showing at the end of March and peak in April. That bite will happen along the bayside of the Eastern Shore. At the Cabbage Patch, the Concrete Ships, Buoy 13, and near the high rise of the CBBT.
OBX
Surf fishing is finally picking up. Puppy drum are being caught around Oregon Inlet. Down south near Buxton, there have been reports of large red drum at The Point and on Ocracoke Island. Puppy drum, sharks, sea mullet and bluefish are starting to show up in the Hatteras Island surf as well.
Large, speckled trout and puppy drum are still being caught on the western side of the Pamlico Sound. Some small trout are being caught at Little Bridge on the Manteo Causeway, as well as some rockfish around the Mann’s Harbor Bridges.
Blackfin tuna, kings and a few wahoo are being caught offshore and it’s not too late to go catch a giant bluefin, there are still plenty of them around for catch and release.