February can’t make up its mind, as the usual bitter cold has given way to some unseasonably warm weather. The swings make a big difference in what’s biting. The average water temperature is now 45 degrees.
Boats fishing out of Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Inlet North Carolina are getting into some nice bluefin tuna action. Charter boats fishing to the south have found lots of smaller bluefin, with a larger class of fish being caught to the North. Surf action is slow.
The Virginia February black sea bass season is proving limits to those running offshore to wreck fish. Bluefish and sharks are in the mix as well. The sea bass season will be open until the end of the month with a minimum size of 13 inches and a 15 fish limit per day
Tautog fishing has also been great out of Virginia Beach when the weather cooperates. Anglers targeting them on the nearshore wrecks are catching quality fish. Blue crabs or Fishbites Blue Crab flavored strips are the favored baits. Tautog season in Virginia will be open until May 15th with a four fish per day limit at a minimum size of 16 inches.
Connie at Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle reports anglers are finding some puppy drum inside Lynnhaven Inlet. Decent catch and release striper action is occurring in the rivers and inlets. Night fishing under dock, bridge and pier lights is the best bet.
The Elizabeth River on the Southside and York River tributaries on the Peninsula side are the top choices for mid-winter speckled trout. They’ll mainly be in deeper waters but as the weather warms, they will move into shallow.
Mixed Results in 2022/23 Game Harvest
Hunters checked in fewer bears, deer sand turkeys during the past fall hunting season, but the decreases were not significant.
The bear kill was off about 25% over the previous year and 29% lower than the previous 5-year average. But the bear harvest has been setting records in recent years and a decline was not unexpected. Tagging 2,232 bears in a season is impressive.
The deer kill at 184,968 was about 3% less th4en the previous year. Stability in the size of the deer herd has been the objective at DWR. This was the second straight year that all deer were reported using the Department’s electronic harvest reporting systems (telephone, online, and mobile app). No doubt, many deer that were killed were not reported. My guess would be 15 to 20 %. But that’s a guess.
A total of 1,621 wild turkeys were harvested in Virginia during the 2022–23 fall turkey hunting season, a slight decrease over the 2021-22 harvest of 1,644.
While Virginia’s turkey population appears to remain robust, fall harvests will fluctuate due to several other factors beyond the population size. These factors, which vary across the state, include the length and timing of the fall season, annual variation in reproductive success, acorn abundance, hunting pressure, and weather.