Nags Head TW’s reports: On Wednesday, two inshore boats fished and caught puffers and shark. The water temp is 48 degrees. One offshore boat fished and returned early with a few yellowfin. Jennette’s Pier anglers caught skate and dogfish. The sound boaters caught and released stripers on Tuesday. That’s good news. In Albemarle Sound, the limit for stripers is 2 per person per day at 18” … [Read more...]

By Dr. Ken Neill, III   Water temperatures have reached into the 50s inside the bay and she is waking up. Crabs are active and now that the potting season is open, getting crabs for tautog bait will be much easier. Tog have been caught on the ocean wrecks all winter long but have been rather dormant in the bay. That has now changed with the warmer waters and structures inside the bay … [Read more...]

Virginia Saltwater By Dr. Julie Ball   Water temperatures are starting to plunge as the moderate weather gives way to the colder, winter influence. If you want some decent rockfish action, you will have to travel either north in ocean waters, or up the Bay to reach them. Since the close of the Bay season, boats have been combing Virginia ocean waters with no sign of striped bass … [Read more...]

Dr. Ken Neill, III   This is the time of year when we should be catching all the rockfish we can handle all along the oceanfront. That fishery has not happened the past few years and it has not happened yet this year. We have some hope for this winter as there was a good coastal fishery to our north and there has been a good rockfish bite in the mid-bay area. So far, those mid-bay fish … [Read more...]

Dr. Julie Ball reports: With the New Year upon us, many anglers are reflecting on the previous year with fond memories. Rockfish anglers in particular have little to complain about, especially since the 2015 Chesapeake Bay rockfish season went out with a bang. 2015 turned out to be a very good striper year with lots of big fish making dreams come true throughout December. With daily limits … [Read more...]

Andy Reams of Winchester had this report on a recent tautog venture on the Chesapeake Bay. My son Brad, his friend Matt and I caught 10 tautogs this past Saturday and Sunday over a man-made wreck near the CBBT.  Three of these fish were just under the legal size of 17", thus we had to send them back to get bigger for next year.  The largest two weighed just at 6 pounds each.  When these fish … [Read more...]

Dr. Ken Neill, III   A fairly epic December tuna bite has developed in the Norfolk Canyon area over the past week. Boats making it out are coming in with limits of yellowfin tuna and even some dolphin. Some bigeye tuna are also being caught. We don’t know how long this early Christmas present will last so you might want to get out there now if you can. Offshore bottom fishing … [Read more...]

Virginia Peninsula Report Dr. Ken Neill, IIII   Wrecks in the Triangle Reef area are holding good numbers of flounder. Sea bass and bluefish are being caught off of the ocean wrecks with the deep-water wrecks holding the largest sea bass. There are still some triggerfish available. Big bluefin tuna are being caught out of Morehead City. There should be some bluefin off of our … [Read more...]

Dr. Julie Ball As anglers keep an eye on the weather for fishable openings, the saltwater temperatures continue to cool, encouraging the fall bite to transform into a more winter-like trend. No one is anticipating the onset of the winter fishery more than local striped bass enthusiasts. While Bay anglers are now content with rockfish ranging from school-sized up to nearly 40-inches, the real … [Read more...]