(Great Tuna Catch Out Of Rudee Inlet)
Virginia saltwater anglers enjoyed outstanding fishing over the long Memorial Day weekend!
Water temperatures hit the magic 70-degree mark and lots of cobia arrived on cue all along the oceanfront and up into the lower bay. The cobia capture season opens June 15th, until then anglers are releasing them. Cobia will hit just about anything you throw in front of them, live eels, spot, menhaden, mullet, large spoons, white buck tails, plastic eels, swimming plugs or cut bait.
The red drum bite really took off. Schools of fish were encountered along the oceanfront and in the lower bay. When encountering schooling fish on the surface, you should approach slowly and not spook them. Another hot spot for 25- to 50-pound feeding red drum is near Latimer shoals. Trolling spoons or bucktails over and around the shallows or by anchoring nearby and fishing fresh cut spot, menhaden or blue crabs are the best methods.
Anglers have enjoyed an outstanding black drum season so far. Good catches are coming from along the shallow channel ledge running from Fisherman’s Island to Cape Charles. Good spots are Kiptopeake, the Cabbage Patch and the Concrete Ships.
Sheepshead numbers are on the rise and these fish will be available through September. The best baits are fiddler crabs, sand fleas or clams. The average size sheepshead is 3 to 8 pounds, but some larger ones were caught this week.
Spadefish have arrived on the buoys, look for them at the light tower and around the CBBT as well. Boats looking for Spanish mackerel are still finding mostly ribbonfish.
This week, Virginia Beach pier anglers were catching puppy drum, roundhead, trout, rays, skates, spot, blues, drum, and a few Spanish. Sea Bass fisherman are reporting limits of Jumbo’s in short order! Further offshore at the canyons deep-droppers are finding plenty of tilefish and a few snowy groupers along with other bottom dwellers. Offshore anglers are enjoying a great tuna bite.
OBX
Boats running out of Oregon inlet have been finding large gaffer dolphin, and billfish numbers are on the rise. James Friend Dickerson of Charlottesville fished a few days last week in the Roanoke Sound with good success. He said the puppy drum were thick on Thursday, but he could only keep one fish. He also said there was a good speckled trout bite. There are lots of cobia being caught just outside of Oregon Inlet.
A 47-pound black drum was caught off Jennette’s pier. The fishing along the beaches is good. There were slot size drum caught along with a good mullet bite, plus some bluefish, and trout. Som. Nearshore boats out of Corolla are tearing up the cobia along with Spanish.
