It happens every September. The huge numbers of spot that have moved from the ocean to the Bay waters begin to bite…and bite… and bite. Two at a time. Half-pounders. A cooler-full on a single tide change. And it’s happening right now. The two hot spots have been the Hampton/Norfolk area and the hard bottom grounds of the lower Rappahannock. The feisty panfish will soon be on the move into the inlets. Blood worms, which are hard to find, are the preferred bait, but spot will also go after Fishbites in the bloodworm scent, so stock up
Elsewhere, boats are still spotting schools of large red drum in the lower Bay. Puppy drum have been caught in all the inlets and in the surf along the oceanfront. There was a 50-inch red drum release at Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle on September 9th. Spanish mackerel are still available throughout the lower bay and along the oceanfront.
Sheepshead catches around the CBBT are still good. Meng Qing Wang caught a 12 lb. 1 oz. sheepshead on September 10th.
Big flounder continue to be taken, fish up to 9 pounds. Live Spot or finger mullet are the preferred baits for the big flounder.
OBX
Great fishing continues the Outer Banks. In the surf, anglers are beaching drum, bluefish, sea mullet, pompano, Spanish mackerel, and croaker. TW’s weighed a 2.25-lb pompano and a 1.78-lb sea mullet caught by Cameron Peeler from Lexington, NC. There are also plenty of big sharks in the surf right now, if you are looking to get rigged up for sharks stop in at TW’s. They have what you will need.
On the piers. It’s drum, Spanish, bluefish, spot, sea mullet, ribbonfish, croakers, and flounder.
On the sound side there are still plenty of drum of all sizes, plus trout, blues, and flounder.
Offshore fishing has been consistent with good catches of dolphin, wahoo, some Tuna, and scattered billfish releases.
Freshwater
Grass has been drawing most of the bass bites on all the tidal rivers. Frog imitations are a top bait. The upper James is low and clear, but the smallmouth are biting. Topwaters and Flukes have been effective. Crappie are stirring om the big lakes. Bridges are drawing lots of attention from the crappie-ites. Striper action has been slow at Anna and Buggs Island.
At Lake Orange, water temperatures are now in the mid to upper 70s with fish on the move to the shallows. Crappie fishing has been very good. The Annual Youth Fishing Day is this Saturday, September 24th from 12-4pm.
