Billfish flags, that is. From the Norfolk Canyon off the Virginia Coast to the blue waters out of Hatteras, boats are hooking up with blue marlin, white marlin, and sailfish. Last week, several boats out of Oregon Inlet had more than 10 billfish releases. Along with the “bills”, first mates were pulling good numbers of dolphin and wahoo and some tuna across the stern.
Elsewhere on the Outer Banks, the sound side offers excellent opportunities for trout anglers, as well as sheepshead, spot, whiting, black drum, and bluefish.
Surf fishermen are celebrating the reopening of Cape Point, with catches of sharks, drum, Spanish and bluefish. The surf is also producing steady catches of spot, sea mullet, pompano, bluefish, and Spanish.
The piers have been hotspots for king mackerel, cobia, Spanish, blues, sheepshead and even some triggerfish. During the day, bottom fishing is good for sea mullet, spot, croaker, and a few trout.
The nearshore boats report consistent catches of amberjacks, kings, Spanish mackerel, and ribbonfish.
Virginia Saltwater
Flounder fishing is one of the best options now. Some giant flatfish are feeding aggressively and can be caught on live bait such as spot, croaker, mullet, or minnows. The larger flounder are usually found near structure, such as wrecks, reefs, oyster beds or channel edges.
Red Drum remain active in the lower bay especially around the islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, the Eastern Shore barrier islands, the mouth of the Rappahannock River and the lower James River.
Cobia are still around but will soon migrate south. September is typically the last month to catch them in the bay.
Spanish mackerel are now abundant and easy to catch. Trolling with small spoons or plugs is the preferred tactic. Sheepshead are biting near the bridges and reef structures. The Ham family out of Greensboro enjoyed some great grey trout fishing out of Cape Charles while camping at Cherrystone.
Sea bass fishing is excellent now on the ocean reefs, wrecks and at the offshore windmills.
Offshore, anglers are finding tuna, wahoo, mahi and billfish in the deep waters of the Atlantic. Deep droppers are pulling in nice tilefish near the bottom, along ledges, canyons, or sea mounts.
