As the water temperatures decrease in the Chesapeake Bay, the speckled trout bite is on the increase. Currently, the sleek, speckled warriors are the Fish du Jour in the bay and tributaries. Some anglers are using live shrimp to entice the trout while other go with GULP baits under popping corks. Fishing shallow water banks with grass and structure on a falling tide produces the best results.
Rockfish are now legal in Virginia waters and a good many keepers ((19”-24”) are coming from shallow water. Fishing lighted docks at night has been very productive. Fishing beneath bridges has also been effective. Big red drum are being caught on the shores of Sandbridge as they head south for the winter. The tautog bite is getting better while the sheepshead catch begins to wane. Some huge flounder are being caught over the Bridge Tunnel humps. Offshore wrecks are delivering sea bass, triggerfish, and flounder while the blue water fleet is returning with Wahoo, mahi, king macks and blackfin tuna.
OBX
As the ocean waters have settled down a bit and began to cool, the fishing has turned on along the Outer Banks. In the surf, a 20-inch speckled trout was reported on Monday along with catches of nice sized sea mullet, spot, and a few drum. The piers had a mix of drum, trout, mullet, and bluefish. In the sound, trout, pups, flounder, and some nice bluefish were biting. Some sheepshead were caught at the Bonner Bridge. The offshore fleet was finally able to sail early this week and returned with lots of Mahi, some wahoo, tuna, and a few sailfish releases.
