Dr. Julie Ball
The summer fishing scene continues to pick up momentum, but the northeasterly blow this week could slow things up a little. Expect the trend to continue once things settle and anglers can get back out on the water.
Cobia is still the main event. Good numbers of early season fish, with many pushing to over 50-pounds, are contributing to a good start to the fishing season. Plenty of encounters are providing ample opportunity to score with some nice fish for sight casters. Chummers are also experiencing good results from Buckroe and Bluefish Rock, and even local pier anglers are getting in on the action, with some cobia weighing to over 60-pounds coming over the rails.
With the recent full moon, the red drum bite is still very good as big fish continue to hit along the surf along the Eastern Shore barrier islands, and near buoys 8 and 10 near Nautilus Shoal and the Nine-foot Shoal area. According to Captain Steve Wray, skipper of the “Ocean Pearl” from Lynnhaven Inlet, some extra-large sharks are also lurking in Bay waters lately, including bull sharks and hammerheads.
The flounder bite continues to evolve, with more anglers reporting limits of fish from various lower Bay locations. The 1st and 2nd islands of the CBBT were productive spots before the cold front, and Lynnhaven and Rudee Inlets also provided some good flatfish action over the past week. The Cell, Willoughby, Buckroe and buoy 36A areas are giving up some decent catches recently, while the Bayside and seaside areas of Oyster are still producing good numbers of fish for drifters.
Good numbers of puppy drum continue to come from within Lynnhaven Inlet, while Rudee Inlet and Mobjack Bay are also reporting a few catches of pups. The croaker bite remains typical for this time of the year, with plenty of medium-sized fish keeping bottom bouncers and pier anglers content. The HRBT, Hampton Bar, the Monitor-Merrimac, the James River Bridge, and Little Creek are providing good action on a range of sizes of hardheads. Some big sea mullet are also biting off the oceanfront and lower Bay piers.
The sheepshead bite is still heating up, with some big fish coming from the CBBT. Spadefish are circling the Chesapeake Light Tower, as well as responding over several inshore wrecks, with a nice class of fish available this year. Although interest is low, some striped bass are still biting around the 3rd and 4th islands of the CBBT on topwater lures in the evenings.
The Spanish mackerel action continues to heat up in local waters. These fish provide quick action, and are easy to catch. Boats are encountering good numbers of Spanish while trolling off Cape Henry and along the Virginia Beach Ocean front in about 25 to 30 feet of water. Taylor and snapper bluefish are also in these same vicinities.
When boats can get out, deep droppers are finding a good variety of blueline tilefish, nice golden tilefish, along with a by catch of big sea bass near the Norfolk Canyon. A few boats are still targeting wrecks for sea bass, but that attraction is faltering as more species become available to target.
Offshore, very good catches of yellowfin tuna, along with some nice big eye tuna and large and abundant dolphin are contributing to a great intro to Virginia’s early offshore season. Many boats are returning to the dock early with limits of fish, with most of the yellowfin tuna averaging to around 30-pounds.
Nags Head
Thursday, June 15, 2017
TW’s reports that there were Puppy Drum caught on lures in S. Nags Head. Some Sea Mullet were scattered. The winds are N at 6 and the water temp is 66 degrees.
Sound Fishing:
The Little Bridge on the Nags Head/Manteo causeway reported slower than usual with a few Trout, one 21-incher, and some Drum.
Pier Fishing:
Avalon: Sea Mullet, Bluefish, Flounder, Puppy Drum and Trout.
Nags Head: Bluefish and Trout.
Outer Banks: Bluefish and Sea Mullet.
Inshore/Nearshore:
Spanish and Bluefish were caught nearshore. Flounder, Sea Mullet, and Croaker were biting in the Inlet and Stripers, Trout and Flounder were landed in the sound.
Offshore Boats Report:
It was a good week for the blue water anglers, with great numbers of Mahi, plenty of Yellowfin, and some Bigeye Tuna. There were also White and Blue Marlin releases.
Hatteras Surf
On Wednesday, Red Drum reported a little better for fishing. Hatteras Inlet had Spanish and Sea Mullet. The afternoon bite produced 2 Cobia at the inlet. The Point had Bluefish, small Puppy Drum and sharks. Sound fishing has been good for Puppy Drum and Speckle Trout.
Hatteras Offshore
All of the Hatteras Harbor fleet went out Wednesday and happy anglers abound. Inshore boats returned with catches of Speckled Trout, Spanish mackerel and Cobia. Red Drum fishing was good with several releases and one keeper on a fly rod. One party went out and returned with a limit of clams. Offshore, The Lucky Chip released a Blue Marlin. Dolphin fishing was fair to good depending on which direction the boats went. The Wahoo bite was scattered as well as the Blackfin Tuna bite. Bottom fish included Amberjack.
