BY BILL HALL, Eastern Shore Post —
Red drum and speckled trout dominate the action on the bayside, while sheepshead, speckled trout, puppy drum, and flounder provide the bulk of the autumn action off the lower shore and along the seaside.
Upper Shore
Captain CL Marshall, of Tangier Sound Charters, said that recent clients have found a mixture of slot-sized and trophy-sized red drum. Anglers have been able to sight cast to surface cruising schools of drum, landing fish up to 52 inches. Successful drum offerings have included popping corks, Rapala Shad Raps, and swim baits.
Fishing over a structure off Occohannock Creek produced catches of speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, and slot-sized puppy drum, according to Marshall.
Small striped bass have been caught by casting Rapala Shad Rap-10s inside the back creeks and guts of northern Pocomoke Sound.
Chincoteague
Jimmy Vasiliou, at Captain Steve’s Bait and Tackle, said that the Assateague beach action has been steady, with some large red drum and keeper-sized black drum landed over the last week. Top baits for fishing in the surf have been cut spot and mullet.
There has been a consistent bite of puppy drum and speckled trout inside the creek mouths.
Tautog and sheepshead have been caught around the bridge structures and the town pier. On Sunday, Oct. 20, the town held a kids tournament at the Curtis Merritt Harbor, with the kids landing over 40 keeper-sized flounder during the event.
Wachapreague
Captain Lindsay Paul, aboard the Almost Persuaded, said the flounder bite out of Wachapreague is still active but fishing pressure on the species is light. He said that now is the time when the flounder population should move into shallower waters with the drop in water temperatures. The best flounder bait continues to be Berkley Gulp combined with live minnows or silversides.
Puppy drum have replaced flounder as the most sought-after catch. The puppies have been scattered “all over” according to Captain Paul, with some anglers catching limits of the small red drum. Most of the drum are measuring inside the legal slot limit and are being caught on both cut bait and artificial lures, either by casting or fished under popping corks. Paul had not received any recent offshore fishing reports.
Lower Shore
Jeb Brady, at Bailey’s Bait & Tackle, told me that the speckled trout fishery remained decent over the last week, as long as the weather cooperated. Mirrolures and soft plastics were the most productive offerings along the lower bayside creeks.
Puppy drum action off the lower bayside beaches, as well as along the seaside marshes out of Oyster, remains good with anglers sight casting to schools of fish cruising the shallows.
Schoolie-sized striped bass have begun to show up in the bayside creeks and along structures such as docks during the evening hours.
Along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel pilings, the sheepshead fishing remains good for anglers soaking chunks of crab for bait.
Catches off the lower bayside piers have consisted primarily of medium to large-sized spot and small trout.
Tyler Nestor, at Oceans East —Eastern Shore, commented that a larger class of speckled trout has shown up along the lower bayside. He recommended casting Vudu or Z-Mann Shrimp, Saltwater Assassins, Z-Mann Jerk Shadz, or Berkley Gulp on jig heads, as well as Mirrolures.
Puppy drum catches have been made using popping corks along both the bayside and seaside shallows, added Nestor.
Small stripers have also been hitting lures inside the lower bayside creeks.
The waters around the concrete ships have been producing catches of sheepshead on sandfleas and pieces of peeler crab. Tautog have shown up along the ships, as well as at the bridge-tunnel pilings, and have been hitting quartered hard crab and frozen green crab baits.
The Kiptopeke State Park pier has produced lots of flounder over the past week for anglers using Gulp 5-inch grubs and live minnow combinations.
The writer was the first Eastern Shore resident to achieve Virginia Saltwater Master Angler status. He has been named Virginia Saltwater Angler of the Year and Virginia Saltwater Release Angler of the Year. He has won numerous Virginia Press Association awards for his columns.
