BY BILL HALL, Eastern Shore Post —
The first cobia of the season have been spotted over the shoals adjacent to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Expect the numbers of these hard-fighting fish to increase with the warmer waters, replacing the schools of black drum, which are expected to diminish in size over the course of the next few weeks. Schools of bluefish have also entered the Chesapeake Bay.
Upper Shore
Captain Matt Abell, at the Sea Hawk Sports Center, reported that action on the Chesapeake Bay side has been “hot,” with good black drum catches and releases occurring over the oyster rocks and hills inside Pocomoke Sound.
Red drum, rockfish, and a few speckled trout have been caught along the edges of shallow water grass flats, where they have been in pursuit of freshly shed soft crabs.
Schools of bluefish have also entered the waters of Pocomoke Sound. Captain Abell said the seaside is seeing an increasing number of smaller flounder with the warming waters, though there are still plenty of keeper-sized fish. Pink and white have been his most productive flounder teaser colors, tipped with a silverside or a big live minnow.
Chincoteague
Jimmy Vasiliou, at Captain Steve’s Bait and Tackle, told me that the black sea bass fishing has “come on strong” over the offshore wrecks. The shop weighed in a 6.15-pound flounder last week, which was big enough for first place in a tournament hosted by an anglers club.
Vasiliou added that several citation red drum have been released off the Assateague Island surf. Black drum catches are still being made in the suds, and there are increasing numbers of spot and kingfish (whiting). A few striped bass in the 28- to 31-inch slot limit have been landed, but most have been oversized.
Wachapreague
Captain Lindsay Paul, aboard the Almost Persuaded, said that the flounder bite out of Wachapreague is “still going strong,” with lots of limits being taken. The majority of the flatfish have been caught by anglers drifting Berkley Gulp with live minnows and silversides. White, pink, and red have been the most productive colors, and the outgoing tide has produced the best fishing conditions.
The drum bite around the inlet has not been as productive this week, with only a few fish landed. The offshore black sea bass bite has been good over the wrecks. The Blue Boat limited out two days in a row, with some large knotheads among the catch.
Lower Shore
Jeb Brady, at Bailey’s Bait & Tackle, told me that the black drumming was good through the week, but windy conditions over the weekend kept most anglers in port. Good numbers of the big uglies were encountered along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, as well as behind Fisherman Island, by anglers soaking clam and crab baits on the bottom. Anglers fishing for drum close to the bridge-tunnel pilings with crab baits also encountered some large sheepshead.
Red drum catches were still being made on chunks of cut crab by anglers fishing in the lower barrier island surf. Flounder fishing was described as “great” in the Ditch and along the Fisherman Inlet Bridge on Gulp and cut bait.
Mullet (whiting) and croakers have been hitting squid and clam baits around the concrete ships off Kiptopeke. School-sized striped bass have been caught on Mirrolures and soft plastic baits cast along the lower bayside shorelines. The local piers have reported catches of croaker and mullet (whiting).
Tyler Nestor, at Oceans East — Eastern Shore, reported that the flounder bite has been steady around Wise Point for anglers drifting with live minnows and strips of squid.
The sheepshead bite around the bridge-tunnel was described as “great,” with expectations that it will continue to improve for anglers dropping jigs baited with fiddler crabs.
The first cobia have shown up on the shoals. Chumming while fishing bunker baits on the bottom should prove to be an effective cobia setup for the current catch and release fishery.
Big schools of red drum are still reported off Smith Island and Kiptopeke. Lots of crabs are being caught off the lower shore piers, along with some puppy drum, flounder, and roundhead (whiting).
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.
