BY BILL HALL, Eastern Shore Post —
Summer-like temperatures are starting to produce summertime catches, as most of the warm water species have arrived in local waters. One of those summertime species, the cobia, has shown up in good numbers in the lower Chesapeake Bay with catches reported all the way up the Virginia portion of the bay, just in time for the June 15 opening of the legal cobia season.
Upper Shore
Captain Matt Abell, at the Sea Hawk Sports Center, reported that the middle Chesapeake Bay is holding lots of striped bass around shallow water bottom structure and around submerged grass beds, with most of the rockfish exceeding the upper end of the slot limit. The stripers have been hitting both artificial and natural baits.
Speckled trout fishing is also improving, with catches coming on peeler and soft crab baits, as well as artificials. Capt. Matt’s clients recently enjoyed success with speckled trout while using POP-A-LICIOUS popping corks with 3/16-ounce Freedom Bait jigs and Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullets. Deeper water bayside structures have produced some catches of sheepshead and bluefish measuring up to 30 inches.
On the seaside, the new longer flounder minimum size has hampered most anglers’ efforts with catching a limit of fish measuring at least 17.5 inches. Undersized throwbacks are greatly exceeding legal-sized fish. Still, the best tide for flounder centers around the last of the incoming through the first of the outgoing, with pink or red and white teasers tipped with Berkley Gulp and large live minnows or silversides producing its share of the fish.
The inshore ocean wrecks are starting to produce a larger class of flounder, as well as a few sheepshead and black sea bass. Deep droppers are finding tilefish for their efforts.
Jimmy Vasiliou, at Captain Steve’s Bait and Tackle, said that the surf fishermen on Assateague Island are starting to see increases in the numbers of spot and kingfish (whiting). Large sharks measuring up to 7 feet in length and some large red drum have also been caught from the beach and over some inshore wrecks. Large sheepshead and limit catches of sea bass have also come from the wrecks. In Chincoteague Bay, flounder to 24 inches have been caught, but finding keepers is now much harder due to the increase in the minimum size limit.
Wachapreague
Captain Lindsay Paul, aboard the Almost Persuaded, told me that the flounder bite continues to be good, with lots of undersized fish, along with some larger fish, being taken when anglers can find clear water and decent weather. Gulp Swimming Mullet, combined with a live minnow or silverside, continues to be the go-to flounder bait combination for most anglers.
The springtime drum bite seems to be over. Large black sea bass can be taken over the offshore wrecks when the weather and sea conditions allow. Captain Paul predicted that the offshore blue water trolling fishery should kick into gear any day.
Lower Shore
Tyler Nestor, at Oceans East — Eastern Shore, said a larger class of flounder is now being caught along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and around its rock islands. The bigger fish are being caught on 2-ounce jigs tipped with large Berkley Gulp grubs and strip baits.
The sheepshead bite was reportedly “going off” at the bridge-tunnel, as the shop has registered numerous Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament citations. Lots of the larger sheepies have been taken on 1 1/2- to 2-ounce jigs tipped with fiddler crabs or sandfleas.
Cobia are being caught on the shoals in the lower bay, with bottom fishing while chumming, as well as sight casting bucktails, twitch baits, or live eels all being effective techniques.
The third island of the bridge-tunnel is holding large schools of red drum. Savvy anglers are locating the schools using side scan sonar, then jigging over the schools with bucktails. The area off Kiptopeke is producing catches of flounder, croakers, and roundheads (whiting).
Jeb Brady, at Bailey’s Bait & Tackle, told me that the flounder fishing has been “great” over the last week. Flounder measuring up to 25 inches have been landed on Gulp and squid combinations drifted along the Ditch and the Fisherman Inlet Bridge. Larger flounder have also been found around some of the oceanic wrecks.
Sheepshead and small black drum are being caught consistently around the pilings of the bridge-tunnel on crab and sandfleas.
The evening red drum catch and release fishery in the shallows around Fisherman Island is described as “incredible,” with most of the fish hitting crab baits.
Cobia fishing is picking up with the season opening on June 15. Anglers are reporting large cobia being seen cruising the surface. Cobia have been caught and released while chumming and bottom fishing off Latimers Shoal.
The waters around the concrete ships are teeming with schools of large sand mullet (whiting), with croakers mixed in, while the piers are producing small croaker, sand mullet, and a few flounder.
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.
