Offshore Bite Heating Up

By TH Spangler | Connie Barbour (Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle)

September is typically the best month for Flounder. The bite inside the bay has been picking up. The bridge tunnel is the most popular area for bay flounder. The Cell is also a good spot. Ocean structure is still producing as well.

A lot of sheepshead are being caught around bridge tunnel pilings. Lawson Freeman picked up a stray mahi at the third island last week.

Cobia are being spotted just about everywhere. Sight casters are finding them cruising the surface, be sure and check out all the buoys. The cobia season closes September 30th. The commercial cobia fishery will also close in state waters the same day.

Red drum are being caught throughout the lower bay. Locating a large school of drum is a memorable experience.

Spanish mackerel fishing remains excellent. There’s a nice class of fish available now, some topping four pounds!

Spot fishing is good in the rivers. The Rappahannock River, the Potomac River, Colonial Beach and Buckroe Pier, all good locations.

There’s been reports of puppy drum and trout inside Lynnhaven Inlet lately.

Offshore, limits of mahi are being caught by the offshore charters. The red hot white marlin bite has been in the canyons to our north, but over the past few days the bite seems to be picking up closer to home. Look for it to really turn on any day. The blue marlin, and wahoo action will pick up as well. There are some big blues out there, the Virginia Beach Billfish Tourney produced a 683 and a 440 pounder.

The Tilefish bite has been very productive, and should stay that way for a while.