Water temperatures dipped slightly this week. Rudee and Lynnhaven Inlets dropped to 55°F, from 60° F. But that didn’t stop the Speckled Trout and Flounder bite from picking up. Over on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, the flounder bite has been consistent for two weeks, especially in deeper channels 15-25 ft near marshes.
Bait options for Trout are Gulp Swimming Mullet on ¼-½ oz jig heads, live mud minnows, fresh shrimp or cut bait strips of squid or bluefish.
Baits for Flounder are the same as trout, fished with a slow deliberate retrieve to match their cooler-water sluggishness. Try drifting or slow-trolling along channel edges, drop-offs, docks, or oyster beds. Bounce your baits along the bottom with a slow lift-and-drop to kick up sediment.
Puppy Drum are abundant in the shallows of lower bay rivers, inlets, and creeks. Puppy Drum are a blast on light tackle. Bait options include 3-4” paddle tail soft plastics, shrimp imitations (natural/red colors), topwater lures, or live shrimp/crabs under a popping cork. Target them in 1-4 ft depths in grassy-bottomed creeks, inlets, and bays. Work soft plastics slowly near the bottom or twitch topwaters at dawn/dusk for explosive strikes. Set popping corks 1-2 ft above bait for deadly results in cooler water.
Large Red Drum are stacking up on the shoals near Fisherman’s Island, signaling a stellar season ahead. Reports from North Carolina are excellent, with many more fish migrating toward our Chesapeake Bay.
Along with lots of large Red Drum being caught off North Carolina piers, Bluefin Tuna have been spotted unusually close to shore this spring. They are following the cool Labrador Current near Cape Hatteras. This has led to exciting catches by land-based pier anglers and kayakers, including a notable fish caught by Stefan Turko on a swimbait just a quarter mile offshore. However, regulations have since been clarified, prohibiting keeping bluefin caught from land or piers, as permits only apply to registered vessels.
Good Drum baits are whole blue crabs, cut mullet, bunker chunks, or live spot/croaker. Anchor or slow-drift over shoals and structure in 10-30 ft depths. Hotspots are Fisherman’s Island shoals, Cabbage Patch, or CBBT’s 3rd/4th islands.
Sheepshead & Tautog. With crabs now at local tackle shops, expect sheepshead and tautog catches to climb. Tautog are already biting well, especially around the CBBT, with lower bay wrecks, reefs, and bridge-tunnel structure producing best. Good baits are fiddler crabs, sand fleas, clam strips, or small blue crab pieces. Fish tight to piles, rocks, or wrecks. Drop baits right beside structure, keep tension for subtle nibbles, and chum with crushed crabs to draw fish in. Precision is critical in cooler water as fish hug cover.
Black Drum are being caught from Sandbridge to Cape Charles and Chincoteague. Try fishing whole blue crabs, clam chunks, shrimp heads, or cut bunker. Target them in 20-40 ft channels or on shoals with a fish-finder rig with a 4-8 oz sinker, 50-80 lb leader, 6/0-9/0 circle hook. Anchor up-current, let baits sit on the bottom, and watch for hard hits from roaming schools. Night bites are common—use sonar to pinpoint fish. Hotspots are Fisherman’s Island, Cape Charles area, Cape Henry area, Sandbridge, and Chincoteague’s deeper channels.
Pier Fishing. Lower bay piers are providing croaker, drum, and sea mullet (kingfish). Baits of choice are Bloodworms, squid strips, shrimp pieces, or Fishbites crab/bloodworm flavors.
The Outer Banks, NC Tuna bite is still unbelievable! Lots of Bluefin busting nearshore with anglers continuing to get in on the exciting nearshore action! There lots of Yellowfin and Bluefin further offshore as well.
Get out there and enjoy the action—spring fishing is firing up!
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