Virginia's Saltwater Fishing Guide

See the complete state records list.

Check seasonality of each species.

Species Bait or Lure Method Location Avg. Weight VA Record
Amberjack Live bait - spot, croaker, bluefish, menhaden, small fishArtificial lures - spoons, surface plugs, diamond jigs, bucktails, squids Drifting and slow trolling live bait over and around obstructions (wrecks, reefs, towers, buoys)Casting and trolling artificial lures over and around obstructions Ocean waters over and around wrecks & underwater obstructionsThe Chesapeake Light Tower 30 – 60 lbs 118 lbs
Black Sea Bass Squid, crab, cut fish, clam, shrimp, diamond jigs, metal jigs Bottomfishing, generally near and over underwater obstructions(wrecks, reefs, rocks and rough bottom areas) Ocean waters; species less plentiful (especially large individuals) in lower Chesapeake Bay 1 – 3.5 lbs 10 lbs, 4 oz
Bluefish (large) Artificial lures - spoons, tube eels, metal squids, surface plugsCut bait - fresh menhaden, mullet, herring, spot, balao or mackerel Trolling, casting or jigging to schools of fish with artificial lures; surfcasting with cut bait or luresChumming while using cut bait. Bluefish can be taken on streamer flies with a fly rod Offshore and coastal waters; Chesapeake Bay; Eastern Shore barrier island surf 8 – 16 lbs 25 lbs, 4 oz
Bluefish (small) Artificial lures - spoons, feather lures, metal squids, surface plugs and cut bait Trolling or casting to schools of fish with artificial luresSurfcasting and bottom fishing with cut bait and surfcasting with artificial lures Chesapeake Bay, coastal ocean waters, ocean surf, inlets 1 – 5 lbs  
Cobia Live bait - eels, spot, menhaden, mullet Artificial lures - spoons, white bucktails, plastic eels, plugsCut bait - menhaden or spot Cast, drift or slow troll live baits around buoys, underwater obstructions and schools of fish swimming on the surface. Anchor, chum and fish live baits, fresh dead baits and cut bait in chum slick and on bottom. Cast and troll lures around buoys, obstructions and to schools of bullfish (rays) or schools, pods or individual cobia swimming on surface Buoys in lower Chesapeake Bay, at the mouth of the Bay and along coastal beaches; CBBT; Bluefish Rock off Hampton, Cabbage Patch and Kiptopeake areas off Cape Charles, and York Spit area; coastal buoys and wrecks; Chesapeake Light Tower; Latimer Shoal; Inner Middle Ground Shoal; York Spit area 20 – 50 lbs 109 lbs
Croaker Peeler crab, bloodworms, cut bait, squid, shrimp Bottomfishing with bait, anchored or drifting from boats, piers, docks, shore and surf Chesapeake Bay, tributary rivers of the Bay, coastal ocean waters, inlets, 0.5 – 2 lbs 8 lbs, 11 oz
Dolphin Artificial lures - offshore trolling luresCut bait, balao, squid Trolling with lures, balao and squid; casting to schools of dolphin around weedlines and floating debris with cut bait (fish or squid) and lures (bucktails, surface plugs, streamer flies) Offshore ocean waters 2 – 20 lbs 71 lbs, 8 oz
Black Drum Whole clam, peeler crab, whelk, peeler crab/clam “sandwich”, bucktail and leadhead jigs Bottomfishing with bait on “fishfinder” rig. Running tides and late afternoons and evenings considered best, occasionally caught on bucktails or metal squids by casting or jigging to a school of fish Chesapeake Bay along shallow portion of channel ledge running from Fisherman’s Island to north of Cape Charles, especially off Kiptopeake, at Cabbage Patch and buoys C-10 & C-12; around middleground bars of Eastern Shore seaside inlets; 2nd & 3rd Islands of CBBT 40 – 60 lbs 111 lbs
Red Drum Cut bait - fresh mullet, spot, menhaden, peeler crabsArtificial lures - spoons, large plugs, jigs Bottomfishing with bait on “fishfinder” rig, trolling and casting spoons, plugs and jigs Shoal areas at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, especially Inner Middle Ground Shoal and Latimer Shoal; Eastern Shore Bayside channel edge form Kiptopeake to Buoy 42-A; Parker’s Island and flats north of Parker’s Island off Onancock; surfcasting the Eastern Shore barrier island and Sandbridge/ Fasle Cape beaches; trolling and casting lures in Smith Island Inlet area; Rudee and Lynnhaven Inlets for small fish. 30 – 50 lbs 85 lbs, 4 oz
Flounder Live bait - minnows and small fish, frozen minnows, bluefish, flounder, shark belly, squid, minnow/strip combinationArtificial lures - bucktails; big strip baits and live spot or small mullet often used for big fish at the CBBT Drift fishing with live or dead natural baits fished on the bottom; slow trolling natural baits on bottom; casting from beaches and piers; trolling small buck-tails dressed with strip baits (especially for big fish along Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel); casting bucktails Seaside inlets of the Eastern Shore; Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel area; lower Chesapeake Bay; Rudee Inlet; the Cell and eastern end of the Channel in the middle Chesapeake Bay 1 – 3 lbs 17 lbs, 8 oz
Kingfish (Roundhead, witing) Bloodworms, shrimp, small pieces of cut bait, squid, sand fleas Bottomfishing with bait Surf zone of coastal waters from Sandbridge to Assateague Island; ocean piers; lower portion ofthe Chesapeake Bay, including lower bay piers .5 – 1.5 lbs 2 lbs, 9 oz
Mackerel, Atlantic (Boston Mackerel) Small tube worms and jigs Jigging to schools of suspended fish Coastal and offshore ocean waters, from 5-35 miles offshore .5 – 3 lbs None
Mackerel, King Live bait - menhaden, mullet, spot, small bluefishArtificial lures - spoons, feather lures, nylon jigs, strip baitsand small whole balao Slow trolling, drifting or anchoring with live bait; trolling with artificial lures, strip bait and balao Coastal and offshore ocean waters, particularly around wrecks, towers, obstructions, ledges, lumps andother “structure”; mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and off ocean inlets 5 – 20 lbs 63 lbs, 1 oz
Mackerel, Spanish Small artificial lures - spoons, metal lures, feather and nylon lures Small live baits - menhaden, mullet Trolling; casting to schools of fish Coastal ocean waters, particularly off inlets, along tidelines, and over coastal wrecks; lower Chesapeake Bay 1 – 3 lbs 9 lbs, 13 oz
Blue Marlin Whole dead fish - balao, mullets, spanish mackerel, squidArtificial lures - offshore trolling lures, and live small dolphin,bonito and skipjack tuna Trolling Offshore ocean waters 150 – 400 lbs 1093 lbs, 12 oz
White Marlin Whole dead fish - balao, mullet, squid, strip baits, eelsArtificial lures - offshore trolling lures, pilchards, cigar minnows Trolling; occasionally casting live baits to marlin “balling” bait or swimming on surface Offshore ocean waters 40 – 60 lbs 131 lbs, 10 oz
Sailfish Whole dead fish - balao, small mullet, strip baits, squidArtificial lures - small offshore trolling lures, live bait (small fish) Trolling; also, sailfish seem to be attracted to slow trolled live baits fished in similarmethod as used to slow troll for king mackerel Offshore ocean waters 20 – 40 lbs 68 lbs, 8 oz
Sharks Whole dead fish and cut fish; live bait (fish) Anchor, chum and fish dead and live fish baits in chum slick and on bottom Offshore and coastal ocean waters, particularly around and over obstructions (wrecks, reefs, towers),ledges and lumps; Eastern Shore seaside coastal waters and inlets 50 – 250 lbs 1099 lbs, 2 oz
Sheepshead Fiddler crabs, mole crabs (sand fleas), clams Fishing bait near the bottom (suspended off the bottm) near submerged structures Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel; wrecks in nearshore coastal waters and lower 3 – 8 lbs 19lbs
Spadefish Pieces of fresh mussels and clams; pieces of jellyfish Fish visible schools of fish around obstructions (buoys, towers, etc.) with small(#1 or #2) double strength hooks Coastal ocean waters and the lower Chesapeake Bay; fish consistently found at the Cell, Plantation Light,York Spit Light, Tiger wreck, 4A-buoy, Chesapeake Light Tower, and CBBT 3 – 8 lbs 14 lbs
Spot Bloodworms, peeler crab, clam Bottomfishing with bait; anchored or drifting from boats, also caught from docks, piers, shore and surf; big runs of fish in the fall in lower Chesapeake Bay and in surf and piers of Virginia Beach Chesapeake Bay and Bay tributary rivers, coastal ocean waters, inlets — all inshore coastal waters 8 – 12 oz 2 lbs, 6 oz
Striped Bass Artificial lures - spoons, plastic eels, bucktails, surface plugs,swimming plugs, peeler crab, bloodworms, eels, cut bait, live bait Troll artificial lures around bridges, piers, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, jetties or troll in vicinity of schools of fish (where gulls diving and slicks on the water); cast bucktails and plugs around bridges, piers, and jetties; bottomfishing with bloodworms in deep holes, creeks and rivers that flow into Chesapeake Bay during winter peeler crab baits fished in tributary rivers and creeks near shore during summer All coastal inshore and Chesapeake Bay waters (tidal waters, including Bay tributary rivers and Eastern Shore bayside creeks); best concentrations of fish in main portion of Chesapeake Bay and around Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel; large fish most often found along CBBT, main portion of Chesapeake Bay and off the Virginia Capes at the mouth of the Bay. 5 – 25 lbs 77 lbs
Swordfish Whole dead squid and fish Fish at night from a drifting boat using natural baits with chemical lightsticks, with baitsweighted to maintain specific depths Offshore ocean waters   381 lbs, 8 oz
Tarpon Whole dead fish - spot, croaker, menhadenLive bait - spot, croaker, menhaden, mullet, whole squidArtificial lures - plugs and weighted streamer flies Anchor and fish live bait under floats, fish dead bait on the bottom and at various depths.Cast artificial lures to rolling fish Inlets, interior marsh areas, and ocean waters along the beaches of Eastern Shore seaside barrier islands; fish deep holes on low tides and shallow areas on high tides 40 – 80 lbs 130 lbs
Tautog Crab (blue, fiddler, green and mole crabs); clams; whelk Bottomfishing with bait over underwater obstructions (wrecks, reefs, rocks) Wrecks and reefs in ocean waters off the coast and in lower Chesapeake Bay; along ChesapeakeBay Bridge-Tunnel 3 – 6 lbs 24 lbs
Trout, Gray (Weakfish) Artificial lures - bucktails, lead jigs with plastic tails, metal jigsLive bait - spot and small mullet, peeler crab, squid, cut bait Jigging or casting artificial lures to schools of fish on bottom or suspended above the bottom; bottomfishing with live and natural baits from anchored or drifting boat; surfcasting with cut bait or squid Large fish: Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Chesapeake Bay over deepwater rocks, and along channel edges, and occasionally in Eastern Shore seaside inlets small fish: Coastal ocean waters and inlets of Eastern Shore seaside, Chesapeake Bay along channel edges and over deepwater rocks, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (especially between 4th Island and High Level Bridge), Chesapeake Bay tributary rivers (especially James, York & Rappahannock) 1 – 8 lbs 19 lbs
Trout, Speckled Artificial lures - mirro-sided plugs, bucktails, plastic tail jigsLive bait - small spot, mullet, live shrimp Spring method: peeler crab baits fished near shore of marshy or grassy areas on flooding tides; Fall method: casting artificial lures; also some live bait fishing, trolling and jigging Spring: Mobjack Bay area (North, Ware, East, Piankatank Rivers); submerged grass flats and marshes of northern Eastern Shore bayside, Rudee Inlet with lures. Fall: Lynnhaven Inlet, Rudee Inlet; Eastern Shore bayside creeks, Mobjack Bay area, Windmill Point and Gwynn’s Island; Poquoson Flats 2 – 4 lbs 16 lbs
Tuna, Bigeye Whole dead fish - balao, squid,Artificial lures - feather lures, cedar plugs, offshore trolling Trolling Offshore ocean waters 100 – 175 lbs 279 lbs
Tuna, Bluefin Artificial lures - cedar plugs, feather lures, spoons, squid, small fish Trolling, chunking and chumming Offshore ocean waters, especially the Southeast Lumps, the Fingers, 26 Mile Hill, 20 FathomFinger; off Chicoteague 30 – 70 lbs 575 lbs
Tuna, Yellowfin Whole dead fish - balao, squid,Artificial lures - feather lures, cedar plugs, offshore trolling Trolling, chunking and chumming Offshore ocean waters 30 – 70 lbs 203 lbs
Tunny, Little (False Albacore) Artificial lures - small feather & nylon lures, spoons, cedar plugsStrip baits Trolling, casting metal lures to surface fish Offshore and coastal ocean waters; occasionally in lower Chesapeake Bay 6 – 14 lbs 25 lbs, 4 oz.
Wahoo Artificial lures - offshore trolling lures, feather lures, spoons, large plugs, small dead fish Trolling Offshore ocean waters 20 – 40 lbs 109 lbs

 

  
   
 
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