By Boat or By Boot - Virginia Beach Saltwater Flyfishing

By Kevin DuBois

Since 1997, Virginia Beach’s Virginia Coastal Fly Anglers, and more recently, the Mid-Atlantic Fly Anglers have been promoting saltwater fly fishing, and over the last decade there’s been a boom in the popularity of the sport.

Fly fishing tactics have been adapted to traditional saltwater angling targets including striped bass, weakfish (grey trout), summer flounder, speckled trout, croaker, spadefish, Spanish mackerel, red drum, black drum, cobia, and sharks. Multiple species are often caught in the same locations adding to the excitement of every outing. While not targeted, anglers might be surprised to find sand perch, northern stargazers, pinfish, shad, needlefish, cow-nosed rays, black sea bass, and grey triggerfish bending the rod from time to time.

No matter how you like to fish, the waters of Virginia Beach are accessible to every fly fisher. Wading opportunities can be found along the sandy shorelines and marsh edges of the coastal rivers and along the Chesapeake Bay. From Cape Henry to the southern reaches of the Commonwealth, Virginia Beach offers 30 miles of wadeable Atlantic Ocean beachfront. While any boat will do, the waters within Rudee Inlet are easily accessed by kayak or canoe and the Lynnhaven River is the site of the Annual Tidewater Kayak Angler Association’s charity fishing tournament. Likewise, these same coastal creeks and bays are perfect for small motorized johnboats, skiffs, dinghies, and even inflatables. The weather systems of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean demand a larger vessel for safe operation, but boats 18’ and up can access just about any species there is to catch with the exception of true blue water angling.

IGFA

With its diversity of waters and habitats, it’s not surprising that Virginia Beach is an exceptional place to fish. It’s no wonder then that the waters of Virginia Beach and the adjoining Chesapeake Bay, have provided both men’s and women’s IGFA records for fly caught striped bass, bluefish, black drum, summer flounder, spadefish, bluefin tuna, and weakfish. While blue marlin are found off Virginia Beach’s Atlantic coast, the majority of men’s and almost all of the women’s IGFA saltwater fly rod tippet class records remain vacant... so there’s a huge opportunity waiting to be fulfilled!

Our Inshore Waters

The Lynnhaven River watershed, including Linkhorn Bay, Broad Bay, and Crystal Lake, provides 51,000 acres of fishable water and 150 miles of shoreline. Outside the main channels and deeper areas, there’s lots of shallow water and wadeable fishing to be had. Approximately 860 acres of vegetated wetlands, 1,500 acres of harvestable oyster waters, and pockets of underwater grasses in Linkhorn and Broad Bays combine to filter pollutants from the water, provide nursery grounds for juvenile fishes, and provide critical habitat for prey species like crabs, minnows, worms, and mollusks. Nine to ten months of the year, the Lynnhaven River provides a diverse and bountiful array of fly fishing target species. An abundance of docks and dock lights adds to the river’s structure and provides night time fishing opportunity for striped bass, bluefish, red drum, flounder and speckled trout.

Through the work of the City and environmental groups like Lynnhaven River Now, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and others, marine resources and water quality have been improving and providing ever increasing habitat for a variety of fisheries. Within the last year alone, 30 acres of oyster reef were added to the Lynnhaven River adding to previous oyster reef construction, seagrass bed restoration projects, wetland preservation efforts, and the establishment of no-discharge zones.

The “Rudee Inlet” watershed includes Lake Wesley, Lake Rudee, and Owls Creek. Because Rudee is connected directly to the Atlantic Ocean, it is often used as a resting and staging location by fish swimming up and down the Atlantic coast during spring and fall migrations. It contains over 100 acres of valuable salt marsh habitat, has shallow flats located right next to deep-dredged holes, and has lots of piers, bulkheads, and rip rap revetments that provide holding structure. In Virginia Beach, Rudee normally offers inshore anglers their first taste of the season to come with catches of red drum, speckled trout, bluefish, striped bass and even shad.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was built in 1964 to replace ferry service that connected Virginia Beach with Virginia’s Eastern Shore on the Delmarva Peninsula. The “CBBT” stretches 17.6 miles across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and is perched above water that varies in depth from 25’ to 100’. Made with 12 miles of trestles and over 5,000 pilings, two one-mile tunnels, two high level bridges, 2 miles of causeway, and four 5-acre manmade islands surrounded by 300,000 tons of stone, the structure is considered one of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the World. For the angler, the CBBT’s mixture of shallow and deep water, transition slopes covered with rock, and thousands of marine encrusted pilings located at the mouth of one of the most productive estuaries in the Untied States, is a world-class fish attracting magnet. From the Virginia Beach shore to the deeper waters off the Chesapeake Bay coast, the CBBT provides year-round daytime fishing opportunity.

For anglers, the CBBT has one more huge benefit. From shore to shore, the CBBT is lit with over 800 high intensity lamps mounted on alternate sides of the roadway. These lamps create a “light line”, distinct areas of light and dark that provide the perfect ambush scenario for striped bass – BIG striped bass. The men’s 20 lb tippet class world record fly-caught striped bass was caught December 20, 2006 by Capt. Harry Huelsbeck.

Atlantic Ocean

Casting a line from the beach, anglers have access to over 8 miles of ocean beach, with settings as varied as the Virginia Beach resort area to the wilds of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge and primitive False Cape State Park. Anglers can target speckled trout, bluefish, striped bass, cobia, Spanish mackerel, flounder, and pompano. Motoring out of one of Virginia Beach’s fishing centers, offshore anglers have access to almost 30 miles of Virginia Beach oceanfront and another 50 miles along the Eastern Shore of Virginia or make the hop east to access the blue waters of the Gulf Stream.

Tackle Requirements

Inshore, rods from 6 to 9 weights will do the trick. For larger striped bass, big red and black drum, and the occasional crevalle jack or false albacore, 10 to 11 weight rods are best. Just about any reel is sufficient for inshore action, but again, big boys will test tackle, so best to bring top notch gear when chasing larger fish or heading offshore. Because of the variety of depths providing fishing opportunity, it’s best to have both a fast sinking and an intermediate sinking line handy. Floating lines can be used, but an intermediate line will cover the same fishing situations effectively and provide greater versatility. The clouser deep minnow will probably catch anything that swims in these waters, but for suggested color combinations and other effective patterns, contact the local fly shop, Crab Creek Outfitters (757-460-1958), or post a question on the Outer Banks Fly Fishing or Virginia Coastal Fly Anglers internet forums.

A variety of habitats and improving marine ecosystems for both predators and prey, lots of different kinds of fish to catch and eat, access options from wading to kayaking to motor boating of all sizes, fishing opportunities inshore, in the Chesapeake Bay, and in the ocean, and the opportunity to catch big fish - IGFA records for a variety of fish species... the waters in and surrounding Virginia Beach have it all. Pick up a fly rod, join a local fly fishing club, learn to tie a clouser minnow, and let the fun begin! You’ll be glad you chose Virginia Beach for your world-class fly fishing adventure!