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Chesapeake Bay Virginia Fishing Report: Early Winter Patterns, Striper Action, and Blue Catfish Chewing Hard
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Chesapeake Bay Virginia fishing report.
We’re locked into a classic early‑winter pattern. According to NOAA’s marine forecast for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel area, north winds are running 5 to 10 knots this morning with one to two foot chop, building a bit the next couple days as a series of winter systems slide by. Skies are mostly clear and cold. Tides around the CBBT, based on NOAA tide predictions, show a pre‑dawn high followed by a late‑morning low, then a modest afternoon push, so plan your moves around those switching currents.
Tides4Fishing notes sunrise around 7:10 a.m. and sunset just before 4:50 p.m. down the Virginia Beach side, so your best light-and-current windows are the late morning falling tide and the mid‑afternoon incoming. Short days mean tight feeding windows; don’t waste them running around.
Water temps in the lower Bay are down in the low‑ to mid‑40s now, and the Maryland DNR’s latest Chesapeake report says most Bay fish have slid into deeper wintering holes, 40–60 feet and around hard structure. That’s exactly what we’re seeing out of the Virginia side: fish glued to channel edges, rock, and wrecks, not up on the flats.
Striper action in Virginia waters is still open through the end of the month, and folks working the CBBT pilings at first light have been putting a nice pick of slot rock in the boat on soft plastics and small bucktails. Think 1–1.5 ounce jigheads with 5–7 inch paddletails in pearl, chartreuse, or “electric chicken,” dropped straight down on the up‑current side of the pilings and slowly hopped near bottom. At night, the bridge lights are pulling in schoolies; downsized plastics and small swimming plugs are getting steady catch‑and‑release action.
Blue catfish are chewing hard up the James and Elizabeth River arms of the Bay. Recent reports around Newport News mention good winter catfish numbers on deep outside bends and ledges. This is cut‑bait season: fresh gizzard shad, menhaden, or even chunked white perch on fish‑finder rigs. Drop it right on their heads and wait; the bites are subtle in cold water, so use circle hooks and tight lines.
Around the mouth of the Bay and nearshore wrecks, boats running out of Rudee Inlet and Lynnhaven have been boxing a mix of tautog and sea bass on the structure when the weather allows. The Mid‑Atlantic bottom crowd continues to lean on green crab and fiddlers for tog, and squid or clam on high‑low rigs for sea bass. Slow is the name of the game—lift and hold, don’t jig like it’s summer.
For bait and lures, here’s what’s hot right now:
- Best artificials: heavy jigheads with 5–7 inch paddletails, one‑ounce bucktails tipped with 4‑inch curly tails, and small metal jigs or spoons for deeper marks.
- Best natural bait: fresh cut menhaden, shad, or perch for cats and stripers; green crab, fiddlers, or sand fleas on the wrecks and rockpiles; bloodworms if you’re still poking around for the last of the spot and perch in the rivers.
A couple local hotspots to put on your list:
- The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel complex: work the first and second islands, rockpiles, and pilings for stripers and tautog when the tide is moving but not ripping.
- James River channel off Newport News: target 30–50 feet on the bends for big blue cats, especially on that late‑morning falling tide.
That’s your on‑the‑water snapshot from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
Published on 3 days, 5 hours ago