How, When & Where to Catch
Species
Bait or Lure
Method
Location
Seasons
Average Weights
State Record
Spadefish
Pieces of fresh mussels and clams; pieces of jellyfish
Fish visible schools of fish around obstructions (buoys, towers, etc.) with small (#5 or #6) double strength hooks
Coastal ocean waters and the lower Chesapeake Bay; Fish consistently found at the Cell, Plantation Light, York Spit Light, and Tiger wreck, 4A-buoy, Chesapeake Light Tower
June - September
3 - 8 pounds
13 lbs.; caught at the Cell in 1988 by Otis Tribble
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
June - October; peak July - September for Chesapeake Bay and tributary rivers; peak middle August - middle October in lower Bay and coastal ocean areas
8 - 12 ounces
2 lbs., 6 oz.; caught at the Egg Island Bar in Chesapeake Bay in 1980 by Nathan Dryden
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, jetties and CBBT; bottomfishing with bloodworms in deep holes, creeks and rivers that flow into Chesapeake Bay during winter months and in Assateague surf during late fall and early spring; peeler crab baits fished in tributary rivers and creeks near shore during summer
All coastal inshore and Chesapeake Bay waters (tidal waters) have school-size fish; Chesapeake Bay tributary rivers, Eastern Shore bayside creeks and Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel have best concentrations of fish; large fish most often found along CBBT, main portion of Chesapeake Bay and off the Virginia Capes at the mouth of the Bay; Assateague surf in late fall and early spring
January - December; peak for large fish in November and December; peak fishing for school fish generally in spring and fall
5 - 25 pounds
61 lbs., 12 oz.; caught at Buoy 42 in the Chesapeake Bay in 1996 by James R. Muse
Swordfish
Whole dead squid and fish
Fish at night from a drifting boat using natural baits with chemical lightsticks, with baits weighted to maintain specific depths
Offshore ocean waters
April - October; peak August - September
381 lbs., 8 oz.; caught at the Norfolk Canyon in 1978 by J. D. Alexander
Tarpon
Whole dead fish (spot, croaker, menhaden); live bait (spot, croaker, menhaden, mullet); whole squid; artificial 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
Late June early September; peak July - August
40 - 80 pounds
130 pounds; caught on Eastern Shore seaside in 1975 by Barry Truitt
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 Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
January - December; peak April - June and October - December
3 - 6 pounds
24 pounds; caught off Wachapreague in 1987 by Gregory R. Bell
Trout, Gray (Weakfish)
Artificial lures (bucktails, lead jigs with plastic tails, metal jigs), live 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 and Rappahannock)
May - November; peak at Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel May, June and October; peak in Chesapeake Bay, Bay tributary rivers, and Eastern Shore seaside inlets June - September; peak in ocean waters off Eastern Shore from middle September - November
1 - 8 pounds
19 pounds; caught at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in 1983 by Phillip W. Halstead
Trout, Speckled
Artificial lures (mirro-sided plugs, bucktails, plastic tail jigs), peeler crabs, live 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
Late April - middle December; peak May - middle June and September - November
2 -4 pounds
16 pounds; caught at Mason's Beach on Eastern Shore bayside in 1977 by William Katko
Tuna, Bigeye
Whole dead fish (balao), squid, artificial lures (feather lures, cedar plugs, offshore trolling lures)
Trolling
Offshore ocean waters
June - October; peak late June - July
100 - 175 pounds
1999 NEW
275 lbs.; caught at Norfolk Canyon in 1993 by Gary Lohr
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 fathom Finger; off Chincoteague
June - October; peak June - July
30 - 70 pounds
344 lbs.; caught off Virginia Beach in 1995 by Sean P. Thomas
Tuna, Yellowfin
Whole dead fish (balao), squid, artificial lures (feather lures, offshore trolling lures, cedar plugs)
Trolling chunking and chumming
Offshore ocean waters
May - October; peak June - July
30 - 70 pounds
203 lbs., 12 oz.; caught at the Norfolk Canyon in 1981 by Bruce Gottwald, Jr.
Tunny, Little (False Albacore)
Artificial lures (small feather and nylon lures, spoons, cedar plugs), strip baits
Trolling, can cast small metal lures to schools of fish on surface
Offshore and coastal ocean waters; occasionally in lower Chesapeake Bay
May - November
6 - 14 pounds
25 lbs., 4 oz.; caught off Virginia Capes in 1964 by Jack Sparrow
Wahoo
Artificial lures (offshore trolling lures, feather lures, spoons, large plugs), small dead fish (balao)
Trolling
Offshore ocean waters
June - October
20 - 40 pounds
109 lbs.; caught off Virginia Beach in 1994 by Delmo Dawson
