A New Captain Takes the Helm

As more fish species move into the warmer waters of Hampton Roads, Boulevard’s “What’s Biting: has a new captain at the wheel: Billy Sugg. Billy is an officer with the Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office and an avid fisherman—the expertise he attributes to his late father. Welcome aboard, Billy! Beginning with this issue, Billy will provide news and resources for the fishing faithful.

Offshore: Black sea bass season kicks off May 15 just as tautog season closes. Drop strips of squid and fiddler crabs and cut blue crab chunks on multi-hook rigs with 10 oz. sinkers into wrecks to catch these delicious bait raiders. Also, jigging artificial baits will weed out the smaller ones while providing quality sea bass and flounder. Spadefish will congregate around the wrecks, windmills, and towers along the coast and can be caught with clam strips on small red hooks. Good electronics are essential in finding the wrecks and seeing which ones are holding fish. Look for amberjack and crevalle jack to show on offshore structures. Golden tilefish can be taken on deep-dropping trips to the Norfolk Canyon on the edge of the Continental Shelf out of Virginia Beach.

Offshore Sportfishing: Avid offshore anglers are excited about the coming season with bluefin tuna, mahi, and wahoo on the radar. Cedar plugs, #3-1/2 Drone spoons, Knockerhead Plastics, or feather-style baits are reliable producers for those looking to put some meat in the box. Yellowfin, blackfin, and big eye tuna arrive as the waters warm. Look for billfish to be close behind. Ballyhoo rigged with Sea Witches in various color combinations can yield banner days of these as well as white and blue marlin with sailfish and spearfish possible. Deep dropping for swordfish has become a significant addition to Virginia’s offshore sport fishing world, with the largest fish caught at night and multiple fish trips possible if you know your stuff. Like all species available in our area, don’t be afraid to go with one of the many professionals available to put you on the bite! Things are heating up for the summer, so get your ducks in a row and your lines in the water.

The Bay/Tidal Rivers: Speckled trout are moving out of their winter holdovers to move up the bay. Some will stay in the area all year and split their time between cooler deep waters and food-rich shallows. Red drum is here and can be found on shoals and rock piles by anchoring and fishing cut bait on the bottom or sight casting to schools of migrating fish in open waters within sight of the Virginia Beach shoreline. The action may be even richer in the mouth and middle of the bay near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Spring striper season runs May 16–June 15. Stripers that have been up-river spawning in the James, Rappahannock, York Rivers and other large tributaries are making their way back down and are found in schools near structures where they stop off to feed. Gray trout are still on the rebound, with larger fish arriving in May. Any large bluefish in the area will be near the trout and menhaden. By June, Spanish mackerel, ribbonfish, and small blues can be caught by pulling #00 Clark spoons on #1 Planers or in-line sinkers near tide rips. They can be great action close to shore. King mackerel, bonita, and false albacore can be taken either trolling larger spoons and plastics or Sea Witches with strip baits on planers along the inshore coast. Large “smoker” kings are caught by the pier and drift fisherman using live Menhaden. Black drum, croaker, spot,

During May, June and July you’ll typically reel in these catches:

May

Offshore—black sea bass, striper and limited sport fish

The Bay/Tidal Rivers—flounder, summer fluke, red drum and striped bass

Freshwater—black crappie, bass, blue gill, bream

JUNE

Offshore—tuna, dolphin and wahoo

The Bay/Tidal Rivers—spot, croaker, black drum, cobia and spanish makeral

Freshwater—long nose gar, bass and blue gill

JULY

Offshore—tuna, marlin, dolphin and swordfish

The Bay/Tidal Rivers—sheephead, flounder, tarpon and spade fish

Freshwater—catfish, large & small mouth bass, bream

What have you reeled in?

We would like to publish your photos, information, prize catches and catches of note in our What’s Biting segment. Send us your favorite photos with a description and the photographer’s name: hello@blvdmedia.io roundhead, pompano, and sea mullet are all big contenders for anglers’ attention in June, with Father’s Day weekend usually being very productive for all these species.

In June, cobia season arrives. Our mid-Atlantic region boasts some of the most phenomenal cobia fishing in the world, with fish in the 100 pound range possible. As the fish migrate into the bay, large pods of cobia can be found in open water or the shadow of navigational buoys and bridges. Sight casters throwing bucktails with twister tails or tossing live bait such as eels and live spots can connect with these powerful bruisers. Once they reach the Latimer Shoals, Bluefish Rock, York Spit, and Cape Charles areas, they can be caught by anchoring and soaking cut menhaden on the bottom and eels on surface lines behind the boat while chumming.

As with all species in Virginia waters, be sure you know the regulations on these delicious, hardfighting giants. Speaking of giants, any time you are fishing cut bait on the bottom during summer, you can expect to catch various shark and stingray species that test your strength and tackle. Remember that most Virginia shark species are protected from May 15–July 15. Sheepshead and spadefish will be found around in-shore wrecks, bridges, and barnacle-encrusted pilings. Fiddler crabs on footballheaded jigs are the ticket for the sheepies, and clam strips on small, red hooks under corks in a chum slick will produce quality catches of spade for you.

Also, in late June and throughout July, we have a surprise visit to our Virginia waters: tarpon on the Eastern Shore. These tropical water treasures venture in small numbers as far north as Maryland and can be caught by those who know where to find them. Many serious anglers revere tarpons as the most challenging species to hook in Virginia due to their fantastic head-shaking, bait-throwing jumps with burning speed—the fastest fish to visit our coastal waters. In recent years, Wachapreague waters have even boasted of tarpon caught by kayakers. Unbelievable! Indeed the catch of a lifetime.

Freshwater: Spawning bluegills and other sunfish species can be found in shallows on beds and can readily be taken on top water flies or small poppers on light tackle or by using crickets and worms under small bobbers. Post-spawn shellcrackers can be caught on worms on the bottom as well. Once bream settle into their summer patterns, they can be caught in large numbers by casting small jigs with paddle and curl tails or beetle spins. Bass cruising near bream beds are settling into summer patterns. Top water early, worm bites during the day. Top water or wake baits late. Anytime you are fishing in freshwater, there’s a chance of hooking into one of those “toothy critters,” aka members of the pike family. While chain pickerel are most common in local lakes, some waters do boast northern pike as well as muskellunge or “musky,” which will be occupying similar waters and hitting the same baits. Targeting those species specifically, you may want to throw large, in-line spinners, glide baits, and stick baits resembling minnows or shad near weed lines and rocky ledges.

Crappies are still on a postspawn pattern and can be caught in numbers as they stage in shallows near drop-offs or tree tops. As summer heats up, look for crappie to retreat to deeper waters during