Rappahannock River Saltwater Fishing Report

POTOMAC RIVER – BELOW WOODROW WILSON BRIDGE – Bass action below the city is poor to just. The fish are orienting to points, dropoffs and wood structure, bordering to deeper water. Silver Buddies are the best tempt for fishing the dropoffs. Stick with water in the 13-18 foot range, with a little cover on the bottom. Shallow sand or gravel banks, with some grass close, are giving up big bass to anglers casting Rat-L-Traps and small shallow running, crayfish colored crankbaits. (charlietaylorfishing.com)

– As we have been reporting over the last month, Tautog fishing remains strong. Anglers that are able to find crab for bait are doing well. Ocean wrecks are the best producers. Tilefish are willing biters also, however deeper water near the Canyon edges are the targeted regions. With Tilefish, Grouper, and Rosefish are encountered also as Seabass, however Seabass are out of season. A 220lb Bluefin Tuna was stated out of Oregon-Inlet on 2/20/16. The same charter returned with Yellowfin Tuna also. (blog.greentophuntfish.com)

Specializing in fishing with fake lures and live peanut bunker on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.   Other techniques of fishing are available when requested or as conditions dictate.   As your guide, I will do whatever it takes to make a trip fun and successful.   Feel free to ask questions or look for suggestions throughout our time together.   Remember that I’m here for you. (bayflyfishing.com)

Lonnie from Castaway 804-706-9100 reports catfish are biting well on the freshwater side. They’re biting on cut bait and eel. Crappie are starting to pick up and are caught on small and medium minnows. Brim are hit and miss, however many are catching them using crickets. On the saltwater side, everything has slowed, however stripers are the major target. Fake bait is the go-to. It s been slow, however it should pick back up as the conditions return to normal. (richmond.com)

The sea bass population seems healthy, and the permissible catch will increase in 2016. This gave us hope that we could regain our sea bass fishery from January to April, when the season was closed the past some number of years. This is not likely in that the estimated recreational sea bass catch for 2015 is in extra of the increased permissible catch for 2016. The numbers call for a 16 decrease in the recreational catch in 2016 to make up for the overage in 2015. (dailypress.com)

For those who have trouble finding or keeping live bait, there are other workable alternatives. Bucktails trolled gradually on wire line continues to be a big part of the super-sized flatties, particularly along the CBBT complex. And the old time-proven strip baits of fish or squid will still work on trophy-sized fish, also as smaller ones. Anglers should bear in mind, but, that bigger baits will produce bigger flounder. Serious doormat seekers will use strips from 8 to 12 inches long. Strips should be cut to a tapered point to impart a fluttering action. Adding a minnow to the hook is probably to make it more appealing. (gameandfishmag.com)

All I can say is "What a Week!!". You could think that with the way the weather was awful we may not have fished but I had the Boyz from Texas, and an intrepid pair they’re. They were well rewarded for their perseverance. The Speck bite is just plain HOT! They caught their dinner for most of the week on Monday and on Wednesday added to it. On Thursday, we chased and caught Stripers and, when the tide forced us to leave the marsh, we caught more Specks. Friday was totally a catch and release Speck day. The dern wind was blowing 4 times harder than predicted, as common, so we hide up in a cove and caught more Specks, usually Kittens the old time word for Dinks . (speckulatercharters.com)

From the Reel Bass Adventures, Andy Andrzejewski said bass fishing patterns have changed only a little from last week. Buzzbaits and poppers are good choices for the early morning top water bite. When the sun comes up they switch to plastic worms. The Berkley Rib Worm in the blue fleck finish was a winner. The last half of the outgoing tide and the 1st half of the incoming is the more productive. Andy said the best way to use spinner baits is to burn them across the weeds and let them flutter into any holes along the way. Strikes, he said, are on occasion hard to detect. Most happen as the spinnerbait is falling. (dto.com)

The rope trip is the way to go. Slip your line through a bullet weight and hook it to a Johnson Spinner bait without the rubber grub then tie the rope around the end of the spinnerbait or make a heavy line leader to a big swivel and tie the rope to it. Be sure you glue the knot so it doesn’t come undone. Then fray the knot really good and viola the spinner bait attracts the gar, they go after the white rope and get it tangled in their teeth. (fieldandstream.com)

I accidentally ran into a Bowfin hotbed, as I’m sure many others have. I’m an active responsibility sailor who grew up fishing the waters of South Texas. I recently finished an assignment at NAB Little Creek in Virginia Beach, VA. There’s a lake there, part of which is on the base and is called Lake Bradford and there’s a fence on one end that separates the off base part called Chubb Lake. Interestingly enough, it’s a freshwater lake that’s separated from the Chesapeake Bay by less than 100 yards. (bowfinanglers.com)