Wachapreague Offshore Fishing Report

The common flounder is drifting bait on the bottom. The rig usually used is the high-low bottom fishing rig. The classic bait is a strip of squid and a minnow placed on each hook. More serious flounder-pounders will typically use different rigs. They comprise of a three-way swivel attached to the major line. There’s a short line from the swivel to a sinker heavy enough to bounce along the bottom as you’re drifting. A longer mono leader, 2-3 feet, goes to the hook. Above the hook will frequently be added beads, a bucktail skirt, and a spinner blade to aid in attracting fish. (vbsf.net)

Welcome to Eastern Shore Outfitters located in the town of Exmore on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. With the Chesapeake Bay to our west and the Atlantic Ocean to our east, the Eastern Shore boasts some magnificent wildlife in and along our saltwater marshes. Our 2600 square foot retail store is stock full of fishing and hunting supplies to outfit any outdoorsman and includes a 20 yard indoor archery range. We also offer guided whitetail deer and turkey hunts with an on site taxidermist. (esvatourism.org)

This fishing to be one of the best, if not the best, dolphin fishing in years. With tons of bait and warm waters in the mid Atlantic region these fish are in abundance. They were especially violent this past Saturday after the 7-31-2015 Blue Moon. Fished with Wachapreague 1st timers Bruce Lucas, his son Joe and his grandson, Coty. We bailed mahi mahi up to 15# class on light tackle while chunking the Navy Buoys. Picked up some number of others on the troll to end the day with 22 with a trigger and bouy jack thrown. (bytemecharters.com)

Big schools of big striped bass continue to make their way to inshore waters, and into the lower Bay as they move toward the rivers to finish their spawning cycle. Though the interest looks to be overshadowed by other species, many of these fish are fat and pushing to over 45-inches. Big bee hives of working birds have been stated all along the ocean from for the past week or so, hallmarking feeding schools on the move. If you want to catch up, you had better move fast as these fish become off limitations in coastal waters at the end of March. In Bay waters, excellent catch and release prospects can supply memorable photo ops for visiting relatives over the Easter weekend. (vbsf-hookedup.net)

1. RAPPAHANNOCK: Night fishing at the Rappahannock Bridge has turned up gray trout. The fish are hitting lead-head jigs tipped with crab. Speckled trout are being caught, although not in the numbers of last weeks. I think they have changed their behavior, ” said Howard Kruse of Kruse’s Wharf. The fishermen who know how to catch them are doing OK. Novices are having trouble, although. ” Keeper flounder, ones measuring at least 13 inches long, continue to be caught. Spot action has slowed considerably. (articles.dailypress.com)

Offshore the fishing has picked up since last week and with good numbers of mahi being caught from the Lumpy Bottom and the Fingers all the way to the Washington and Norfolk Canyon. A local charter captain out of Wachapreague who returned with a bound of mahi on Saturday remarked that there were Acres and Acres of mahi over water in the Norfolk Canyon. Another captain who made a trip to the Lumpy Bottom on Sunday fond most of the same. He returned to the docks with 15 gaffer sized Mahi and had some bigger bulls hooked up that did not make it to the ship. With all of the mahi in the water it looks probably that at some point the bill fishing scene will turn on throughout this week as small mahi are one of their staple foods in the gulf stream and they surely seem to be in supply. (smokeshowoutdoors.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)

Checked in at Smith s Bait in Leipsic over the weekend to report a four-angler bound while trolling just east of Indian River Inlet with Mojos. Legal rockfish also were stated by anglers following flocks of feeding gannets and gulls off of the north end of Assateague Island at the Sliver and Little Gull Shoal. Julie Ball at Extreme Sportfishing passed along reports of linesiders in the 20- to 30-pound slot to be hitting inside the three-mile line between Wachapreague and Cape Charles. Anglers trolling the ocean side of Virginia s Eastern Shore also stated heavy bird activity in federal waters outside the demarcation line, an indication that big schools of migrating rockfish are in the neighborhood. (delawareonline.com)

When the bluefin showed, weekend warrior Neill lost all interest in striped bass. With 300-pound tuna swimming some miles off the beach, Neill laughs, it was hard to think of anything else. Neill concocts a mixture of striper and tuna lures to cover the bases. On the flat lines, he uses a tandem parachute rig with a 64-oz jig on the dropper, and an Ilander and big ballyhoo on the longer leader. We use the biggest three-way swivel we can find and replace the 100-pound leader with 200-pound mono, he says. He pulls a 10-oz and 5-oz parachute combo from one short rigger, and a 6-oz and 3-oz tandem from the other. (sportfishingmag.com)

He Wachapreague Hotel & Marina consists of roughly 30 rooms, efficiencies, and apartments. The units are clean, comfy and moderately priced. The Island House Restaurant is a 150 seat building located overlooking the picturesque Wachapreague harbor. The restaurant specializes in new local seafood and choice Black Angus steaks. You’ll enjoy some of the finest Crab Cakes, while overlooking the Barrier Islands of Virginia’s Eastern Shore! Capt. Zed’s Bait and Tackle Shop is a small shop with a big stock of inshore and offshore bait and tackle. We offer small ship rentals, & charter boats. Fuel is available also as ship slips for small and big boats. (virginia.org)