Virginia Saltwater Fishing

The term panfish describes small fish, many of which are caught by recreational anglers for food. They are named because they are small enough to be cooked whole in a pan. Among the most popular saltwater panfish found in Virginia waters are croakers, spot, porgy, white perch and pigfish.

Atlantic Croaker or “hardhead” are popular panfish common in Virginia. The fish get their names because of the “croaking” noise they make when removed from the water. Croakers are hard fighters and prolific feeders. They are caught on a variety of baits and lures. They are among the first fish to be caught in the spring and are caught over a wide range of habitats. Croaker can be caught from piers, jetties, inlets, in bays and from the surf.

Croaker baits include shrimp, crabs, squid, cut fish, bloodworms and more. In addition to cut baits, croaker are caught on a variety of jigs and other saltwater lures. They can also be caught in the shallows and grass beds using fly fishing gear.

Spot are among the most popular Virginia panfish. Spot can be identified by the distinctive dark spot above the pectoral fin. The species is abundant in coastal bays, creeks and other estuaries. They are especially common around fishing piers where they are caught in large numbers. Spot are caught using small hooks and baits such as bloodworms, crab or other baits which can be presented in small pieces.

White perch are small but tenacious fish that are found in rivers, creeks and bays. White perch prefer brackish water but can live in environments that range from fresh water to fully saltwater. These hardy panfish are caught with small baits such as grass shrimp or bloodworms, or by casting artificial lures or flies. Perch can be caught year round, even thru ice. They school up to spawn in early spring and can be caught in large numbers.

Scup or porgy are another saltwater panfish. They range from New England to North Carolina and are occasional visitors to Virginia coastal waters, inland waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. Adult scup feed in schools of similar-sized individuals around piers, rocks, offshore ledges, jetties, and mussel beds. They move inshore in summer but return to deeper waters offshore or migrate southward when temperatures cool. Large scup generally occur farther offshore than do smaller, younger ones.

Pigfish are colorful members of the grunt family. They are marked with a bluish upper and a silver lower body, with a series of attractive stripes on the sides and bands on the snout and head. The species ranges from Massachusetts through the Gulf of Mexico and are common in Virginia during the summer and early fall. They are easily caught around piers, reefs and rough bottoms using small pieces of bait such as bloodworms, crab, squid or shrimp.

NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, and NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator, Eric Schwaab hosted more than 100 recreational constituents in Alexandria, Virginia at 2010 Recreational Saltwater Fishing Summit on April 16 – 17.

“Resolving issues facing our fisheries today will require partnerships between resource managers and users,” said Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “I commit that NOAA Fisheries will focus on addressing the issues of concern to the recreational fishing community with the utmost disciplined attention.”

For more on the Summit, visit the NOAA Fisheries Service recreational fishing website.

Speckled trout are among the most popular saltwater fish of the Chesapeake Bay and coastal estuaries of Virginia. Also known as spotted seatrout or simply “specks”, these beautiful fish have a sleek body, silvery gray back and white belly. The flanks and backs of the fish have an iridescent sheen and black spots. The dorsal and tail fin are also spotted.

Speckled trout are caught locally using a variety of methods including fishing with live bait, cut bait and casting artificial lures or by trolling. Shallow water fishing for speckled trout using artificial lures is popular in Virginia. Anglers cast small jigs, soft plastics and other lures around the edges of grass beds, stumps, points, rips and other likely areas. Fly fishermen also target these areas, fishing a variety of flies that mimic bay local baits such as bay anchovies, mullet, spot, shrimp or blue crabs.

In some areas, speckled trout can be caught by anchoring and bottom fishing with cut peeler crab or soft crab baits. Fish are sometimes caught in deep water along a channel edge, but most bait fishing for specks occurs around grass beds in 2-4 feet of water. In addition to peeler and soft crab baits, squid, bloodworms, cut spot, live spot and even chicken breast soaked in peeler crab oil are sometimes used.

Tides are sometimes important for catching speckled trout. Many Chesapeake Bay anglers prefer fishing the last 2 hours of the incoming current and the first 2 hours of the outgoing. If this coincides with dusk, the fishing is more likely to be good.

Shallow water fishing for speckled trout is done in a number of areas throughout the middle and lower Chesapeake bay. This region includes several small islands where speckled trout are found, such as Smith, Tangier, Watts, Fox, Parkers Islands and others.

Further south, several rivers and creeks along the lower bay feature habitat that speckled trout prefer, including eel grass beds, shallow oyster bars and other fish attracting structure.

Shallow water fishing can be very exciting as speckled trout, gray trout, croaker, striped bass, bluefish, black drum, red drum and other species share the same areas. This fishing is often best during the low light hours of early morning and again around sunset.

Anglers also fish by casting bucktails to structure such as rockpiles, jetties and shipwrecks. Popular lures include a plain white bucktail with a plastic worm and a piece of peeler crab. Other popular jigs for casting to structure include soft plastic lures in a variety of shapes and colors.

Speckled trout are sometimes caught while trolling with wire line. Often, catches are accidental but some anglers target gray and speckled trout with wire line. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and other structures provide areas where trolling can be productive for trout, especially if targeting large speckled trout or gray trout (seatrout).

For many anglers, Spring flounder fishing along the Eastern Shore of Virginia is an annual event that marks the beginning of the saltwater fishing year. As waters warm, flounder enter and begin to feed in the inlets, creeks and coastal bays of the region.  A few flounder sometimes arrive in March but the main thrust of fish is usually in April, with the surge of incoming fish continuing into May.

Spring time flounder fishing success in Virginia is dictated factors such as by wind, water temperature and water clarity. A basic rule of thumb is that flounder start biting when water temperatures reach 50 degrees, with the best springtime fishing usually in water between 60 and 70 degrees.

Experienced flounder anglers seek conditions when the tide will be high in the mid morning thru afternoon hours. The theory is that the cold ocean water comes in and flows up onto the flats were the sun can warm it a significant amount in just a few hours. When the tide changes, warmer water flows into the channels, triggering the flounder to feed aggressively. This phenomenon doesn’t always happen but when conditions are right, flounder fishing can be excellent.

Top baits for spring fishing include several of the natural prey species of summer flounder. These include frozen silversides, live minnows, squid strips and fresh cut strips of fish if available. Favorite fish for making cut strip baits include small croakers, perch, bluefish or other suitable fish. Finding these species in the early season is not easy, but some anglers set aside catches of early season fish specifically for use as flounder strip baits.

Related Links

How to Clean and Fillet Flounder

Virginia Fishing Guides

In October of 2009, the Department of Commerce Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, or MAFAC, recommended the creation a new work group whose purpose is to assist MAFAC in the development of recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce on issues of importance to the marine recreational fishing community.

NOAA is now accepting nominations to this new Recreational Fisheries Working Group. Interested members of the recreational fishing community are encouraged to read the Federal Register notice for information on qualifications and application requirements. Applications will be accepted until February 16, 2010.

Questions regarding the working group should be directed to NOAA’s interim senior policy advisor for recreational fisheries, Gordon Colvin at gordon.colvin@noaa.gov.

source: NOAA Fish News

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reminds tournament operators to register their highly migratory species (HMS) tournaments for 2010. This includes tournaments occurring on the U.S. East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in the U.S. Caribbean.

HMS tournament registration facilitates the collection of important recreational catch and effort information which is used to analyze the impacts of potential fishery management actions, assess the status of Atlantic HMS, and to assist the United States in complying with international fishery management obligations. Federal regulations require that all tournaments awarding points or prizes for Atlantic HMS, including tunas, sharks, swordfish, and/or billfish, register with NMFS at least four weeks prior to the start of the fishing tournament.

Several tournaments have already registered for 2010. If you have not yet registered your 2010 HMS tournament(s) with NMFS’ HMS Management Division, please do so by following these instructions:

Complete the enclosed registration form. Additional forms may be obtained at either www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfalhms or www.hmspermits.gov or by calling the HMS Management Division’s St. Petersburg office at (727) 824-5399.

Fax or mail the completed form to the HMS Management Division in St. Petersburg,FL, at the contact information below. When completing the registration form, please write legibly and specify the name of the tournament operator.
Fax: 727-824-5398
Mail: NMFS – HMS Management Division
263 13th Avenue South
Saint Petersburg, FL 33701

Upon receipt of a completed registration form, the HMS Management Division will provide the operator with a tournament registration number, which should be retained for the remainder of the fishing year. If selected for reporting tournament results, operators will be contacted by NMFS’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center. HMS fisheries educational materials, including instructional DVDs for rigging natural baits with circle hooks, may be requested by calling the phone number below.

Finally, NMFS urges operators to remind tournament participants of HMS permit requirements. For more information about HMS permits, please log on to www.hmspermits.gov or call the HMS Management Division’s St. Petersburg office at (727) 824-5399. Thank you, in advance, for registering your 2010 HMS tournament(s).

The following list includes some of the most common shellfish that are used for bait in Virginia saltwater fishing.

Blue Crabs

The Atlantic blue crab is found in the Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters of Virginia. When in the hard shelled stage, these crabs make excellent bait for tautog, sea bass, red hake, porgy and other wreck and reef dwellers. They are fished as cut bait and occasionally fished whole.

In the soft-shelled or “peeler” stages, blue crabs make excellent bait for drum fish, croakers, sea trout and other fish of the Chesapeake Bay. They are fished as cut bait or whole, depending on their size and the species targeted.

Green Crab

The green crab is an introduced species that is sometimes available in tackle shops. Their shell size can be up to 3″. In Virginia, green crabs are fished whole or as cut bait for tautog.

Jonah Crab

The Jonah crab is a species of crab found off the Atlantic Coast of Virginia. It is closely related to the Dungeness crab of the Pacific Coast. Jonah Crabs have black tips on their claws and their shells have 9 teeth on each side of the eye.  Jonah crabs are used for bottom fishing on shipwrecks and for deep dropping.

Mole Crabs

Mole crabs are used for bait while surf fishing for species including pompano, speckled trout, whiting, and sea mullet.

Mole crabs can be caught in the surf by digging a hole in the sand at the very edge of the wash. Allow water to enter the hole, and swish it around. If the area is home to mole crabs, they will be seen darting through the water before they quickly burry themselves in the sand.

Fishermen also gather them with special metal mesh scoops or with meshed wire nets attached to poles. They can sometimes be purchased at bait and tackle shops in some areas.

Fiddler Crabs

Fiddler crabs are found along beaches, marshes and mud flats. They are sometimes gathered by fishermen and used for bait for species such as tautog, scup, sheepshead and black sea bass.

Shrimp

Fresh shrimp are available in Virginia from spring thru fall from seafood markets, farmers markets and roadside vendors. Shrimp are sized by “count”, the value being the average number of shrimp specimens per pound. For example, shrimp of 16/20 count means there are 16 to 20 shrimp per pound. Shrimp are an excellent choice for bottom fishing on structure such as fishing piers and artificial reefs.

Hard Clams

The hard clam is the most popular American clam. The largest hard clams are called chowder clams and are used for cut bait for species such as tautog, spadefish, black drum and croaker.

Ocean Quahogs

The ocean quahog is also known as a mahogany clam, mahogany quahog, black quahog and black clam. Quahog may reach 3-6 inches in diameter.

Surf Clams

The Atlantic surf clam is harvested commercially off the coast. Surf clams range from 4 to 8 inches in length. They are sometimes available fresh but may also be found in tackle shops as a shucked and frozen product.

This story is still unfolding. A 572 barge broke loose in the storm and at the time of this post was within 100 feet of destroying the Sandbridge Fishing Pier in Virginia Beach. Let’s hope they can stop the barge in time!

see: http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/651/396547/

More discussion is here:

See: http://pierandsurf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70845

Sadly, part of the Lynnhaven Pier was destroyed by the storm.

See: http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Part-of-Lynnhaven-Fishing-Pier-collapses-69918007.html

Virginia anglers that enjoy collecting Christmas ornaments which display their favorite species of fish will find a wide array of designs to choose from by visiting online stores. Ornaments vary from simple text only slogans to intricate graphics.

Modern round or oval ceramic ornaments are among the most popular styles as they are suitable for display all year and match a variety of settings.

Shoppers often choose ornaments that feature a single species of fish.  The following list outlines some of the most common saltwater fish species that are commonly caught in Virginia waters.

Yellowfin Tuna – Yellowfin tuna are the most colorful of the tuna. Their bodies are dark metallic blue above, changing to silver on the belly. The body is often strikingly marked with a pattern of vertical lines. The fish get their name from the coloration of the second dorsal fin and the anal fin which are bright yellow

Bluefin Tuna – Bluefin tuna are noted for having a large, torpedo-shaped body that is nearly circular in cross-section. The fish is dark blueish-black on the back and white on the lower sides and belly. A pattern of lines alternate with rows of spots on the lower sides.

Mahi Mahi – Mahi Mahi are one of the most beautiful saltwater fish. They are slender with a blunt head, colored green, yellow and blue. Also known as dolphin, dolphin fish and dorado.

Wahoo – Wahoo are long sleek pelagic fish with tiger stripe markings and razor sharp teeth. Wahoo are among the fastest of the pelagic fish.

King Mackerel – King mackerel are sometimes referred to as kingfish. These sleek fish are smaller relatives of wahoo. They lurk around wrecks, reefs and other structure, slashing baitfish with their incredibly sharp teeth.

White Marlin – These brightly colored billfish are smaller than blue and striped marlin, but are highly sought after by fishermen because of their spectacular leaps and cunning behavior.

Blue Marlin – These magnificent fish may weigh over 1000 lbs. Their blue backs, immense size and bill make them very recognizable.

Mako Shark – These incredibly fast sharks are loved by fishermen. They are instantly identified by their blue color, torpedo shaped bodies, fierce set of teeth and coal black eyes.

Striped Bass – The beautiful fish are extremely popular with anglers. They have deep bodies with alternating stripes of brown and silver.

Summer Flounder – These flat fish have both eyes on the same side of their head. Their color varies, from dark brown to tan, depending on surroundings.

Bluefish – Bluefish are known for their fierce bites, aggressive feeding and brute strength. These fish range from 1-20 lbs and are greenish-blue in color.

Redfish- Also known as red drum, these large drum are among the top American game fish. They have heavy bodies with a coppery coloring.

Black Drum – Another large fish, adult black drum are anything but handsome. Adults are dark gray to brown with faint stripes while younger fish have a more prominent series of silver and black vertical stripes. Both adults and young fish have chin barbels.

Spotted Seatrout – Spotted seatrout are also known as “speckled trout”. These beautiful fish have silvery gray backs with a white belly. The upper parts and tail of the fish have an iridescent sheen and black spots. The dorsal and tail fin are also spotted.

Weakfish – Weakfish are beautiful fish. Typically, fish have a dark olive back, iridescent blue and copper sides and a silvery white belly.

Spadefish – These fish are another reef-wreck dweller. They have angelfish shaped bodies and prominent vertical bars of alternating black and silver.

Black Sea Bass – These ocean fish are small to mid sized, but pack a fierce appetite and fight. Males are brightly colored with black, indigo blue, green and silver.

Tautog – These are another unattractive but highly prized saltwater fish. They grow slowly and are known for extreme intelligence. Tautog, also called blackfish live among shipwrecks, rocky areas and artificial reefs.

Largemouth Bass – Largemouth bass are among the most popular freshwater fish in much of the USA. They are easily recognized by their heavy bodies, green coloration and enormous mouths.

Bluegill Sunfish – An American favorite, these fish are small in size but big in will power. They are deep bodied and come in an array of patterns and colors. Bluegill are one of the most sought after freshwater species as table fare.

Black and White Crappie – Similar to sunfish, these members of the bass family are found throughout much of North America. They are greenish to almost black with a speckled pattern of colors that usually include black, silver, greens and white.

Catfish – Several species of American catfish are favorite subjects of artists. These include bullheads, channel catfish, blue catfish and others. While each species has unique characteristics, they all have similar body shapes, large mouths and sets of long whiskers that help guide them to food.

Looking for a fish ornament? Visit Outdoors USA online store

Three winter striped bass tournaments are coming up in Hampton Roads Virginia.

They are:

ASA National Striper Tournament

Long Bay Pointe Marina
2109 W. Great Neck Rd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
(321) 287-6351
Start Date: 12/12/2009
End Date: 12/12/2009

Tournament Headquarters
Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub
30th and Pacific Ave
Virginia Beach, VA
757-417-7701

ASA National Striper Tournament American Striper Association, the Nation’s largest Striped Bass Tournament Series, is hosting its 2009 National Tournament to Virginia Beach. The Chesapeake Bay is known as the premier Striped Bass fishery on the East Coast. Expected payouts will exceed $100,000 for the tournament and Angler of the Year awards.
*All boats fishing the Virginia Beach National Tournament will qualify for a $5,000 bonus to be awarded at the Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout.

Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout

828 High Point Avenue
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
(757) 319-5146
Start Date: 1/07/2010
End Date: 1/09/2010

Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout The 7th Annual Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout returns to Virginia Beach January 7th to the 9th. Get ready to reel as the largest Rockfish Tournament in the country comes to the Beach. Over 1,000 anglers will battle it out for the top bragging rights and a guaranteed CASH prize of $100,000. This year will have two divisions – one for live bait and one for artificial bait.

2nd Annual Virginia Beach Rockfish Frostbite Challenge Tournament
P.O. Box 6807
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
(757) 689-2694
(757) 576-4013
Start Date: 1/14/2010
End Date: 1/17/2010

Thursday, January 14th: Registration 4:00pm until 7:00pm, Captains Meeting at 7:00pm with the party rolling until 9:00pm. Awards Banquet will begin at 6:00pm on Sunday, January 17 and run to around 10:00pm, with awards presented at approx. 8:30pm. Give-Aways start at 7:00pm and will continue throughout the night. All events will be hosted by and take place at HOOKS at Rudee Inlet in Va Beach.  Weigh scales are at Fisherman’s Wharf Marina and Long Bay Pointe Marina.