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SALTWATER FISHING NEWS

Buckroe Fishing Pier: The pier manager reports that the Buckroe Fishing Pier has a two Tournaments ongoing. The COBIA tournament runs until 12 AM August 29 and has an entry fee of $25.00 (does not include admission). The FLOUNDER tournament runs until 12 AM, August 29 and has an entry fee of $15.00 per person (does not include admission). Special fishing nights for children 12 and under, $3.00 admission, are held every 1st and 3rd Wednesday, through August, from 6 – 9 PM. There will be fishing demonstrations, give-aways, and certificates. The pier customers are catching a variety of fish. During the daylight hours they report catching bluefish, croakers, hog fish, mullet, oyster crackers, puffer fish, spot, ribbon fish and white perch. At night customers are catching small gray trout and sharks (measuring 3 to 4 feet long).

Charter Fishing: Captain Pete and the crew of the Sally T (515-3051), report their charter customers are thinning out lately, but the last trip out around Hampton Bar was exceptional. The croaker bite really turned on and by mid-morning most of the anglers had filled their containers with medium sized fish and the crew was busy filleting and packaging the fish right up until the first mooring line hit the pier. The large croakers have been hard to locate, as have the keeper flounder. The Sally-T boated one keeper flounder this week, which was better than many of the other flounder reports received. Captain Pete advises their charter times are 8 am – 12 noon and 1 – 5 PM and the cost is $30.

Kayak Fishing: Forrest Short reports that despite the hot temperatures, fishing was pretty good for the kayak anglers. The HamptonRoadsBridge Tunnel produced a wide variety of fish including catch and release stripers, croaker, spot and flounder. The hot spot remains the York River. There have been many nice size croaker well over 15" being caught in the deeper holes on shrimp and crab. There are also some decent size spot being landed as well. Out on the Poquoson Flats, fishing remained slow with only a handful of pan sized speckle trout caught. Freshwater fishing is still good, but you have to get out there early in the morning or after dusk if you want to catch any decent size bass. Senkos and buzz baits remain the top performers for these fish.

Middle Chesapeake Bay and Tributaries. Jerry Thrash reports, despite record setting heat, a few people fished over the weekend and had good luck on croaker, white perch and spot. Good sized croaker and mullet were caught along the channel edge at Buoy 42 by fishermen remaining just outside the commercial gill nets. The commercials pull their nets about noon to get to market, then recreational fishermen can get onto the schools and into their favorite flounder waters. Flounder action at the Cell and Buoy 42 was slow. A couple of boats reported a limit of fish but the bite was very early in the morning. There were reports of large numbers of keeper flounder being caught at the CBBT. Perhaps a second run of flounder is entering the bay. If so, we should see them mid-bay in a week or so.

LowerBay, Hampton Bar, York & James River & coastal/offshore updates: Ken Neill reports that cobia fishing continues to be good in the bay. Both chumming and sight-fishing are producing. The CBBT and along the Baltimore Channel have been productive for sight-fishing. The Inner Middle Grounds, York Spit, and near buoy 18 have been good areas to anchor up on a chum slick. Some nice catches of flounder are coming from the Cell/buoy 42 area and from the CBBT. Schools of large red drum are being encountered in the coastal ocean waters and at the mouth of the bay. Schools of jack Crevalle are roaming these same areas. Spanish mackerel and a lot of little bluefish can be caught while trolling spoons in the lower bay and along the ocean front. Sheepshead and spadefish are available at the CBBT. The spadefish are plentiful but most are small. If you can get through the small fish, some larger fish are around. Sheepshead are being caught but you really have to work for them. Over on the Eastern Shore, a lot of tarpon are being seen and a few have been caught. The coastal shark population seems to be doing well. Various species seem to be here in abundance this year and some of the inshore charters have targeted them with good success. Amberjack are a sure bet at the southern towers. They are also a possibility closer to home at structures like the Chesapeake Light Tower, 4A Drydock, and the Gulf Hustler. The offshore waters in the vicinity of the NorfolkCanyon have been producing some nice catches of dolphin. There are a good number of billfish around, especially white marlin. Some wahoo are being caught. The big news is the yellowfin tuna that showed up this week. They are a nice class of tuna with some weighing in at over 70 pounds.

FRESH WATER

Beaverdam Reservoir: (804-693-2107) The reservoir manager reports the lake is at full pool, the water temperature is 88 degrees, and the water is clear.
The extreme heat that we have had has slowed the fishing action down. However, the cooler temperatures that we are now experiencing should improve the fishing conditions. Anglers are still finding fish in water deeper than ten feet with crank baits. Tom Vincent weighed in a 4 pound 21 ½” Bass and Brian Shackelford (GloucesterCounty) weighed in a Bass close to 6 pounds. Both fish were caught with crank baits. Beaverdam’s next Night Fishing will be on Friday August the 6th from 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM. For more information, please call the park at (804) 693-2107. The park hours for May thru Labor Day are 6:00 AM to 8:30 PM

Lower Chickahominy Lake: (804-746-2475) Capt. Art Conway of Conway's River Rat Guide Service (804-746-2475) out of Ed Allen's Boats and Bait reported that Chickahominy Lake mid-day water temperatures were in the high 80's to low 90's last weekend. The lake level was well below full pool. A few crappie and some nice yellow perch were still around the creek mouths and on main lake weed flats. Moderate numbers of bass were still scattered in the creeks and out on the main lake flats early in the mornings. Two inch curly tail grubs, tubes, swim baits, and live minnows were the most effective baits for crappie and
yellow perch.

Mid-Chickahominy Lake: (804-966-9094) Jill O’Brien-Jones at Eagles Landing reports the lake is about one foot low, quite stained, and has a water temperature between 88 and 96 degrees. The largemouth bass have yet to settle into any particular pattern. Most anglers fishing at night have taken their bass from the deeper waters in the channels all the way up to the shallows, using a multitude of different lures. The next tournament at Eagles Landing is Sunday, Aug. 1, from 6 AM – 2 PM.

Tune in to Fishing Tidewater, with Don Lancaster, every Saturday morning from 7 - 9 AM on WHKT Radio 1650 AM, call 465-6700. To have a discussion on the internet, log on to WHKT radio.net and click on the microphone icon to listen to the show. E-mail address: suthrncstm@aol.com


CALENDAR
The 4th Annual “The Flat and the Furious” flounder tournament, sponsored by the Poquoson Athletic Association, will be held July 31st with the Captains meeting July 30 at 6:30 PM at the York Haven Marina, Poquoson. Call 871-9246.
Buckroe Fishing Pier has a series of Tournaments, running through November. The COBIA tournament runs until 12 AM August 29 and has an entry fee of $25.00 (does not include admission). The FLOUNDER tournament runs until 12 AM, August 29 and has an entry fee of $15.00 per person (does not include admission).
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Mid-Week Individual Bass Tournament on Chickahominy Lake, Eagles Landing, July 22
1st Place*Chad Hall, Glen Allen*4.94 Lbs.
2nd Place*Mike Korth, Newport News*2.23 Lbs.
Big Fish*Chad Hall*2.89 Lbs.
Team night Bass Tournament on Chickahominy Lake, Eagles Landing, July 24 & 25
1st Place*Paul Brock, Mechanicsville & Robert Brock, Aylett*12.73 Lbs.
2nd Place*Kevin Whitehurst, Williamsburg & Ray Hogge, West Point*11.01 Lbs.
Third Place*Kenneth Sweeney, Sr. & Kenneth Sweeney, Jr., Providence Forge*10.70 Lbs.
Fourth Place*Mike Sweeney, Jr., Charles City & Anthony Gray, Providence Forge*9.14 Lbs.
Big Fish*Brock & Brock*5.09 Lbs.

VA. SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
Citation Weight*Species*Weight*Angler, Hometown*Where Caught*Totals, WT./REL.
0-0*Amberjack*0/46
80-0*Black Drum*90-0*James Johnson, Gloucester*Mobjack Bay Reef*3/152
0-0*Blue Marlin*0/12
16-0*Bluefish* 16-5*Pete Kelley, Virginia Beach*Cigar*1/1
10-0*Blueline Tilefish*19-5*Demetrius Arnold, Chesapeake*55
55-0*Cobia*85-0*Jules Warren, Virginia Beach*4th Island CBBT*70/17
3-0*Croaker*3-12*James Egan, Jr., Davidson, NC*Mattaponi River*8/1
25-0*Dolphin*31-2*Jay Brent, Falls Church*26 Mile Hill*18/0
7-0*Flounder*11-15*Tilford Williams, Jr., Virginia Beach*Concrete Ships*90/5
4-0*Gray Triggerfish*4-6*Karen Baranski, Virginia Beach*CBBT*1/0
9-0*Gray Trout*9-8*Eric Cafini, Suffolk*Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel*1
20-0*King Mackerel*38-0*Ed Boekestyn, Jasper, Canada*Dump Site Buoy*3/0
0-0*Red Drum* * * *0/323
0-0*Sailfish* * * *0/3
5-0*Sea Bass*5-9*James Garrett, Jr., Virginia Beach*Triangle Wrecks*8
0-0*Shark (Any)*0/17
10-0*Sheepshead*14-5*Byron Farlow, Virginia Beach*CBBT*14/4
9-0*Spadefish*11-12*Joshua Proffitt, Manassas*Ches. Lt. Tower*8/3
4-0*Spanish Mackerel*5-0*Mardis Wallace, Manchester, MD*Inshore Wreck*1/1
5-0*Speckled Trout*12-6*Michael Whittaker, Chesapeake*Eliz. River*216/184
1-0*Spot*1-2*John Guthrie, Sutherland*York River*1
40-0*Striped Bass*64-0*Michael Collier, Sandston*Off Sandbridge*172/72
0-0*Tarpon*0/2
9-0*Tautog*16-14*Alexander Thompson, Deale, MD*Ches. Light Tower*56/16
100-0*Tuna (Bluefin)*196*Brian Davis, Virginia Beach*Cigar*6/5
70-0*Tuna (Other)*77-0*Lily Yoder, Virginia Beach*Cigar*4/0
0-0*White Marlin*0/104
Total Weight Citations: 737-Releases: 969

NOTABLE CATCHES AS OF 7-28-10
Amberjack
52-In.*Andre Reyes, Newport News*South Tower*Bishop’s Fishing
Cobia
77-8*Bradley Allen Church, Sr., Hanover*Bluefish Rock*Wallace’s B&T
70-8 Lbs.*Julie Tomasik, Lusby, MD*Bluefish Rock*Wallace’s B&T
66-4 Lbs.*Dean Ballew, Seaford*The Hump*Wallace’s B&T
56-0*Dennis Oliver, Newport News*York Spit*Grafton Fishing
55-In.*Bryce Ragans, Yorktown*Baltimore Channel*Grafton Fishing
52-In.*J.D. Smith, Poquoson*CBBT*Bishop’s Fishing
51.5-In.*Robert Edwards, Smithfield*Chesapeake Bay*Grafton Fishing
50.25-In.*Spencer Elford, Seaford*Plantation Light*Grafton Fishing

Flounder
7-4*Robert Schepker, Henrico Co.*CBBT*Wallace’s B&T
Jack Crevalle
49.5-In.*Brandon Bartlett, Grafton*CBBT*Rudee Inlet
Largemouth Bass
6-0*Brian Shackelford, Gloucester County*Beaverdam Reservoir*Beaverdam Park.
Red Drum
48-In.*Tracie Davis, Chesterfield*Buoy 42*Queens Creek Outfitters
48-In.*Kenneth Hipps, Newport News*Bluefish Rock*Wallace’s B&T
46.5-In.*Christopher Rickman, Sandston*Buoy 42*Queens Creek Outfitters