AquaMan Sportfishing Charters Virginia Beach Marlin Club - 308 Mediterranean Ave. (757) 200-0200 Climb aboard "AquaMan", and now "Knock Down", both fully equipped diesel powered Bertram Sportfishermen, and enjoy a fast, comfortable ride to some of the most fruitful fishing grounds on the East Coast. Experience the thrill of offshore fishing or enjoy a day of inshore fishing in the Cheaspeake Bay.

INFORMATION FOR ANGLERS VISITING VIRGINIA BEACH -- "THE STRIPED BASS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD"

Striped Bass Season and Limits

Coastal Season (Ocean waters out to three miles) May 16, 1997 - December 31, 199?
Minimum Size 28 inches
Possession Limit 2 per person

Chesapeake Bay Season (Fall) October 4, 1997 - December 31, 1997
Minimum Size 18 inches
Possession limit 2 per person

Fishing License Requirements

Virginia has a saltwater fishing license, which is required for fishing in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers. The cost is $7.50 for an annual license and $5.00 for a ten-day license. There are numerous provisions for "blanket" licenses for private boats, charterboats and piers, as well as exemptions for people under 16 years of age and 65 years and older.

Virginia conducts the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament, which is an awards program for recreational fishermen. This program recognizes outstanding catches in 29 species of fish with a Citation plaque for any angler catching a fish meeting minimum program standards. This program is funded with saltwater license revenues, and eligibility to receive a Citation plaque requires an angler hold a valid saltwater fishing license or be fishing on a boat with a valid "blanket" license. The minimum Citation standards for striped bass are the capture of a fish weighing 40 pounds or more, or the catch and release of a fish measuring at least 44 inches in length.

Boat Ramps

Virginia Beach has two major inlets to striped bass fishing grounds and several boat ramps making access easy for visiting anglers trailering a boat.

Rudee Inlet at the south end of the Virginia Beach oceanfront opens on the Atlantic Ocean. The Owl's Creek Ramp, a large public launching facility, is located inside Rudee Inlet. This six-lane, concrete ramp with ample parking is open 24 hours a day.

Lynnhaven Inlet just west of Cape Henry opens upon the Chesapeake Bay and provides quick access to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. There are three ramp facilities in the Lynnhaven Inlet area. A public launching facility is available at Seashore State Park at the end of 64th Street. This facility is open from dawn to dusk and requires a fee payment. The distance to the inlet mouth from the launch ramp is approximately 5 miles. Closer to the inlet are two launching ramps operated by private businesses. Bubba's Marina and Lynnhaven Waterway Marina provide boat launching for a fee, have adequate parking, and the ramps are open 24 hours a day.

Marinas

Both Rudee Inlet and Lynnhaven Inlet have numerous marinas for visiting anglers, offering transient slips and dockage, monthly dry storage, gasoline and diesel fuel, charterboats and headboats, and related marina services.

Rudee Inlet

• Virginia Beach Fishing Center (757) 491-8000
• Fisherman's Wharf Marina (757) 428-2111
• Rudee Inlet Station Marina (757) 422-2999

Lynnhaven Inlet

• Marina Shores Marina (757) 496-7000
• Lynnhaven Marine (757) 481-0700
• Lynnhaven Waterway Marina (757) 481-7517
• Lynnhaven Seafood Market & Marina (757) 481-4545
• Bubba's Marina (757) 481 -3513

September - Middle October

One of the prime times for light tackle fishing. The rock islands anchoring the tunnel sections of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel hold good numbers of fish, which range in size from 5 - 25 pounds with the average 7-10 pounds. Fishing is best early and late in the day (especially dawn and dusk), but fish can be caught all day long, especially during periods when larger ocean waves create a lot of "whitewater" on the rocks and when tides are running hard. Prime methods include casting small diving plugs, surface plugs and fly fishing with streamers and Clousers with sinking tip line. This is an area located inside the Chesapeake Bay, so prior to October 4th (the start of the Bay season) all striped bass must be released. Wireline fishing and live bait fishing over the deepwater areas of the tunnel section of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel also is effective at this time of the year.

October - Middle November

Numbers of fish increase through the period with the start of fall migrations . The deep channel) edges of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is especially productive. Trolling with wire line is particularly effective and fish will bite at all hours of the day (and night), as long as the tide running (the stronger the tidal current, the better the fish seem to bite). Anglers not wishing to troll will have success jigging with Stingsilvers, diamond jigs and Hopkins lures over the tube sections during the daytime, especially when the tide is running, but not running too hard to effectively fish the lures in and among the submerged rocks. At night, the stripers come to the closer to the surface, and casting bucktails to the tidal "rips" at the ends of the rock islands produces plenty of fish. During the latter part of this time period some schools of fish will start appearing in the lower Bay away from the Bridge Tunnel and often can be found under diving birds. Most years this time period yields lots of small striped bass, many in the 20-26 inch range, and anglers end up releasing lots of fish in order to get a limit of fish in the 28-36 inch range.

November - January

The passage of each cold front of the fall brings better concentrations of baitfish to the lower Chesapeake Bay and more striped bass migrate out of the Bay's rivers and south along the Atlantic coast. This results in concentrations of fish at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (a focal point being the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel) and along the oceanfront of Virginia Beach. This is when large numbers of big fish (20-45 pound stripers) are caught.

Along the Bridge-Tunnel the area from the 4th Island to the High Level Bridge (the northern end of the span) produces the biggest fish, but stripers are abundant from one end of the crossing to the other. Light tackle fishermen prefer to cast bucktails to the pilings of the Bridge-Tunnel, and this is probably the most popular method of fishing. Trolling with wire line continues to be effective along the channel edges of the tunnel, but "wireliners" also catch plenty of fish by trolling the upside side of the bridge portion of the span. Trolling with large diving plugs and big bucktails along the pilings of the Bridge-Tunnel, on the underwater flats at the north end of the bridge and along drop-offs away from the bridge is productive. During the daytime the fish will often stay deep in the water column, but at night they will come near the surface under the lights from the Bridge-Tunnel. Fishing is almost always better when the tide is running. The biggest fish usually are caught after Thanksgiving with water temperature and availability of baitfish the best fishing period.

Along the oceanfront of Virginia Beach, the sharp bottom contours at Cape Henry produce consistent fishing. However, fish can be found any where from just beyond the surf line to three miles offshore. Generally, the numbers of fish improve during the latter part of the year, with the best catches often occurring in late November, December and early January.

This also is the time of year when schools of striped bass take up residence in lower Bay and coastal waters, and they can often be found "breaking the surface", feeding under diving gannets and gulls, or marked on a depth sounder. Finding a school of fish offers the opportunity to cast, jig, troll or fly fish for stripers.

The key to the late season fishing is water temperature and availability of baitfish. The "magic" water temperature seems to be approximately 42 degrees. As long as water temperatures remain at this level or higher, there will be good striped bass fishing off Virginia Beach. Warm winters, such as the one just passed, will produce good populations close to the Virginia Beach oceanfront and good fishing well past the middle of January. Prolonged cold weather and plunging water temperatures in December can send the fish to more southerly wintering grounds, and the fishery will come to a halt by Christmas. Trolling large diving plugs has been the most popular fishing technique for the winter fishery along the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

Fly Fishing

The Virginia Beach area offers excellent opportunities to fly fish for striped bass. In May and June and again in September and October, stripers will stage around the rock islands of the bridge tunnel. They are vulnerable to streamer flies fished on a sink tip line, with the best fishing early and late in the day.

In November and early December the best concentrations of fish are along the pilings of the Bridge-Tunnel. Daytime fishing requires fast sinking lines and weighted fliers (Clouser minnows, for example) to get baits down to the fish. However, night fishing can offer a good opportunity to fish the pilings with a fly. This is when the fish come near the surface under the lights of the span and are more accessible for the fly fisherman. Often, stripers will "line up" in the shadowline formed by the bridge lights, and anglers can see the fish and pick out an individual fish to pursue. Also, this is the time to work schools of "breaking" fish or schools marked by diving birds in the lower Bay during daylight hours..