Blowin'

The wind has been blowing steady and hard for nearly three weeks now. Of course, there are always places one can fish despite the wind, but I have not taken the boat out for several weeks now. I have fished the rocks at Rudee a few times, but I did not stay very long or try very hard.

Last weekend, I went to the Blue Ridge Mountains near Montebello with family, but we stayed only one day instead of three due to an approaching front that was forecasted to dump two inches of rain. I did not even get the chance to try for any Brook Trout. The streams were very low and the Brookies are spawning...

The weather has turned nice with temperatures in the upper 60's and mild westerly and southerly winds, so chances are that I will be Toggin' or looking for Spot and/or Striped Bass this weekend..

SheepsHead & Croaker

Hit Rudee yesterday on the falling tide. Tried for some Speckled Trout for an hour or so with grubs and mirrorlures. Got a few hits and had some specs follow the bait back to the boat, but no hook-ups. My next stop was the north jetty to try for some Taugtog. Used bottom rigs I made and clam - fresh and salted. Got a few hits but no luck with tog either. My buddy Jim met me a little later and we anchored on the South jetty and ended up catching five Sheepshead and a few big Croaker. Not a bad trip - but no Tautog.

Heard a story today that one angler came across a number of large Cobia on the CB buoys. That's worth noting because it is October, after all.

Rudee Inlet - mid October

I made it out to Rudee in my boat a few times this past week. Fishing has been slow - a Nor'Easter blew for almost a week and the water was churned up. Yesterday, set up close to where I wanted to be to try for Spot, but there was already a boat anchored there. Although I did catch a few small ones that I placed in the live well for Trout bait, I was more interested with watching the small boat next to me. As I watched, they caught about ten Tautog in a place I would not believed there to be so many tog so big? They told me they caught eight before I arrived! I now have a new Tautog spot. I'll be there tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I'll have pictures to post.

Bank Fishing on October 7

I have fished eight of the past ten days - but it never seems to be enough. Thankfully, my wife is understanding and very seldom has an issue with my addiction. So, although there are a few unfinished projects at home, I grabbed my rod, some tackle, and a bucket after work yesterday and headed back down to do some fishing from the jetty at Rudee Inlet.

The tide was slack and the bite was off. I saw very few fish caught by the anglers on shore and there was only one boat anchored in the turning basin. I managed one juvenile Black Drum in two hours. I'm going back to Rudee this afternoon after work, but I'm taking my boat and hope to load up on Spot again!

October Spot Fishing

Temperatures in the mid 70s and SW winds at 5 - who wants to cut grass? My wife and I jumped in the truck on Saturday and trailered down to Rudee Inlet to see if we could catch the Spot that have been eluding me this week. Normally I like to fish for bigger species, but deep-fried Spot are so delicious!

We anchored in the mouth of the inlet closer to the channel than the other boats and spent the next two hours tossing decent-sized Spot in the fish box. We ended up with 41 Spot - a good start for our upcoming fish fry - and left them biting. Nearby, we watched two other anglers catch and land eight good-sized Sheepshead. I watched them carefully and talked to them later in the day at the dock. I'll have to give it a try later in the week.

Spot Fishing in Rudee

Rudee Inlet is a small inlet in the otherwise unbroken Atlantic coast reaching from Virginia Beach to Oregon Inlet, NC. It's a popular place to catch Croaker, Spot, Puppy Drum, Grey Trout, Speckled Trout, and a few other inshore species of fish. Fall is the height of the Spot run and Rudee Inlet can get stacked up at times. When the big Yellowbelly Spots arrive, anglers scramble to fill their coolers with this delicious fish!

This week I have fished Rudee five days in a row. I prefer to take my 17' center console and fish from the water, but I have been known to fish from the shore on the north side of the inlet.

The typical Spot set up is to use a bottom rig with two hooks, a few ounces of lead, and bloodworms. Some anglers use small pieces of squid or cut bait, as well.


After work yesterday, I headed down to Rudee Inlet to attempt to find a few Spot for an upcoming fish fry. There were probably 20 or 30 people there with the same intentions. But the fishing was slow. All I could produce in two hours was one decent spot. I did see a few caught by others, but they were few and far between. One lady using cut bait managed a couple of small Speckled Trout.

I'll be going back out this afternoon - in my boat. I have heard reports that Spot are being caught off the Virginia Beach oceanfront, so I'll run out of Rudee and give it a shot.

Getting Started

Just getting started with fish blogging. This is an excellent way to document my habit and communicate with people with the same interests. I do belong to several fishing boards, but this gives me more control and more space for images.

Most of my fishing takes place in the Chesapeake Bay and nearby Atlantic Ocean around the city of Virginia Beach, although I do Freshwater fish for Largemouth Bass, Catfish, Pickerel, Bowfin, and other warmwater species. Most of my time, however, is spent fishing for saltwater species.

Look for upcoming blogs, fishing reports, and pictures! I also make videos of my fishing trips and will post those as well.

EM