Inshore fishing on Virginia Beach charter boats may include trips for striped bass, sea bass, and both red and black drum while offshore fishing charters target tuna, sharks, dolphin, billfish and other species. The area is world famous for its saltwater fishing.
One well known fisherman is Captain Keith Harlan who fishes the Mega Bite out of Virginia Beach. He has fished local waters from the Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bay, and Virginia Beach to Cape Hatteras for over 30 years. Captain Keith’s vast fishing experience also includes the waters of Barbados, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Key West.
In the summer months, offshore fishing from Virginia Beach is excellent. Captain Keith described Virginia offshore fishing saying, “Nothing is etched in stone with fishing around here but chasing yellowfin tuna thru much of the summer is our main activity”. These tuna like deeper water for the most part, often being caught in water from 30 to 100 fathoms. “We watch the satellite shots to get a general idea of how far north or south the tuna are” explained the Captain. Fishing spots include the Norfolk Canyon, Cigar, Weather Buoy, Wayne’s World and others. These hotspots range up to 75 miles out of Rudee Inlet. In addition to yellowfin tuna, anglers catch bluefin, bigeye, skipjack and longfin albacore tuna, dolphin fish, wahoo, billfish and sharks.
Of interest to many anglers are the trips that reach the Norfolk Canyon. Just before reaching the canyon walls are slopes that are often very productive areas. Near the canyon walls, the bottom becomes steeper and rockier. Fish congregate along the drop offs to catch food that is caught in the hard running current. Along the edges are lobster traps which are marked by orange buoys or “lobster balls”. The buoys attract dolphin fish which in turn attract the larger marlin, swordfish and sharks which feed on them heavily. A trip by a buoy can be uneventful, or one or more lines might be attacked by mahi mahi, tuna, marlin or other fish.
Late August and September often feature the best fishing with anglers seeing larger numbers of tuna as well as an influx of wahoo and bull dolphin. Offshore fishing continues into October, when windy weather and falling water temperatures make fishing less productive.
After the offshore season winds down, Virginia anglers enjoy excellent striped bass fishing. Known locally as rockfish, these delicious fish migrate down the East Coast and congregate in the lower Chesapeake Bay and coastal waters from November thru March. Anglers sometimes catch monster rockfish, exceeding 50 lbs. The Virginia state record rockfish has been broken many times recently, with some of the biggest fish being caught out of Virginia Beach Virginia.
These beautiful gamefish love cold and windy weather and feed in immense schools along the coast. Local charter boat captains such as Captain Keith of the Mega Bite keep watch on local fishing and are usually able to find the fish reliably when a winter weather window of opportunity becomes available.
By: J.C. Banks
Posts Tagged ‘Target’
Virginia Beach – Virginia Saltwater Fishing Charters
February 7th, 2010Bass Fishing – The Rising New Sport?
December 23rd, 2009
Once a necessity action for putting food on the table, who would have really thought that bass fishing could evolved into a thousand dollars competition featured in popular national sports channel. Many scoffed at this idea, but the overwhelming appeal from the mass for bass fishing have prompted many to consider watching, and even joining this sports! Because after all, how hard can fishing be?
Bass fishing is a different sport because you will be competing with yourself, as you literally are blind when it comes to your opponent.You do not know exactly where you other competitors are hiding, or fishing for that matter, and just imagine the excitement for the uncertainty of results, you have no bars to crosscheck, and no standards to follow except for surpassing your own. As with any other form of gathering, you’ll need to know the exact location of your target, in this case bass fishes before you can even think about luring them right into your bucket!
The most common misconception about bass fishing is that the lures we use are essentially the same, and this is exactly what separates someone from bringing home thousands of dollar from someone who just brings enough bass fishes home for the coming week’s dinner. Knowing your lures is the first step to winning those fishes over! Bass fishing is more than a worm and a hook, knowing those different lures and the attraction it brings to those fishes is all part and parcel of the game.
After your basic gear setup, you’ll need some specific set of casting skills because bass tends to lump and congregate in difficult areas such as fallen logs, cover in the water. Being able to aim and cast to a specific area is a skill easy to learn but difficult to master.
This is not only limited to those confined area, you are dead wrong to think that no skills are required when casting in open clear water. A overly large lure in the open water is only going to do one thing, which is to startle those fishes and scare them away. Slowly retrieving in a way where it lure the fishes instead of scaring them is the edge an experienced fishermen have, and this is just one more element to master in bass fishing.
To sum it up, bass fishing requires more than just tossing a hooked worm into the water and hope for the best. Real skills and knowledge are required!
By: Sverre Philip
Some Facts About Largemouth Bass Fishing
December 11th, 2009
To be a successful largemouth bass fisherman, you need to know a little about the type of fish that you are fishing for. You can tell a largemouth bass by the distinctive jagged edged stripes on either side of the fish created by a series of dark spots. The largemouth bass can also be all black in color. Another distinctive characteristic of the largemouth bass is that the upper jaw reaches past the back of the eye.
The diet of the largemouth bass changes throughout its lifespan. Filling up on plankton and insects as young juvenile fish, as it gets older it moves to smaller fish and then eventually birds and small mammals such as rats and mice in adulthood. Using sight, smell and hearing senses, they seize their prey under the cover of brush, grass or drop offs. The main sense that the largemouth bass uses is his sight.
Some of the best largemouth bass fishing can probably done in spawning beds. In shallow waters with average temperatures between 64 and 74 degrees such as small lakes and ponds are where the largemouth bass spawn. Inside the shallow depressions made by the male bass, up to one million eggs can be laid by the female during a single spawning season. Once the female lays the eggs, it is the male who turns unwanted predators away while guarding the eggs.
One of the most exciting things about fishing for the largemouth bass is the fight that is put up when it is hooked. The tug and pull of a largemouth will make anyone’s heart beat faster with the excitement. Some techniques used for largemouth bass fishing are doodling, flipping and pitching. When casting your line it is crucial that you are accurate. The different types of casting are overhand, underhand and sidearm. Some of the casting tips that you can use are as follows:
Before casting, lower the lure just below the tip of the rod. This allows for momentum. If possible try to land your lure on the water with as little noise as possible. Cast just beyond your target. When casting remember to use your wrist.
There are actually two types of artificial baits used for largemouth bass fishing, soft plastic baits and hard baits. The types of soft plastic baits include tube baits, plastic worms, grubs and soft jerk baits. The types of hard baits that are used are crank baits, swimming spoons, spinner baits, jigging spoons, jigs and vibrating lures.
It is common practice among anglers to release largemouth bass alive. Largemouth bass respond well to catch and release because of their hardiness, and the ability of their large mouth to withstand repeated hook injuries without compromising their ability to feed or causing damage to their gills. There are many methods and options in largemouth bass fishing. This is just a small insight into a much larger world. Thousands of people enjoy fishing for largemouth bass. It is a fun hobby that is perfect for the single fisherman or the whole family.
By: W Scott
