Waterlands

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Atlantic croakerShoulder season

Cape · Virginia

Barge Point

37.52°N · 75.70°W · Cape · Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

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Best score today · 10 AM · Atlantic croaker

64/100Good
Now
308 AM EDT
Best window
8 AM-12 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.2 ft ▼

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 AM · now

Time8ANOW
Score30Fair
Tide3.2 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.5 knmodeled · toward SSW
Wind16 kn NEgusts 26 · steady
Sea stateRough4.7 ft · 7 s
Air temp66°Mild
WeatherOvercast41% chance of rain
Water71°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic croaker is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with VMRC before you keep a fish.

Source: VMRC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Atlantic croaker is best here

Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder

Atlantic croaker season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Atlantic croaker in Virginia

Spot profile

Barge Point

Depth
Under 1 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonAtlantic croaker

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Barge Point

Barge Point is a cape in Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virginia. Depth is under 1 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are little tunny, striped bass and summer flounder. It is peak season now for little tunny, summer flounder, sheepshead and scup, and shoulder season for striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass and king mackerel. Little tunny peak from September through October. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Summer flounder peak from June through September.

Tackle & technique

Atlantic croaker
Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.
Little tunny
Little tunny travel fast in schools that pin bait against inlets, points, jetties and tide rips, usually within a few miles of shore and often in less than 60 feet. Stay off the school's path, wait for it to surface within range, and cast small metal or epoxy jigs with a fast retrieve. When fish stay down, troll small feathers along bait edges and color changes to find them.
Striped bass
Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Great Gap Channel

    Channel · 1.2 mi

    58
    Top: Summer flounderPeak season
    • Summer flounder 58
    • Scup 57
    • Sheepshead 57

    16 kt NEL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 6:39 PM · 4.7 ft

  • White Perch Cove

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    57
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 57
    • Little tunny 55
    • Summer flounder 55

    16 kt NEL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 6:39 PM · 4.7 ft

  • Revel Island Bay

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    57
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 57
    • Little tunny 55
    • Summer flounder 55

    16 kt NEL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 6:39 PM · 4.7 ft

  • Major Hole Bay

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    57
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 57
    • Little tunny 55
    • Summer flounder 55

    16 kt NEL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 6:39 PM · 4.7 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with VMRC before you keep a fish.