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WeakfishShoulder seasonBay · Virginia
Bradford Bay
37.59°N · 75.68°W · Bay · Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 AM · Weakfish
- Now
- 486 AM EDT
- Best window
- 6 AM-12 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding3.9 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Bradford Bay scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 6 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
52Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.5 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
37Wind: 17 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
67Water temp: 72°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 2.3 ftSeason & habitat · Weakfish
Species seasonality
68Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Weakfish 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 Weakfish is best here
Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Bradford Bay
- Depth
- Under 1 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonWeakfish
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 Bradford Bay
Bradford Bay is a bay 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 bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, spot and red drum. It is peak season now for scup, spot, red drum and summer flounder, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, weakfish, bluefish and spotted seatrout. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Red drum peak in May and from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- Weakfish
- Weakfish hold along channel edges, grass beds, oyster bars and bridge shadows in bays and sounds, usually in 5 to 40 feet of water, and feed hardest at dawn, dusk and after dark. Swim soft plastics or bucktails slowly near the bottom, or drift peeler crab and bloodworms. They have soft mouths, so keep the drag light and the pressure steady.
- Scup
- Scup school over hard and mixed bottom, rock piles, mussel beds, piers and jetties, usually in 10 to 60 feet of water. Fish a high-low rig with small hooks and squid or clam strips on the bottom, and chum with clam to hold a school under the boat. If nothing bites within 15 minutes, move to the next piece of structure.
- Spot
- Spot school over mud and sand in bays, tidal creeks and channels and around piers and bridges, generally in less than 25 feet of water. Fish a two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and bits of bloodworm or shrimp, and move until you find a school. In fall the biggest fish run out of the sounds past piers and inlets, and the bite can go all day.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Haul Over66
Channel · 0.8 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 66
- Spot 64
- Atlantic croaker 55
17 kt NEL 12:29 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:00 PM · 4.5 ft
- Clark Bay66
Bay · 1.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 66
- Spot 64
- Red drum 55
17 kt NEL 12:29 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:00 PM · 4.5 ft
- Gates Channel66
Channel · 1.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 66
- Spot 64
- Atlantic croaker 55
17 kt NEL 12:29 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:00 PM · 4.5 ft
- Bulls Head60
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 60
- Spot 58
- Little tunny 56
17 kt NEL 12:29 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:00 PM · 4.5 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.