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ScupPeak seasonCape · Virginia
Buckhorn Point
37.38°N · 75.85°W · Cape · Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 9 AM · Little tunny
- Now
- 476 AM EDT
- Best window
- 8 AM-12 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding4.1 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Buckhorn Point 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
91Tide: FloodingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
37Wind: 17 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
31Water temp: 78°F, warmLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 4.5 ftSeason & habitat · Scup
Species seasonality
73Season: PeakHabitat: Poor fitDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Scup 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 Scup is best here
Peak season for Scup · 5 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Buckhorn Point
- Depth
- Under 1 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
- Season
- Peak seasonScup
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 Buckhorn Point
Buckhorn 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 semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, little tunny and summer flounder. It is peak season now for scup, little tunny, summer flounder and Spanish mackerel, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, striped bass and king mackerel. Scup peak from June through October. Little tunny peak from September through October. Summer flounder peak from June through September.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- 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.
- Summer flounder
- Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Powells Channel58
Channel · 1.7 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 58
- Summer flounder 52
- Sheepshead 47
17 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft
- The Outlet54
Channel · 0.7 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 54
- Summer flounder 51
- Spanish mackerel 45
17 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft
- Holt Neck36
Cape · 2.0 mi
Top: BluefishShoulder season- Bluefish 36
- Atlantic croaker 35
- Little tunny 35
19 kt NEL 12:16 PM · 0.7 ftH 7:04 PM · 5.3 ft
- Outlet Bay30
Bay · 1.9 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season- Atlantic croaker 30
- Bluefish 30
- Cobia 30
31 kt NEL 11:57 AM · 0.6 ftH 6:36 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.
