Waterlands

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Red drumPeak season

Cape · Virginia

Cedar Point

37.48°N · 75.81°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 · Red drum

67/100Great
Now
6111 AM EDT
Best window
11 AM-12 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.5 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 AM · now

Time11ANOW
Score61Good
Tide1.5 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.6 knmodeled · toward SSW
Wind16 kn NEgusts 28 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.4 ft · 5 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherOvercast96% chance of rain
Water70°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Red drum 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 Red drum is best here

Peak season for Red drum · 4 more weeks at peak

Red drum season by week of the year. Peak season for Red drum · 4 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Red drum in Virginia

Spot profile

Cedar Point

Depth
Under 1 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonRed drum

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 Cedar Point

Cedar 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 little tunny, red drum and striped bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, summer flounder and sheepshead, and shoulder season for striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass and king mackerel. Little tunny peak from September through October. Red drum peak in May and from September through October. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December.

Tackle & technique

Red drum
Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.
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

  • Sandy Point

    Cape · 2.3 mi

    64
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 64
    • Striped bass 57
    • Bluefish 56

    16 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft

  • North Channel

    Channel · 3.1 mi

    62
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 62
    • Red drum 61
    • Sheepshead 61

    16 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft

  • Great Machipongo Channel

    Channel · 3.5 mi

    59
    Top: Summer flounderPeak season
    • Summer flounder 59
    • Sheepshead 57
    • Black sea bass 56

    16 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft

  • Hog Island Bay

    Bay · 3.7 mi

    56
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 56
    • Little tunny 56
    • Summer flounder 56

    16 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 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.