Waterlands

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Little tunnyPeak season

Channel · Virginia

Great Gap Channel

37.52°N · 75.72°W · Channel · Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 7 AM · Little tunny

61/100Good
Now
425 AM EDT
Best window
6-9 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding3.6 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 AM · now

Time5ANOW
Score42Fair
Tide3.6 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.5 knmodeled · toward SSW
Wind17 kn NEgusts 27 · steady
Sea stateRough4.8 ft · 7 s
Air temp66°Mild
WeatherOvercast39% chance of rain
Water72°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Little tunny 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 Little tunny is best here

Peak season for Little tunny · 5 more weeks at peak

Little tunny season by week of the year. Peak season for Little tunny · 5 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Little tunny in Virginia

Spot profile

Great Gap Channel

Depth
Under 1 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonLittle tunny

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 Great Gap Channel

Great Gap Channel is a channel 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 channel, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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

  • White Perch Cove

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    55
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 55
    • Bluefish 46
    • Summer flounder 45

    17 kt NEH 6:11 AM · 3.9 ftL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Middle Gap Channel

    Channel · 0.6 mi

    55
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 55
    • Summer flounder 48
    • Sheepshead 47

    17 kt NEH 6:11 AM · 3.9 ftL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Major Hole Bay

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    55
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 55
    • Bluefish 46
    • Summer flounder 45

    17 kt NEH 6:11 AM · 3.9 ftL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Upshur Bay

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    55
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 55
    • Bluefish 46
    • Summer flounder 45

    17 kt NEH 6:11 AM · 3.9 ftL 12:07 PM · 0.6 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.