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CobiaShoulder seasonChannel · Virginia
Heather Channel
37.39°N · 75.71°W · Channel · Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 10 AM · Cobia
- Now
- 309 AM EDT
- Best window
- 9 AM-12 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing2.8 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Heather Channel 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 · 9 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
92Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.6 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
36Wind: 16 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
54Seas over the limit · capped at 30Water temp: 70°F, primeLight: MorningSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 5.6 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
40Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Cobia 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 Cobia is best here
Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Heather Channel
- Depth
- 4-6 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonCobia
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 Heather Channel
Heather Channel is a channel in Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virginia. Depth is 4-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are black sea bass, striped bass and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for black sea bass, striped bass, bluefish and king mackerel. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November.
Tackle & technique
- Cobia
- Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
- Black sea bass
- Black sea bass hold tight to wrecks, reefs, rock piles and jetties, from 15 feet inshore in late spring to well over 100 feet on offshore wrecks in late fall. Anchor or drift right over the structure and fish a two-hook high-low rig with squid or clam, or bounce a small jig on the bottom. The biggest males sit on the highest relief.
- 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
- Middle Channel54
Channel · 0.3 mi
Top: Black sea bassShoulder season- Black sea bass 54
- Striped bass 52
- Bluefish 48
16 kt NEL 12:36 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:09 PM · 4.6 ft
- Marsh Point54
Cape · 1.8 mi
Top: Striped bassShoulder season- Striped bass 54
- Bluefish 53
- Black sea bass 49
16 kt NEL 12:36 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:09 PM · 4.6 ft
- North Channel30
Channel · 1.7 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season- Atlantic croaker 30
- Black drum 30
- Black sea bass 30
30 kt NEL 12:36 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:09 PM · 4.6 ft
- Great Machipongo Inlet30
Bay · 2.1 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season- Atlantic croaker 30
- Black drum 30
- Black sea bass 30
30 kt NEL 12:36 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:09 PM · 4.6 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.