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CobiaShoulder seasonBay · Virginia
Hog Island Bay
37.44°N · 75.76°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 · Cobia
- Now
- 308 AM EDT
- Best window
- 8 AM-12 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing3.9 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Hog Island 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 · 8 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
67Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.6 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
39Wind: 16 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
55Seas over the limit · capped at 30Water temp: 71°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 4.5 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
54Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of 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
Hog Island Bay
- Depth
- Under 1 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · 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 Hog Island Bay
Hog Island 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 semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, bluefish and little tunny. It is peak season now for scup, little tunny, summer flounder and sheepshead, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, striped bass and king mackerel. Scup peak from June through October. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Little tunny peak from September through October.
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.
- 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.
- Bluefish
- Bluefish travel in size-sorted schools and feed where tide pushes bait past structure: inlet mouths, rips, shoal edges and the surf line, mostly in water shallower than 60 feet. Look for birds and breaking bait and cast metal or poppers into it, or soak cut bunker or mullet on the bottom from the beach. Use a short wire or heavy leader because their teeth cut light line.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- North Channel65
Channel · 1.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 65
- Spot 63
- Red drum 58
16 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft
- Great Machipongo Channel61
Channel · 0.6 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 61
- Summer flounder 54
- Sheepshead 53
16 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft
- Cunjer Channel61
Channel · 2.1 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 61
- Sheepshead 53
- Summer flounder 53
16 kt NEL 12:54 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:13 PM · 5.2 ft
- Sandy Point60
Cape · 2.9 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 60
- Scup 56
- Striped bass 53
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.