Waterlands

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Little tunnyPeak season

Cape · Virginia

Marsh Point

37.42°N · 75.70°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 · 11 PM · Little tunny

56/100Good
Now
3010 AM EDT
Best window
9 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.0 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 10 AM · now

Time10ANOW
Score30Fair
Tide2.0 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.6 knmodeled · toward S
Wind16 kn NEgusts 28 · steady
Sea stateRough5.7 ft · 7 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherOvercast95% chance of rain
Water70°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

Marsh Point

Depth
2-6 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · 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 Marsh Point

Marsh Point is a cape in Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virginia. Depth is 2-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are striped bass, bluefish and black sea bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass and king mackerel. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.

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.
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.
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 Inlet

    Gut · 2.5 mi

    65
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 65
    • Summer flounder 60
    • Bluefish 59

    16 kt NEL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 6:39 PM · 4.7 ft

  • Heather Channel

    Channel · 1.8 mi

    56
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 56
    • Striped bass 53
    • Bluefish 49

    16 kt NEL 12:36 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:09 PM · 4.6 ft

  • Middle Channel

    Channel · 2.0 mi

    56
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 56
    • Striped bass 53
    • Bluefish 49

    16 kt NEL 12:36 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:09 PM · 4.6 ft

  • Hodges Narrows

    Gut · 2.2 mi

    56
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 56
    • Striped bass 53
    • Bluefish 49

    16 kt NEL 12:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 6:39 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.