Waterlands

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Black sea bassShoulder season

Gut · Virginia

North Inlet

37.45°N · 75.69°W · Gut · 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 · Black sea bass

65/100Great
Now
5810 AM EDT
Best window
10 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 · 10 AM · now

Time10ANOW
Score58Good
Tide1.5 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.5 knmodeled · toward SSW
Wind16 kn NEgusts 28 · steady
Sea stateRough4.8 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 Black sea bass 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 Black sea bass is best here

Shoulder season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at shoulder

Black sea bass season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Black sea bass in Virginia

Spot profile

North Inlet

Depth
3-8 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Inlet · Inner · Semi-exposedInlet · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonBlack sea bass

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 North Inlet

North Inlet is a gut in Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virginia. Depth is 3-8 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads inlet, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are little tunny, summer flounder and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, summer flounder, sheepshead and Spanish mackerel, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, striped bass and king mackerel. Little tunny peak from September through October. Summer flounder peak from June through September. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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

  • Quinby Inlet

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    65
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 65
    • Black sea bass 60
    • Summer flounder 60

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

  • The Straits

    Channel · 1.2 mi

    59
    Top: SheepsheadPeak season
    • Sheepshead 59
    • Summer flounder 59
    • Black sea bass 58

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

  • Hodges Narrows

    Gut · 0.3 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

  • Sandy Island Bay

    Bay · 2.3 mi

    56
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 56
    • Summer flounder 56
    • Bluefish 55

    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.