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CobiaShoulder seasonBay · Virginia
Swash Bay
37.55°N · 75.67°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
- 3012 PM EDT
- Best window
- 7-9 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Low0.6 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Swash 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 · 12 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
34Tide: Low slackCurrent: 0.5 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
32Wind: 17 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
52Seas over the limit · capped at 30Water temp: 69°F, primeLight: OvercastSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 4.8 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
55Season: 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 today
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
Swash Bay
- Depth
- About 1 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · 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 Swash Bay
Swash Bay is a bay in Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virginia. Depth is about 1 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, summer flounder and bluefish. It is peak season now for scup, summer flounder, little tunny and sheepshead, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, striped bass and Atlantic croaker. Scup peak from June through October. Summer flounder peak from June through September. 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.
- 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
- Bulls Head60
Cape · 1.9 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 60
- Red drum 56
- Striped bass 53
17 kt NEL 12:29 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:00 PM · 4.5 ft
- Green Channel56
Channel · 0.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 56
- Spot 55
- Scup 54
17 kt NEL 12:29 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:00 PM · 4.5 ft
- Clark Bay56
Bay · 1.4 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 56
- Scup 54
- Spot 53
17 kt NEL 12:29 PM · 0.8 ftH 7:00 PM · 4.5 ft
- Drawing Channel48
Channel · 0.8 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 48
- Summer flounder 45
- Sheepshead 44
17 kt NEH 6:39 PM · 4.7 ftL 12:49 AM · 0.7 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.