Waterlands

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Little tunnyPeak season

Channel · Virginia

The Ramshorn

37.41°N · 75.84°W · Channel · Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

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Best score today · 7 AM · Little tunny

59/100Good
Now
359 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing4.4 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 9 PM · now

Time9PNOW
Score35Fair
Tide4.4 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.5 knmodeled · toward S
Wind18 kn NEgusts 32 · steady
Sea stateRough4.6 ft · 7 s
Air temp67°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water69°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.

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

The Ramshorn

Depth
Under 1 ftNearest water
Structure
Channel · Inner · ProtectedChannel · 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 The Ramshorn

The Ramshorn is a channel in Chesapeake Bay from Little Creek VA to Cape Henry VA including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Virginia. Depth in the nearest water is under 1 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads channel, inner water and protected.

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

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Powells Channel

    Channel · 1.3 mi

    50
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 50
    • Black sea bass 49
    • Bluefish 44

    18 kt NEL 1:36 AM · 0.9 ftH 7:29 AM · 4.7 ft

  • Harbor Gut

    Gut · 2.2 mi

    50
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 50
    • Black sea bass 49
    • Bluefish 44

    18 kt NEL 1:18 AM · 0.9 ftH 7:25 AM · 4.2 ft

  • Buckhorn Point

    Cape · 2.0 mi

    49
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 49
    • Striped bass 45
    • Black sea bass 43

    18 kt NEL 1:36 AM · 0.9 ftH 7:29 AM · 4.7 ft

  • The Outlet

    Channel · 1.7 mi

    48
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 48
    • Bluefish 44
    • Striped bass 44

    18 kt NEL 1:36 AM · 0.9 ftH 7:29 AM · 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.