Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Bay · Virginia

Fishermans Cove

36.92°N · 76.18°W · Bay · Chesapeake Bay from New Point Comfort to Little Creek VA

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Best score today · 11 PM · Cobia

70/100Great
Now
433 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding1.5 ft ▲

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Mon · 81

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 3 PM · now

Time3PNOW
Score43Fair
Tide1.5 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind13 kn NEgusts 29 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.7 ft · 5 s
Air temp70°Warm
WeatherOvercast96% chance of rain
Water78°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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.

Always check with VMRC ↗Fishing license ↗

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

Cobia season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Cobia in Virginia →

Spot profile

Fishermans Cove

Depth
2-20 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · slope
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 Fishermans Cove

Fishermans Cove is a bay in Chesapeake Bay from New Point Comfort to Little Creek VA, Virginia. Depth is 2-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, Spanish mackerel and scup. It is peak season now for spot, Spanish mackerel, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, Atlantic croaker and king mackerel. Spot peak from August through October. Spanish mackerel peak from July through September. Scup peak from June 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.
Spot
Spot school over mud and sand in bays, tidal creeks and channels and around piers and bridges, generally in less than 25 feet of water. Fish a two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and bits of bloodworm or shrimp, and move until you find a school. In fall the biggest fish run out of the sounds past piers and inlets, and the bite can go all day.
Spanish mackerel
Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Little Creek Channel

    Channel · 0.5 mi

    60
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 60
    • Scup 56
    • Sheepshead 56

    13 kt NEH 6:57 PM · 3.0 ftL 1:05 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Desert Cove

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    59
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 59
    • Spot 59
    • Spanish mackerel 57

    13 kt NEH 6:57 PM · 3.0 ftL 1:05 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Little Creek Cove

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    59
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 59
    • Spanish mackerel 57
    • Scup 56

    13 kt NEH 6:57 PM · 3.0 ftL 1:05 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Thoroughgood Cove

    Bay · 4.5 mi

    35
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 35
    • Little tunny 35
    • Red drum 35

    20 kt NEH 8:41 PM · 2.0 ftL 3:44 AM · 0.5 ft

Open in the tide map

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.