Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Bay · Virginia

Wescoat Cove

37.32°N · 76.01°W · Bay · Chesapeake Bay from New Point Comfort to Little Creek VA

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Best score today · 10 AM · Cobia

52/100Good
Now
355 AM EDT
Best window
9 AM-12 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding1.9 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 AM · now

Time5ANOW
Score35Fair
Tide1.9 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentEbb0.5 kn · toward S
Wind20 kn NEgusts 30 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.9 ft · 5 s
Air temp70°Warm
WeatherOvercast59% 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.

Source: VMRC · synced yesterday

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

Wescoat Cove

Depth
Up to 4 ftNearest water
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 Wescoat Cove

Wescoat Cove is a bay in Chesapeake Bay from New Point Comfort to Little Creek VA, Virginia. Depth in the nearest water is up to 4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

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

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Cherrystone Inlet

    Bay · 1.9 mi

    50
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 50
    • Striped bass 44
    • Black sea bass 40

    20 kt NEH 7:13 AM · 2.4 ftL 1:32 PM · 0.7 ft

  • Mill Point

    Cape · 1.4 mi

    47
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 47
    • Striped bass 42
    • Black sea bass 40

    20 kt NEH 7:13 AM · 2.4 ftL 1:32 PM · 0.7 ft

  • Wescoat Point

    Cape · 2.2 mi

    47
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 47
    • Striped bass 42
    • Black sea bass 40

    20 kt NEH 7:13 AM · 2.4 ftL 1:32 PM · 0.7 ft

  • Remus Creek

    Gut · 0.6 mi

    45
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 45
    • Bluefish 41
    • Striped bass 40

    20 kt NEH 7:13 AM · 2.4 ftL 1:32 PM · 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.