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TautogShoulder seasonBay · Virginia
Back Cove
37.90°N · 75.73°W · Bay · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 AM · Tautog
- Now
- 449 PM EDT
- Best window
- 9 PM-12 AMHigh slack
- Tide now
- Flooding2.5 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Back Cove 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
Saturday, Oct 3 · 7 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
63Tide: EbbingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 5 kt ENEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
54Water temp: 71°F, warmLight: DawnSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Tautog
Species seasonality
75Season: PeakHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: Out of range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Tautog 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 Tautog is best here
Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Back Cove
- Depth
- 2-4 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonTautog
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 Back Cove
Back Cove is a bay in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 2-4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, scup and sheepshead. It is peak season now for spot, scup, sheepshead and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, weakfish, bluefish and spotted seatrout. Spot peak from August through October. Scup peak from June through October. Sheepshead peak from July through September.
Tackle & technique
- Tautog
- Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Drum Bay70
Bay · 0.8 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 70
- Scup 68
- Sheepshead 59
14 kt NEH 9:58 PM · 2.6 ftL 4:54 AM · 0.9 ft
- Scarborough Point65
Cape · 0.3 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 65
- Scup 63
- Little tunny 60
14 kt NEH 9:58 PM · 2.6 ftL 4:54 AM · 0.9 ft
- North Point65
Cape · 1.2 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 65
- Scup 63
- Little tunny 60
14 kt NEH 9:58 PM · 2.6 ftL 4:54 AM · 0.9 ft
- Long Point62
Cape · 1.6 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 62
- Scup 61
- Little tunny 59
14 kt NEH 9:58 PM · 2.6 ftL 4:54 AM · 0.9 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.