UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
Striped bassShoulder seasonGut · Virginia
Buckland Gut
37.67°N · 75.84°W · Gut · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 12 AM · Striped bass
- Now
- 536 AM EDT
- Best window
- 6 AM-1 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding1.0 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Buckland Gut 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 · 6 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
75Tide: FloodingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
29Wind: 17 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
69Water temp: 72°F, warmLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 2.2 ftSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
70Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Striped bass 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 Striped bass is best here
Shoulder season for Striped bass · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Buckland Gut
- Depth
- 1-9 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonStriped bass
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 Buckland Gut
Buckland Gut is a gut in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 1-9 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, spot and sheepshead. It is peak season now for scup, spot, sheepshead and summer flounder, and shoulder season for black sea bass, weakfish, Atlantic croaker and striped bass. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Sheepshead peak from July through September.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Warehouse Point65
Cape · 0.1 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 65
- Scup 60
- Spot 58
17 kt NEH 9:39 AM · 1.9 ftL 4:02 PM · 0.6 ft
- Indian Point65
Cape · 2.3 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 65
- Scup 60
- Spot 58
17 kt NEH 9:39 AM · 1.9 ftL 4:02 PM · 0.6 ft
- West Point63
Cape · 1.1 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 63
- Scup 59
- Spot 57
17 kt NEH 9:39 AM · 1.9 ftL 4:02 PM · 0.6 ft
- Bluff Point63
Cape · 1.4 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 63
- Scup 58
- Spot 57
17 kt NEH 9:39 AM · 1.9 ftL 4:02 PM · 0.6 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.