Waterlands

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Little tunnyShoulder season

Bay · Virginia

Cod Harbor

37.81°N · 75.99°W · Bay · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA

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Best score today · 4 PM · Little tunny

84/100Great
Now
598 PM EST
Best window
9 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.4 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Thursday, Nov 5 · 1 AM

Time1A
Score66Great
Tide0.3 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.1 kn · toward SW
Wind7 kn SSEgusts 10 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 3 s
Air temp63°Mild
WeatherClear16% cloud
Water62°FModel

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

Shoulder season for Little tunny · 2 more weeks at shoulder

Little tunny season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Little tunny · 2 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Little tunny in Virginia →

Spot profile

Cod Harbor

Depth
1-8 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder 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 Cod Harbor

Cod Harbor is a bay in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 1-8 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are striped bass, spotted seatrout and tautog. It is peak season now for striped bass, spotted seatrout, tautog and black sea bass, and shoulder season for weakfish, scup, spot and little tunny. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Spotted seatrout peak from October through November. Tautog peak in April and from October through December.

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.
Spotted seatrout
Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Mailboat Harbor

    Bay · 1.1 mi

    79
    Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season
    • Spotted seatrout 79
    • Striped bass 77
    • Tautog 72

    2 kt ESEL 12:50 AM · 0.1 ftH 6:55 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Whale Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    78
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • Spotted seatrout 71
    • Bluefish 68

    2 kt ESEL 12:50 AM · 0.1 ftH 6:55 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Tangier North Channel

    Channel · 1.4 mi

    78
    Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season
    • Spotted seatrout 78
    • Striped bass 76
    • Weakfish 71

    2 kt ESEL 12:50 AM · 0.1 ftH 6:55 AM · 1.5 ft

  • West Point

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    78
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • Spotted seatrout 71
    • Bluefish 68

    2 kt ESEL 12:50 AM · 0.1 ftH 6:55 AM · 1.5 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.