Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

ScupShoulder season

Cape · Virginia

East Point

37.83°N · 75.98°W · Cape · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 4 PM · Scup

87/100Epic
Now
652 PM EST
Best window
3-6 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.5 ft ▲

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

Notify me when East Point scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions

Tuesday, Nov 10 · 5 PM

Time5P
Score35Fair
Tide0.5 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.9 kn · toward SW
Wind11 kn Wgusts 29 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.9 ft · 3 s
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherPartly cloudy32% cloud
Water63°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Scup 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 Scup is best here

Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder

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

Scup in Virginia →

Spot profile

East Point

Depth
1-6 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonScup

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 East Point

East Point is a cape in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth in the nearest water is 1-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, 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 little tunny, scup, weakfish and red drum. 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

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.
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 · 0.6 mi

    80
    Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season
    • Spotted seatrout 80
    • Striped bass 78
    • Tautog 77

    2 kt NNEH 6:15 PM · 1.7 ftL 12:50 AM · 0.1 ft

  • Fishing Gut

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    80
    Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season
    • Spotted seatrout 80
    • Striped bass 72
    • Tautog 70

    2 kt NNEH 6:15 PM · 1.7 ftL 12:50 AM · 0.1 ft

  • West Point

    Cape · 0.2 mi

    79
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 79
    • Spotted seatrout 72
    • Tautog 70

    2 kt NNEH 6:15 PM · 1.7 ftL 12:50 AM · 0.1 ft

  • Tangier North Channel

    Channel · 1.0 mi

    79
    Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season
    • Spotted seatrout 79
    • Striped bass 77
    • Black sea bass 74

    2 kt NNEH 6:15 PM · 1.7 ftL 12:50 AM · 0.1 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.