Waterlands

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BluefishPeak season

Cape · Virginia

Ferry Point

37.85°N · 76.35°W · Cape · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA

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Best score today · 7 AM · Bluefish

84/100Great
Now
6712 PM EST
Best window
5-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.1 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 12 PM · now

Time12PNOW
Score67Great
Tide1.1 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward SE
Wind11 kn SSWgusts 24 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.2 ft · 3 s
Air temp78°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy64% cloud
Water64°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Bluefish 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 Bluefish is best here

Peak season for Bluefish · 2 more weeks at peak

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

Bluefish in Virginia →

Spot profile

Ferry Point

Depth
10-20 ftSlope
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · slope
Season
Peak seasonBluefish

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 Ferry Point

Ferry Point is a cape in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 10-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are striped bass, bluefish and black sea bass. It is peak season now for striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass and spotted seatrout, and shoulder season for little tunny, weakfish, red drum and spot. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
Black sea bass
Black sea bass hold tight to wrecks, reefs, rock piles and jetties, from 15 feet inshore in late spring to well over 100 feet on offshore wrecks in late fall. Anchor or drift right over the structure and fish a two-hook high-low rig with squid or clam, or bounce a small jig on the bottom. The biggest males sit on the highest relief.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Rogue Point

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    75
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 75
    • Bluefish 67
    • Black sea bass 66

    11 kt SSWL 3:49 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:38 PM · 1.3 ft

  • Glebe Point

    Cape · 1.0 mi

    75
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 75
    • Bluefish 67
    • Black sea bass 66

    11 kt SSWL 3:49 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:38 PM · 1.3 ft

  • Eagle Point

    Cape · 1.2 mi

    75
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 75
    • Bluefish 67
    • Black sea bass 66

    11 kt SSWL 3:49 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:38 PM · 1.3 ft

  • Horn Harbor

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    74
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 74
    • Black sea bass 72
    • Tautog 72

    11 kt SSWL 3:49 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:38 PM · 1.3 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.