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WeakfishShoulder seasonBar · Virginia
Goffs Bar
37.81°N · 76.27°W · Bar · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 PM · Weakfish
- Now
- 5111 AM EDT
- Best window
- 5-11 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.8 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Goffs Bar 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 · 11 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
54Tide: EbbingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
94Wind: 7 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
65Water temp: 79°F, warmLight: OvercastSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.0 ftSeason & habitat · Weakfish
Species seasonality
53Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Weakfish 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 Weakfish is best here
Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Goffs Bar
- Depth
- 10-15 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonWeakfish
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 Goffs Bar
Goffs Bar is a bar in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 10-15 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are Spanish mackerel, spot and little tunny. It is peak season now for Spanish mackerel, spot, little tunny and summer flounder, and shoulder season for bluefish, Atlantic croaker, black sea bass and spotted seatrout. Spanish mackerel peak from July through September. Spot peak from August through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- Weakfish
- Weakfish hold along channel edges, grass beds, oyster bars and bridge shadows in bays and sounds, usually in 5 to 40 feet of water, and feed hardest at dawn, dusk and after dark. Swim soft plastics or bucktails slowly near the bottom, or drift peeler crab and bloodworms. They have soft mouths, so keep the drag light and the pressure steady.
- Spanish mackerel
- Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.
- 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
- Taskmakers Creek72
Bay · 1.3 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 72
- Red drum 69
- Spanish mackerel 63
7 kt NEL 2:58 PM · 0.4 ftH 9:15 PM · 1.1 ft
- Ingram Bay72
Bay · 1.4 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 72
- Spanish mackerel 68
- Red drum 67
7 kt NEL 2:55 PM · 0.4 ftH 9:15 PM · 1.1 ft
- Fleeton Point67
Cape · 0.9 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 67
- Spot 67
- Spanish mackerel 63
7 kt NEL 2:58 PM · 0.4 ftH 9:15 PM · 1.1 ft
- Cockrell Point67
Cape · 1.6 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 67
- Spot 67
- Spanish mackerel 63
7 kt NEL 2:58 PM · 0.4 ftH 9:15 PM · 1.1 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.
