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Atlantic croakerShoulder season

Channel · Virginia

Green Straits

37.91°N · 75.88°W · Channel · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA

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Best score today · 2 AM · Atlantic croaker

77/100Great

Now: 578 PM EDT
Best window: 8 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now: Flooding1.3 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Green Straits scores 75+

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

14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Sun · 85

24-hour conditions

Monday, Sep 28 · 10 PM

DRAG OR TAP AN HOUR

Time10P

Score63Good

Tide0.1 ft ▲Flooding

CurrentEbb0.2 kn · toward SSE

Wind6 kn NNWgusts 20 · steady

Sea stateLight chop1.3 ft · 3 s

Air temp67°Mild

WeatherOvercast100% cloud

Water70°FBias corrected

MON · SEP 28

12A

10A

11A

12P

10P

11P

0.6

0.8

0.6

○0.2

○0.0

0.2

0.7

0.9

0.7

0.3

○0.0

0.3

0.8

1.3

0.8

0.3

○0.0

○0.2

0.6

0.8

0.6

0.2

○0.0

2210

249

258

229

179

1410

1510

1810

2010

2110

2111

2211

2311

2411

2511

2510

259

258

257

247

226

206

185

2.9

2.8

2.7

2.6

2.5

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.1

2.0

1.9

1.8

1.7

1.6

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.2

69°

70°

69°

Hour

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic croaker is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with VMRC before you keep a fish.

Always check with VMRC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: VMRC · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Atlantic croaker is best here

Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder

Peak
Shoulder
Off
Not here
This week

Atlantic croaker in Virginia →

Spot profile

Green Straits

Depth: 1-3 ftFlat bottom
Structure: Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · flat bottom
Season: Shoulder seasonAtlantic croaker

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 Green Straits

Green Straits is a channel in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 1-3 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

Atlantic croaker: Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.
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

View all on map →

Green Straits
Channel · 0.0 mi
67
Top: ScupPeak season
- Scup 67
- Spot 66
- Sheepshead 65
14 kt NEH 10:37 PM · 1.9 ftL 5:18 AM · 0.3 ft
Cedar Straits
Channel · 0.5 mi
67
Top: ScupPeak season
- Scup 67
- Spot 66
- Sheepshead 65
14 kt NEH 10:37 PM · 1.9 ftL 5:18 AM · 0.3 ft
Cedar Straits
Channel · 0.5 mi
67
Top: ScupPeak season
- Scup 67
- Spot 66
- Sheepshead 65
14 kt NEH 10:37 PM · 1.9 ftL 5:18 AM · 0.3 ft
Cedar Island Creek
Bay · 0.7 mi
67
Top: ScupPeak season
- Scup 67
- Spot 65
- Red drum 62
14 kt NEH 10:37 PM · 1.9 ftL 5:18 AM · 0.3 ft

Open in the tide map

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.