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CobiaShoulder seasonBay · Virginia
Horn Harbor
37.86°N · 76.34°W · Bay · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 9 AM · Cobia
- Now
- 568 AM EDT
- Best window
- 9 AM-12 PMHigh slack
- Tide now
- Flooding1.1 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Horn Harbor 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 · 8 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
56Tide: FloodingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
98Wind: 5 kt ENEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
77Water temp: 78°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 2.0 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
61Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Cobia 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 Cobia is best here
Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Horn Harbor
- Depth
- 1-10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonCobia
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 Horn Harbor
Horn Harbor is a bay in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 1-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, Spanish mackerel and scup. It is peak season now for spot, Spanish mackerel, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for black sea bass, Atlantic croaker, king mackerel and bluefish. Spot peak from August through October. Spanish mackerel peak from July through September. Scup peak from June through October.
Tackle & technique
- Cobia
- Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Ferry Point67
Cape · 0.5 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 67
- Spot 67
- Spanish mackerel 64
5 kt ENEH 9:57 AM · 1.2 ftL 4:16 PM · 0.7 ft
- Rogue Point67
Cape · 0.8 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 67
- Spot 67
- Spanish mackerel 64
5 kt ENEH 9:57 AM · 1.2 ftL 4:16 PM · 0.7 ft
- Glebe Point67
Cape · 1.4 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 67
- Spot 67
- Spanish mackerel 64
5 kt ENEH 9:57 AM · 1.2 ftL 4:16 PM · 0.7 ft
- Eagle Point67
Cape · 1.4 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 67
- Spot 66
- Spanish mackerel 64
5 kt ENEH 9:57 AM · 1.2 ftL 4:16 PM · 0.7 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.