Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Black sea bassShoulder season

Cape · Virginia

Monadox Point

37.62°N · 75.88°W · Cape · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 7 AM · Black sea bass

55/100Good
Now
4512 AM EDT
Best window
6-9 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.5 ft ▼

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

Notify me when Monadox 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 · rolling from now

Conditions · 12 AM · now

Time12ANOW
Score45Good
Tide1.5 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind21 kn NEgusts 29 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.4 ft · 4 s
Air temp71°Warm
WeatherOvercast71% chance of rain
Water73°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Black sea bass 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 Black sea bass is best here

Shoulder season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at shoulder

Black sea bass season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Black sea bass in Virginia

Spot profile

Monadox Point

Depth
1-9 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonBlack sea bass

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 Monadox Point

Monadox Point is a cape in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 1-9 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are bluefish, striped bass and black sea bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for bluefish, striped bass, black sea bass and king mackerel. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Boggs Gut

    Gut · 1.6 mi

    62
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 62
    • Red drum 59
    • Sheepshead 57

    16 kt NEL 3:51 AM · 0.7 ftH 9:39 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Bluff Point

    Cape · 3.5 mi

    62
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 62
    • Bluefish 59
    • Spot 59

    16 kt NEL 3:51 AM · 0.7 ftH 9:39 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Milbys Point

    Cape · 1.3 mi

    59
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 59
    • Bluefish 57
    • Spot 56

    16 kt NEL 3:51 AM · 0.7 ftH 9:39 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Sandy Point

    Cape · 2.7 mi

    53
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 53
    • Striped bass 49
    • Black sea bass 45

    21 kt NEL 3:19 AM · 0.3 ftH 8:50 AM · 1.6 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.