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ScupShoulder seasonCape · Virginia
Rainy Point
37.79°N · 75.76°W · Cape · Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 5 PM · Scup
- Now
- 5110 AM EST
- Best window
- 4-7 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing1.3 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Rainy Point 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
Friday, Nov 6 · 2 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
38Tide: EbbingCurrent: 1.1 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
96Wind: 9 kt SSWPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
84Water temp: 62°F, primeLight: OvercastSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.1 ftSeason & habitat · Scup
Species seasonality
56Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: Out of range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Scup 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 Scup is best here
Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Rainy Point
- Depth
- 2-4 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonScup
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 Rainy Point
Rainy Point is a cape in Chesapeake Bay from Smith Point to Windmill Point VA, Virginia. Depth is 2-4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are striped bass, tautog and black sea bass. It is peak season now for striped bass, tautog, 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. Tautog peak in April and from October through December. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- 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.
- Tautog
- Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Island Bay78
Bay · 0.7 mi
Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season- Spotted seatrout 78
- Bluefish 69
- Striped bass 69
1 kt SWL 1:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 7:12 PM · 2.2 ft
- Canoedas Point76
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 76
- Tautog 69
- Black sea bass 67
1 kt SWL 1:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 7:12 PM · 2.2 ft
- Custis Point76
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 76
- Tautog 69
- Black sea bass 67
1 kt SWL 1:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 7:12 PM · 2.2 ft
- Custis Cove73
Bay · 1.1 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 73
- Tautog 73
- Spotted seatrout 71
1 kt SWL 1:07 PM · 0.6 ftH 7:12 PM · 2.2 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.